Apples of Gold

A Bird with Two Homes

I recently read about a bird so extraordinary it took my breath away. The Bar-tailed godwit — known in Finnish as kuovi or more specifically isovesipääsky — is not just another pretty bird. This long-legged, long-billed wonder is one of the world’s greatest flyers, performing an annual feat that seems nearly impossible. It migrates from…

Dear Santa

This morning, as I munched on my trusty Vegemite toast and flipped through the newspaper, a headline nearly made me drop my cuppa:“Too hot for Santa as Lapland buckles under record heatwave!” Well crikey, I thought, if that’s not a sign to write you a letter, I don’t know what is. You see, I’m no…

Ink from Pain

I recently joined a writing group that meets at a local church — something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. It’s become one of my favourite outings now, this gathering of minds and hearts, of stories and pens. There’s something grounding about sitting in a quiet room with others who feel compelled to…

Skip with me, nanna!

We were just walking, hand in hand, the way grandmothers and little granddaughters do. The day was mild, the sky wide and blue, and her tiny fingers wrapped around mine with the kind of trust that softens your soul. “Nanna,” she said, looking up with a grin that could melt clouds, “Would you like to…

The Day I Trembled

Nineteen years ago today, I stood at the gates of eternity. Not metaphorically. Not in some dreamy, poetic sense. I stood there — suspended between breath and no breath, between the beating heart and silence. Between earth… and heaven. The cord of life has always been fragile — delicate as silk, invisible as breath. Mine…

We Call on Him

For a number of years, Peter and I shared a quiet ritual with our dear friends, Stephen and his late wife Wendy. We each brought a song — something that spoke to us in that season of life — and took turns playing them, sitting together in conversation, letting the lyrics lead us to places…

To my grandson

You made me a nanna —from the very first moment your dad placed you gently in my arms,just a minute old, soft and new,you stole my heart completely.And you’ve held it ever since. You, my little ray of sunshine,with that huge smile that stretches all the way to your shining blue eyes.Eyes that sparkle with…

Storyteller

My phone just gave me another warning: Storage almost full. Again. I take a lot of photos. Not always for an audience, not to curate a perfect life, but to gather crumbs — breadcrumbs in the forest of my life. Each image a small, shining proof that I saw, felt, touched, loved. That moment mattered….

Miss You Most

When the lilacs begin to bloom and the forest floor turns into a sea of white lily of the valley, that’s when I miss you most of all. The air grows heavy with a perfume that drifts through my memories like mist through the birch trees, soft and persistent, calling me back. When your nights…

Life is Precious

Every single day we wake up is a gift —wrapped not in paper, but in possibility. We often move through our days as if they are endless,as if time owes us more,as if we can press pause on what truly matters. But deep down, we know the truth:each sunrise is a miracle,each moment a fleeting…