Sandy's Global Eyes

Late December 2018

Based on the previous blog post, you now understand why I am late posting this. But I’ll work hard to catch up again 🙂 Leaving all the snow, -19 degree temperatures, and definite winter conditions of Burns Lake and Prince George to arrive to rain and wind storms of Vancouver Island was initially a bit of a shock. But we settled into stopping leaks, piling branches and preparing for Christmas.

Mom arrived on the bus from Port Hardy the day after we returned to Nanaimo. It was a lovely reunion for us all. We even saw Port Hardy friends and ex students when we went out for dinner one night.

Christmas day was quiet with only 3 of us this year.

After Christmas we enjoyed visiting friends–from Assisted Living situations to celebrations of tiny new babies.

Joy is connecting! Congrats to one of my young colleagues, Amanda. Leif is so handsome and cuddly!

When the rains ceased…It was so lovely to explore the trails and spend much needed time with mom and then alone with my hubby, by the ocean, once again. I always miss my son (in Thailand),  my brother (in Prince George), nieces and nephews all over in Ontario, and cousins and family all in Australia! Mark’s family is also in the lower mainland and throughout Alberta. It’s a time of the year when it sure hits home that our loved ones are all around the globe. Happy holidays and Happy New Year 2019 with love to you all!

January 2019

Before I ever heard of Tiger Woods…the only famous athlete I knew named “Tiger” was my Uncle Harold in Tasmania! He was a sports icon down under (under) in Tasmania for Cycling and Aussie Rules Footie…I haven’t been able to write this blog post for a month…I’m ready now.

My Uncle Harold brought smiles, love and laughter to so many. He always made us feel important and he cherished family. He listened, loved, played hard, and worked even harder. His expectations were extremely high….but we all worked so hard to meet them and make him proud. 🙂

He adored footie and was so proud of his son and grandsons who excelled in this sport. He also loved golf (ironically!). Uncle Harold was mom’s only sibling (and younger brother). She phoned and connected with him regularly. They always had a special, loving kinship. We even traveled over to Tasmania to surprise him on his 80th birthday on Halloween, 2017. I’ll never forget his reaction when he saw mom in the elevator that night!

As an uncle….Tiger couldn’t be beat! He made me laugh and always made me feel important to him. He was warm, welcoming, and always an imp! Never a dull moment with Harold.

This Christmas was quiet (just my husband, mom and I) and challenging as mom lost her only brother, and I lost my last remaining (and oh so special uncle), on Dec. 21st, 2018.  Uncle Harold, or Tiger Dowling, as he was known in the Australian Sports circles–particularly in Tasmania–sadly lost his battle with cancer. RIP Uncle Harold…You will be deeply missed… but your sparkling eyes, quick smile and wit, and heavy punch in the arm accompanied by “little matie” will always be near and dear to my heart.

Love you Uncle Harold forever and always xoxo

Bonding and connecting is crucially important to me in life…it really is the blood that pulses through my veins.

 

 

December 22nd, 2018

It’s been nearly 4 months since I was last at home in Nanaimo and I was really looking forward to relaxing and spending time with Mark and mom. Burns Lake is over a 1,000 km away and we were exhausted after the long trip home. (Although Mark was pretty pumped sitting in the front with the pilot on the final flight over to Vancouver Island).

What what we discovered when the taxi pulled into our driveway was shocking! We had heard of the Hurricane force winds that hit Nanaimo 2 days before we arrived home, but we were lucky…we had power! However, as the insurance appraiser stated when he arrived…”Catastrophic!”

Well…Actually we were grateful that we did not sustain even more damage and we were still able to stay in our house after Mark temporarily plugged the roof holes in the house and the cabana. Our property is surrounded by many very tall evergreens on adjacent properties. One large branch speared through the roof until it hit a 2×4. It’s still stuck in there! Our 130 foot trees were still standing. Mark’s truck hood was dented, but still ran fine. Massive tree branches and broken brush could be hauled out and removed. However, our plans for January and February were changed completely now.  Ah well….2 days until Christmas. There was much to be done. We started immediately!

December 21st, 2018

The last day of school prior to Christmas break was Friday, December 21st–Also known as winter solstice! The temperature on the shortest day of the year was brisk… -19.5 degrees Celsius, but beautiful! I started out on morning duty at 8:05 a.m. with many students trying to come inside while administration reminded them “No. It’s not below -20 degrees. The final day was lovely, students were reading, making crafts and lounging as it was p.j. day at school.

