Natasha Regehr

Author: Natasha Regehr (Page 11 of 12)

Circuit Training

Sometimes life strikes me as a continual circuit of hopes and disappointments, with a minor victory thrown in from time to time, just to keep the optimism from completely expiring.

Is this a morose perspective? I suppose so. On my better days, that sentence might read, “Life is an ongoing adventure of hopes and challenges, ever prodding us on to new forms of optimism.” Victory has nothing to do with it, from this viewpoint. It’s all about the effort.

But perpetual effort can be tiring, don’t you think? Without little victories, the circuit can wear us down, no matter how resilient we may be. We become caught in this flux of energies, which we constantly misplace and rediscover, in varying proportions. Does anyone else ever feel this way?

I have a lovely little hIMG_1193ouse. It is, as my childhood idol would say, “practically perfect in every way.” And I am learning, in increments, to let it go.

Part of moving to Morocco, you see, is selecting someone else to inhabit my treasured domicile while I’m away.  So far, that has been an emotional process.  It requires trust — both in the potential tenant, and in providence, to provide that tenant when the time is right.  Strengthening one’s “trust muscles” can be a gruelling task, especially when one feels interminably caught in Fortuna’s spinning wheel.

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Rent Me!

FOR RENT: CHARMING BRICK HOUSE IN THE HEART OF PETERBOROUGH

My beautiful little house is looking for someone to love it while I’m away in Morocco for the next two years.  Might you be the one?

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Morocco, Part 2: Home Appeal

Who would have thought that moving to Morocco would arouse a sort of grief?

But it has – a strong and foolish grief that has me paralyzed with inactivity. I call it house grief. And I don’t mean that I’m feeling inconvenienced or annoyed (as in, “This broken zipper is causing me grief”); no, I’m embarrassed to say I am grieving over a carefully constructed pile of bricks.

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I am Moving to Morocco!

No, really, I am.

I have been tormenting my friends and acquaintances for days now with cryptic comments about exciting new developments in my mundane little life, and the day has finally come when I can shout it from the rooftops: I’m moving!

I just signed a two-year teaching contract with an international school in the legendary city of Casablanca. I’ll be teaching music to students from Kindergarten to Grade 5: my dream job, my dream climate, my dream of dreams in every way.

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Hello, Good-bye: A Tribute to Lady Diana

Diana_Birrell-150x150How old are you?!” asked Diana Birrell incredulously, as we sat together on the upper level of a British double decker, touring the streets of York. I was in a “new” country, feeling bewildered, and worrying that my mom would be worrying about me. “What’s the equivalent of 911 in England?” I wanted to know. “Where do I lock up my passport, what do I do if I get lost, and is there really blood in this pudding?” I felt these were perfectly valid concerns for a timid traveller, but not Diana had no such qualms. A wee trip to England was just a tiny slice of her very adventurous life.

Diana, you see, had moved thirteen times by the time she was nineteen years old. Her British parents had hauled her around the globe as they moved from one engineering project to the next, punctuated by visits to Lebanon, the Mediterranean, England, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. “They took us to see some pretty stupendous places,” she recalls. I suppose that for someone who experienced Mount Everest by horseback at 4:00 a.m. as a child, a little bus ride in a quaint British town is hardly a major life event. . .

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Happy New Year from the Regehrs and the Bretzlaffs!

Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings from tepid Kingsville, where the Regehrs and Bretzlaffs have gathered to celebrate a green and drizzly Christmas. The task of chronicling our activities will be a simple one this year, since 2014 was not all that different from 2013 for most of us. Charmaine and I continue in our teaching positions at our respective schools, Dave continues his church work, Mary continues her grandmothering and volunteer work, and Nathan and Jocelyn continue with their teenage lives of school, hockey, and socializing. Really, there are just a few minor variations to note.

On the teaching front, I now teach Grade 1/2 part-time at Jack Callaghan Public School, and Charmaine teaches Grade 1 at South Shore Christian School. We both agree that, despite their relative helplessness, the wee ones are a hoot to teach. I have left my morning music position at Rhema Christian School and expanded my piano teaching schedule at home. I have a special affinity for teaching theory, and am blessed this year with a number of super-keen students who share my unnatural fascination with the circle of fifths. What a delightful way to spend five days a week.

