Christmas is Coming, Ready or Not!

Not I would have to confess...though I am ready as I am going to get before flying out this Friday afternoon.

Procrastination is my worst habit...

However, Christmas is coming and life here in Northern Ontario has been nothing but fun as the community prepares for the holidays.

Here are just a few highlights and well wishes from our family to yours.

Add caption

First of all, it is refreshing to be able to decorate for Christmas in school. Here is our classroom door (the second Christmas-themed one) and our class bulletin board.

Then there was the Elder's Dinner that my friend and I attended:

Me and my friend Cathy enjoying the season. 

It's all about perspective. 

The gym at school is a multi-use facility. 

And of course there was a staff dinner, complete with a visit from HO HO herself.

Santa Claus had a picture taken with everyone at the staff dinner. 

My friend and I helped at a funeral by being "Marthas" in the kitchen. We prepared the fruit salad and the bannock.

My first go at baking bannock. 

Everyone helped to cut up the fruit. 

And of course, I am smitten with the environment here. The snow came in October. Not too little, Not too much. Just right, so far!

Walking in the snow is exhilarating

The Albany River is in the background. 

Loving the sugary looking snow!

The school is in the background. 

 And finally, the sky! From sunrise to sunset the sky is always spectacular. As winter solstice arrives this week and coincides with our last day of school before the Christmas holidays, I realize that I have never lived anywhere where the sun is so low in the sky during the winter season. The days are short and sweet, the nights are long and lovely, thanks to good books and Netflix.

Daily sunrises captivate 

Just one picture of the beautiful sky scene

As the Christmas Season rolls around, and I am spending this year in Canada, you would think that I would have my Christmas cards written and mailed out. It was not to be as there is not one stamp available at the Fort Albany Post Office. So my plan is to send the link to this blog to people who are in touch via Facebook, Instagram and email.

If you have gotten this far, then I can safely bid you a very Merry Christmas holiday and a very, very Happy New Year.

Here are two lessons I have learned this year; I am sharing them because they certainly enlightened my life and lightened my load. Not bad for an elder!

Lesson #1 - My husband is that special someone! 

Lesson #2- It's okay to say "no" when necessary. 

Happy holidays and until next time,

Bee Rich

Christmas Countdown

Stars among the snowflakes

Just one month from today it will be Christmas Day!

How can that be? It is what it is.

Where does time go? It goes by.

How does it go by so quickly? I think the older you get the fast time goes.

I have recently been reminded of the importance of living in the moment by focusing on the present, not worrying about the future and not feeling guilty about the past.

So really then what is the point of recalling what has happened? Why write about past and anticipated events?

My optimism believes that if my musings entertain just one person or writing things down acts as a catalyst for growth, then it is worthy of sharing with others.

I do like keeping in touch, but perhaps a blog post is not the best vehicle.

What ever happened to telephone calls, mailed and delivered letters or just plain sit down face-to-face discussion about ideas?

Perhaps these forms of communication are not gone forever, just on the back burner, saved for special holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day and Easter.

Nonetheless, I find myself with a little extra time on a Sunday morning. My planning for the week is already on my desk at school. I have caught up on housework and laundry and cooking. So with this extra time I am compelled to write about the past two weeks in a Northern Ontario town.

What do all Canadians talk about on a daily basis? The weather. This was one day earlier in the week or perhaps the week before:

And yes it was cold. So cold that I wore long underwear, protective outerwear, warm clothes in between and even pulled out a fur hat. The walk to work was exciting and I was thrilled to arrive with rosy cheeks and the satisfaction of a warming hike. And it is promising to be even colder later in December and January. I can handle to weather. The good news is that when the temperature reaches -25 C (not wind chill related) the children are brought inside at school and teachers don't have to stand out on yard duty.

The view outside my classroom window 

An early-ish arrival at work usually begins with the reward of a beautiful sunrise. As the days get shorter between now and the first day of Winter, the sunrise will occur later and later and the colder clearer days will bring more amazing colours.

Another sky phenomenon is the night time stars, especially on a moonless and clear night. Amazing. This past week we experienced the most beautiful full moon, which brightened the snow pathways through the bushes and put a sparkle on the snowy landscape.

A bit fuzzy, this picture, but you get the idea

And then like that, the weather changed. Temperatures above zero and bits of rain cause the snow to soften, melt and cooling temperatures created rink like conditions on the roads. Walking became a little more dangerous. As I broke my leg last summer, I realize that a little slip can cause damage to this ageing body, so I have been extra cautious lately.

The best part of melting snow though, is the ability to build snow people. Early yesterday morning, after sweeping the wet stuff off the front deck, I tested the snow. Sure enough it was perfectly sticky for making huge wet snowballs. The result was captured in the predawn light.

Early morning snow visitor

What I did not notice at the time was the slight backward lean of the whole construction. By the time I got home from work, this is how it looked:

Oops! Three little piles of snow! 

 The whole point of building snow people for me is the moment to moment. The joyous discovery that the snow is sticky. The damp excitement of rolling snow through the fresh wet slush. The determined effort of lifting one heavy snowball on top of another. The run to the fridge to find the just right carrot. The child like satisfaction of observing the finished product, knowing that with warming temperatures and predicted rain, the snow person will not be around forever.