After school I rushed to my “home base”, parked my vw, then Mark and I pulled our cases along the icy sidewalks to the Chevron gas station which doubles as the local “bus depot”.  The roads were really slippery and the bus driver left early!

After a quick visit with my brother in PG, we flew the remaining distance home the following day.

The first flight from PG to YVR (Vancouver) was full. The second flight was a small Harbour Air plane and Mark got to sit up front as co pilot! 🙂 as we flew over the water to Vancouver Island.

When we finally arrived in Nanaimo, we were in for quite a shock!

Mid December 2018

Short days, long nights, frozen lakes, and lots of snow! It must be December in most of Canada! However, being a Vancouver Island gal this is a new experience for me!

My hands and face are drier than I’ve ever experienced and my fingers keep splitting around the nails. But the low temperatures are quite tolerable, which surprises me;  as the damp cold from the coast (with added wind factor) often chills my bones more than this crisp cold–so far!  I keep being told it is a mild winter so far, so my opinions may well change in the coming months.

Meanwhile, I have purchased an annual membership to the Omineca cross country ski club; and ice fishing and snow shoeing with friends are on my bucket list. The bears are hibernating, the moose population is low this year, and there are NO MOSQUITOES! Wahoo!

 

December 2018

I haven’t added blog posts for a few weeks due to a number of reasons…But I am now ready to return to my computer keyboard and photo collection. There is much to share on this adventure of life!

This blog post is about the beauty of the first big snow fall to hit Burns Lake area.

Around the winter solstice (December 21st) the days grew so short that morning duty occurred in the dark! My duty starts at 8:05 a.m. so I had the opportunity to watch as the sun rose and shared its spectrum of beautiful color and soft hues and enhanced the sparkle on the snow flakes and snow banks around me.  Students are not permitted to go inside the school buildings here unless the temperature (at the bus shop) reaches -20 Celsius or lower. We reached -19.5 degrees one morning….but apparently it was not low enough in sd91!

One school has about 6 snow shovels which are really popular with some of the energetic students as they help clear sidewalks and areas around the school grounds. I am learning about different types of materials to melt snow. Lava rock type material is really popular at one school.

Snowballs are not permitted, but snow people and snow forts are popular structures in our fields.

I have plugged in my vehicle at the house a few times when temperatures drop below -15, but I haven’t used the vehicle heater plug ins in the parking lots at school yet. I find that many staff depart earlier up here. I think it is partly due to the early darkness. When it gets dark about 4:00 p.m. it’s not much fun walking home on slippery streets that are narrow and not well lit! However, others dash off to go skating on the frozen lakes or enjoy outdoor activities before we lose the light. It’s great to see so much enthusiasm and involvement in outdoor activity up here. I have added several outdoor activities on my bucket list during my time teaching up in the Burns Lake area.

December 20th, 2018

Another first for me was attending Christmas concerts in the afternoon. Both schools in Burns Lake held their Christmas concerts at 1:00 p.m. and the gyms were packed with very appreciative parents and families.  Today was Decker Elementary’s concert. Wow!

Original songs were written by students in partnership with local musician Rachelle van Zanten. In the grade 1/2 class one young student played the violin while others accompanied on xylophones and FN drums. There was variety from poetry to original and classic songs, from candle lit Hallelujah to Dancing with the Stars type variety show checking talent at the North Pole. It was fun and entertaining. You could feel that Christmas was approaching quickly–especially when the following day was P.J. day at school!

December 10–14th, 2018

As any teacher in a Canadian public school system will inform you….December is one busy time of the year!!! Report Cards, Book Fairs, Crafts for parents, Excitement of the pending holiday break, and Christmas concerts fill the days and many evenings in December!

Working at two different schools means double the excitement and long, stressful rising action period prior to the Christmas break. There is a hum of activity and rarely a moment to reflect or peacefully breathe during this period. Tension definitely exists and it is so important to be a collaborative, team player. Having an appreciative Principal who encourages laughter each day, really helps keep the environment positive and staff functioning as a team. What a delightful surprise to find this card and token waiting for me in my office mailbox! Even Brat, the cat I’m house sitting, sat up to reflect and notice!  🙂

There are so many wonderful initiatives at the schools I am working at in Burns Lake. One, is the Honor Tree at the front entrance of both schools. Brenda Levick and 4 of her children were killed in a tragic car accident a few years ago. She was the FN Support Worker at WKE who was extremely generous and made sure people in need had warm clothes and food. In her honor, there is a large tree in the entrance where we placed mitts hats, etc. and at the base we collected food items for those in need.

