Janelle
Morning Coffee
By Janelle Ross Almost every morning he makes the coffee: grinds the beans, pours boiling water into the French press, and waits until just the right moment to drop the plunger. He picks a cup for me from the cupboard. If it’s clean, he chooses the brown one that says You are a Courageous Woman. I’ve never asked him why. He pours the coffee and splashes in some cream, the real thing, full of fat and flavour. If I’m in the kitchen with him, I watch the white liquid swirl into the brown, and this comforting routine, established over time,…
Read MoreThere’s Always a Tree
By Janelle Ross I love Genesis; I really do. Honestly, I could preach a thousand sermons from those in the beginning pages. I mean, that first verse… In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Wow. Like, wow. So, first He made time because all of a sudden there is a beginning where before there had only been… timelessness… and then He made stuff where there had not been any stuff before. Time where there hadn’t been time, and stuff where there hadn’t been stuff. Followed by the details, redefining and refining the expanse into diverse spaces, then…
Read MoreMessy
By Janelle Ross A hundred years ago, back when I was inching my way out of the nest and learning how to use my fresh wings, I worked in the field of computers. Actually, I went to Bible college, spent a couple of years in Australia, came home and worked a bit, started a General Arts degree with a major in French (merci beaucoup) and switched to a technical degree in computer programming at a now-defunct college. Then, I worked in the field of computers. I helped the government keep track of the students attending elementary, junior high, and high…
Read MoreThe Business of Living
In the midst of all my after-Christmas cleaning, while I’m wiping out the cupboards and using up the leftovers in the fridge, I buy a bird cage. I don’t own a bird. I don’t have plans to acquire a bird. In fact, I’ve been on a simplify-my-life kick for a while now, and I think long and hard about the purchases I make. I am not in the habit of buying useless birdcages, that’s for sure. It’s been a puzzle. I’ve looked at that cage, sitting there on my bookshelf among the photographs of my children and the prayer book…
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