isobelmtl

Writing under a Montreal sky

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Isobel Cunningham has published short fiction and poetry. Her book, Northern Compass is available on Amazon. She was born in Wales but Montreal is her adopted home. She speaks French, Modern Greek ( it’s a fun story) and a little Spanish…oh, English too, of course. She welcomes comments on her blog and looks forward to chatting with you over cyber-space.

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  • The Sun

      From these pictures you have an idea of how the glass sculpture in front of the Montreal Museum is mounted for the summer and put away for the winter.  Dale Chihuly is the master glass creator who made this piece.  It was bought following a spectacular exhibition at the Museum a few years ago.…

  • A Visitor in the Garden

          What a long time since I wrote…..almost ten days. We had a long weekend. It used to be called Victoria Day and then that didn’t seem quite right for Quebec and so it was called Dollard des Ormeaux Day and then someone found outs that DDO, far from being an upholder of…

  • Keep the Faith

      Remember that saying from way back?  Too far back for some you, right?  How about, “Hang in there!”  Persistence, I guess that’s what it boils down to. I cut this branch of lilac from the tree in my backyard on a dismal and grey day when the mist looked suspiciously like tiny snowflakes and…

  • Youth and Hope

        I’m sure Adam grumbled to Eve about how the younger generation had totally gone off the rails and that there was no hope for them.  When you come to think of it, he did have a bit of a point…Cain and Abel, you know? This is a theme with us more mature types.…

  • Flowers have a Meaning too

      Here in Montreal our winters are long and hard.  Winter does not retreat easily.  He hangs on month after month, week after week.  We tear off pages on the calendar and fool ourselves that “soon…next week……on the weekend” it will be milder, sunnier, warmer.  It takes a long time for these wishes, these hopes…

  • A Happy Surprise

      Many thanks to Barbara Black and Rene Robitaille, editors of Contact 26, the magazine of the guides of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.  They  kindly gave a full-page feature to my poem “Cold Bronze”.  This piece was inspired by the statues “In memoriam  I”and “In memoriam II”  by Elisabeth Frink. These works stand…

  • Old favourites …and a new star

      The first day of tulips.  On Thursday I saw showy magnolias for the first time in my town , open and, already falling, falling.  Today in the little city back garden my tulips opened and with them a beauty I have been wondering about for weeks.  Would it survive two significant snowfalls after a…

  • The National Archives of Quebec

      Officially a nerd, my heart thrilled to the idea of a visit to the National Archives of Quebec right here in Montreal.  Libraries, cemeteries, museums, old industrial  buildings, bring them on!  I could spend hours poking around in those places.  A kind friend of mine, who turns out to be a big historical researcher,…

  • At the Museum – Pompeii

      It is a long time since I wrote.  I was very busy with Pascha, singing at  many of the beautiful Holy Week services.  On Holy Saturday I had a wonderful warm and sunny day with my grandchildren and we dyed traditional red eggs.  Many of the neighborhood children were facinated and surprised to see…

  • Breaking a Rule

      I thought I had a rule not to write about religion.  Perhaps the rule is an illusion, though.  Many times I write about flowers or trees or birds.  The sky, insects, snow or rain have all featured here.  All these things are a manifestation of the divine, I think.  So, it should not be…