The Christmas concerts at both elementary schools were quite amazing! WKE had a section for the K/1 classes, then the grade 3/4 (including French Immersion) sang in dual languages, many classes performed in the complex musical “The Grinch”, which was followed by a percussion (recycled plastic bins) rhythm band! Nearly all staff were involved from creating costumes, make-up, acting, sets, etc. but the performance was led by our fearless (and very funny) Vice-Principal Marion Mills. Decker was equally amazing and I will have a separate post for that concert and the performances by Rachelle van Zanten–local musican.

Meanwhile in the Learning Commons, a maker-space activity which nearly went viral for popularity was making God’s Eyes! I went through masses of wool and Popsicle sticks and I’m pretty certain most homes in Burns Lake will have some God’s Eyes hanging on their Christmas trees this year!

These 2 boys were so proud of their collection!

December 7th & 9th, 2018

In addition to Book Fairs, Report Cards, and Christmas Concert practices SD91 held a grade 6 and 7 volleyball tournament hosted by Decker. The school gym and intermediate wing were overflowing with teams and parents from Burns Lake, Decker Lake, Francois Lake, Grassy Plains, and an independent FN school. Life here is never dull! As a person with very limited skill at volleyball, watching the students serve and volley made me reflect about how lousy I was at this sport at their age, and how I was one of ‘those’ players who rarely made a serve over the net. There were some really talented young athletes there, but what impressed me most was how supportive and encouraging the students were to all athletes–gifted and emerging! I added a photo of part of my Decker Learning Commons after my “helpers” finished decorating!

On Sunday, I attended the “Annual Christmas Concert” by the Lakes District Community Choir and Friends. The performance was held at the Immaculata church in Burns Lake and included the local Burns Lake community choir, as well as a 4 piece brass quartet, and the Chambermaids–a choir from the Francois Lake area. My principal and one classroom teacher from Decker Elementary were members of the choir. It was a lovely performance from challenging classical songs to religious and more modern carols. There was a sing-a-long section near the end of the second half where audience members were invited up into the 4 vocal sections to join in with Handel’s Hallelujah. I was invited up and joined the alto section. I haven’t needed to sight sing the auto harmony in a 4 voice choir in over a decade! It was fun and I actually hit most of the notes accurately….I think?? 🙂

The final song was A Lakes District 12 Days of Christmas….  I happen to have a copy….

12–rolls of duct tape

11–Lotto Tickets

10–loaves of fruit cake

9–cords of Jack Pine

8–Months of Netflix

7–Pounds of Coffee

6–Cans of Trout Bait  (What the heck is trout bait?) It’s for ice fishing, of course!

5–Great big moose (cut, wrapped and frozen)

4–Sides of bacon

3–Kids with shovels

2–Sharpened chain saws … and …

1–A grouse sitting in a Spruce Tree…..

As I walked home in the dark…I sang happily and enjoyed the white frost and bright starry sky above me. Happy Holidays Everybody!

December 4th, 2018

I knew this birthday was going to be different with no family or close friends nearby…but I didn’t realize how melancholy I would feel. I thought all would be fine, and I would embrace the day as just another day in the year. I was busy. I was prepared for this. I was used to having my only son across the globe in Thailand and my relies in Australia. No big deal….so I thought 🙁 However, as this day progressed I learned that nothing quite replaces the smiles, hugs, love, and laughter of those who are most dear in your life.  Lessons are gifts and I guess that was my most profound gift this year.

However, I did experience many, many things to be grateful for… I had 2 beautiful displays of flowers delivered to my school WKE from my husband and my mother with very touching cards. The school announced my birthday on the morning P.A. The grade 1/2 class sang to me. Some of my Learning Commons Leaders came to pass on greetings at recess. The Book Fair was packed and kept me busy throughout the day. I received more messages from friends and family than I should ever deserve on FB, email, and phone. A colleague took me out for a special coffee and treat.

But possibly the most surprising birthday experience, which touched me so deeply, was a birthday card from 2 very special ex students which was waiting in my mailbox at my second school, Decker Elementary. These 2 boys had researched where I was working, and sent me a most touching card. Samuel and David…you warmed my heart and reminded me how lucky I have been to be an educator for nearly 35 years!  Another birthday has come and gone. My plan is to be with family and loved ones from now on!

Love, laughter, and best wishes to anybody having birthdays in the near future!