Dave continues to minister at South Point Community Church, a contemporary Mennonite Brethren congregation in Leamington. In an age of religious conflict and church splits, the people at South Point have taken a step toward unity, and are celebrating a merger with the congregation of Calvary Baptist Church. The two groups had been sharing a building for some time, and now enjoy a combined service under Dave’s leadership.

Mary continues to volunteer at the MCC thrift shop in Leamington when she is not busy attending her grandchildren’s hockey, soccer, baseball or basketball games. Nathan is 16 and will soon be driving himself to the arena, where he spends time on the ice as both a goalie and a referee. I’m not sure how Jocelyn (13) feels about having her big brother ref her games, but she continues to thrive in sports, music and academics.

I continue my involvement with my choir, church, and synchronized swimming team; Charmaine keeps busy with her fitness classes, books, and puzzles; Dave belongs to a group of avid motorcyclists, who built him a bike in exchange for snacks; most of us enjoy a rousing game of Monopoly or soccer; and some of us have even been on a date or two this year.

As always, we are thankful for your warm and welcome presence in our lives, and think of you fondly throughout the year. All the best in 2015!

Love,

Natasha, Mary, Dave, Charmaine, Nathan and Jocelyn

Hoop & Scoop

I’ve been waiting all year for the first big snow event of the season, so I could pull out this quirky little tale from 2011.  Somehow, hula hoops just seem to find me everywhere…

It was a bleak Sunday afternoon in February, and, as always, I returned home from my weekend away to find my driveway full of snow.  I made short work of the easy stuff, then began hacking away at the glowering blob of half-frozen plow poop at the end of the driveway.  The snowbanks on either side of my driveway are currently at shoulder height, so flipping the slop casually off to the side is out of the question.  I sometimes shove the more watery stuff out onto the road for the rest of the city to look after, but this requires stealth, ingenuity, and a great deal of restraint.  No, today’s job would require that I get out the big guns: The Scoop.

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On Criticism

I was fortunate today to attend an inspiring writer’s workshop with a pretty welcoming and inclusive crowd; my first such experience, however, was not quite so affirming.  Here’s a brash little tale about a critic from my rather distant past.

She trundles into class on the first day and everyone acknowledges her with an affectionate respect. I wonder why.

The first thing is her posture. It plots with her rather unremarkable clothing to create a bag lady effect. I feel sorry for her. How brave of her to come. Continue reading

2014 Gratitude List

You may have noticed a funny little game going around on Facebook, whereby people nominate each other to share a few things for which they are thankful.  The challenge is to “post three things you’re grateful for each day for seven days.”

I say, PSHAW.  That’s no challenge at all.  I’ve done that, week after week, year after year, since 2007, without repeating anything.*

It gets a little tricky to do that for seven years running, so I’ll modify the challenge for all of you novices out there:  Can you muster up 365 consecutive days of gratitude, and post your list next Thanksgiving?

I did! So here, without further ado, is my (minimally censored) 2014 Gratitude List:

The sun came out and warmed me up

I got an extra hour outside

I made the soup yesterday

Gloria is okay

I made it to the end of this emotionally unsavoury day

And tomorrow will be different

My back yard at night, with stars and wisps of clouds. It gives me cause for deep breaths and solace.

Children who stay home to vomit… Continue reading

Singing On

Joyce Barrett was known to thousands as a physician, author, and social justice activist; but to 100 of her closest friends, Joyce was known most intimately and laudably as a singer.

After twenty-five years of capable and impassioned service in the field of obstetrics, Joyce retired in 1997 and revived a lifelong interest in choral music. She had devotedly taken her young children and grandchildren to performances of Handel’s Messiah every Christmas, and finally decided that it was her turn to sing this immortal work. She joined the Peterborough Singers with her daughter, Liza, in 1999.

Fourteen years later, dozens of Joyce’s fellow choristers slipped out of the concert hall and flocked to her bedside to join her in her final “Amen Chorus”. . .

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