I Fear For Ukraine. And For The West, Quite Frankly.

Three years ago today, Russia invaded Ukraine. The brutal war has taken a heavy toll and that toll is not over yet. I'm sickened by the whole one-sided "peace negotiation" farce going on between Trump and Putin, with Ukraine excluded from any meaningful participation.

Having already been rebuffed about his attempted extortion of Ukraine's mineral rights, Trump is now clearly spreading Russian lies with great glee as he prepares to betray Ukraine.

It's obvious that the USA can no longer be viewed or trusted as an ally by anyone in the West. NATO, Canada and Europe must protect themselves because they will be next in Trump's cross-hairs. It also seems clear to me that Trump and Putin have entered an alliance like Hitler and Stalin did before World War II. None of this bodes well.

Friday Face OFF -- Young Hare

For this week's Friday Face OFF link party

of art featuring faces, hosted by Nicole of

DVArtist, Art, Food, Gardening blog . . .

From Ye Olde Cobwebby Archives

comes this charcoal drawing I did

fifty-one years ago in 1974

when I was still in high school.

Positively yellow with age it is!

At that time I was an absolute fanatic for Renaissance Art.

One of my favourites was this piece by the

German artist Albrecht Durer -- "Young Hare, 1502."

Doing a "sort and cull" recently on a battered box

of ancient stuff belonging to my Mom, I found

my old drawing again, saved by her all those years.

So now I'm sharing it with you!

[Art © Debra She Who Seeks, 1974;

Photo of Art © Debra She Who Seeks, 2025]

Is It Summer Yet?

Take Off, Eh?

This Blog Is Flying the Canadian Flag Today!

Sixty years ago on February 15, 1965, Canada officially adopted its current flag as our national emblem. It was a big deal and I remember it very well. I was in Grade 2 at the time and we spent weeks using up all our red crayons to colour endless mimeographed copies of our new flag.

The new flag was one more step in Canada's evolution away from Britain. Since Confederation in 1867, our flag had been the Red Ensign, with its emphasis on the Union Jack, English, Scottish and Irish settlers, French settlers, and some maple leaf symbolism:

Apart from the Canadian Flag's 60th anniversary, Canadians are being asked today to display our flag in front of our homes, on our balconies, in our windows, on our vehicles, and everywhere else, for another reason as well.

Canadian leaders have called for a national mass display of the flag this weekend to demonstrate our unity in the face of the Trump administration's threats, bullying and intimidation tactics against our economy and especially against our sovereignty as an independent country.

I don't have an actual flag to put on my balcony, so I'm flying a virtual one here on my blog instead.

And what the hell, since I'm being patriotic anyway, here's a video of the incomparable Ginette Reno singing O Canada in French and English at a Montreal Canadiens hockey game a few years ago too.

Happy Valentines / Galentines / Palentines Day!

February Full Moon Altar: Sedna

This month's altar honours the Inuit form of the Divine Feminine, Sedna, Goddess of the Sea and of Marine Mammals. There are many versions of Sedna's creation myth, but they all involve her vengeful father chopping off Sedna's fingers as she clings to his kayak in the Arctic sea where he has thrown her. Sedna sinks down deep into the frigid water, where she grows a whale's tail as she morphs into a mighty sea goddess. Her severed fingers become the marine mammals (seals, walruses, whales) on which the Inuit people rely for food. If Sedna becomes angry and withholds her food source animals from hunters, Inuit shamans perform a hair-combing ritual to please and placate her since, lacking fingers, she cannot comb her own hair.

This lovely soapstone carving is by Lisa Douziech, an Edmonton carver, which I bought about a year ago. I don't know if the artist intended the carving to represent Sedna, but that's who it is to me. The fibre-optic tea lights with their ever-changing colours are meant to represent the Northern Lights of the Arctic.

The altar cloth is a quilted panel created by the quilters' group at an Edmonton seniors' recreation centre where I take art and poetry classes. I placed Sedna and the candles off to the side so as not to obscure its beautiful Arctic scene.

[Photos © Debra She Who Seeks, 2025]