Sunday morning comforts

Now as I recall the moments, I smile. I do hope that your days between now and 2019 are filled with special moments with your family and friends. 

Until next time, 

Bee Rich

Remembrance Day in the North

It is not getting any warmer!  -13 degrees C

This morning was sunny, clear and cold. It was great to get out and about dressed for the weather. It is Remembrance Day in Canada. Tomorrow is a statutory holiday for teachers so today was spent with a little school work, a little R and R and now a little update.

Our Literacy Committee at school organized a writing contest for the students. The work was posted in the gym and as classes entered the room, they were invited on a "gallery walk" to see the posters, poems, songs and stories written by our students. The walls were also decorated with collaborative works of art from each of the classes.

Following the walk, classes sat on the floor to participate in the Remembrance Day assembly/ceremony on Friday morning. Other than a few of the smaller students running around, we were able to observe two minutes of silence after viewing a beautiful video honouring indigenous veterans.

I have a very small class (with only 11 students) and for the Literacy Contest, they were challenged to write a journal entry about Remembrance Day. One of my students won a prize.

A good effort!

   Here are a few pictures of my classroom, taken on Friday afternoon after clean up.  We are working on cooperation and collaboration as well as responsibility. Our next unit is all about Rocks and Minerals. There are lots of them to be found here..

Chairs stacked and put away. 

Native Storytelling Rug

The weather on Saturday was windy, snowy and cold. I walked to school to do some preparation, and then worked in the kitchen for the Fall Bazaar. Learning something new each day, I french fried potatoes- washing, cutting (with a french fry maker) and deep frying. The kitchen workers prepared and delivered hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, fries and poutine, some to be eaten in the gym, and some "to go". Great fun.

The following pictures were taken this morning as I walked to the cemetery, where usually the town has a Remembrance Day service. This year was an exception with no service, but I was curious and, as I wrote earlier, the sun was shining.The only challenge to the picture taking was that my phone went dead a few times due to the cold.

Planning my route on google maps...home is the blue dot

Ground level view of our row of houses

A street on the way to the cemetery (not where we are living)

Crosses in abundance

The view of the river on the way home

So later in the day I was checking emails, and this picture came up from a friend in the south. Not sure if you can read it, but it is touching.

An interesting message

. 

Wishing you peace in your world, until next time, 

Bee Rich

Novembrrrrrrr

The title says it all.  It's cold outside here in this Northern Ontario town, close to the Albany River and James Bay. Daily temperatures range from -2 to +2 degrees C. Fortunately my system that adapted to life in Egypt, Saint Maarten, India and Kuwait is now adapting to much colder temperatures. And I like it!  The air is fresh and crisp and the mud is now mostly frozen over. Life is good. So I cannot complain!

Icy puddle

Time is passing very quickly. This past weekend was spent writing progress report cards. It is a new program for me which I thought was fairly straightforward. Fortunately I did get them done in time. Unfortunately there is a small glitch in the program which caused last year's report comments to be included along with my own. Fortunately, although today was the due date, there is flexibility and I still have time to figure it out.

Another delightful part of the weekend was an early Sunday morning walk along Riverside Road. There is nothing like fresh air and silence to clear the mind and prepare for a day on the computer. The following are some of the pictures captured on this morning adventure.

Garden boxes

Halloween leftovers

Converted horse trailer

Crispy fresh morning

The Albany River

Saw mill

Trees overlooking the river

Trailer

Wood near river

After  the beautiful walk, I settled in to writing report card subject area comments to go along with the grades. Have you ever heard of a SNAFU? Well I experienced one of them on Sunday when I went to copy my Word document comments on the report card program. For some unknown reason the children's comments from last year were still on the new reports and everything was a muddle. So I stopped, took the pressure off myself and thought to myself, This too shall pass. The problem is beyond me to fix. Fortunately almost every other teacher had the same challenge so it is system wide, and hopefully will be fixed soon.

Returning to school on Monday was a treat. There was a presentation by a group called Mining Matters which was all about rocks, minerals and mining. The students were engaged for one full day with lots of fun activities including Mining a Cookie. It was even more fun than it sounds! In the evening on Tuesday the same group did a community presentation which was a hands-on workshop using soapstone (talc) and amethyst (my birthstone). I went along with 50 other community members and really enjoyed the carving and jewelry making.

A morning message

This week is Remembrance Day week with lots of language and math activities related to Remembrance Day. Did you know that November 8 is Indigenous Remembrance Day? I did not know that, proving once again that you can learn something new every day! Our Literacy Committee is holding a writing contest and the winners will be invited to display or read their work at the Remembrance Day assembly on Friday morning. Then on Sunday, November 11, the community will be having a ceremony for the residents. 

I am getting ahead of myself. Today was also a special day- Diwali- the festival of light that is celebrated in India. This message is to my friends and former colleagues from India, sent to me by one of my favourite teachers in India:

I love the sentiment of this message. A colleague here is from India and she describes the holiday as very much like we celebrate Christmas. Speaking of which, there are not many school days left before the Winter holidays...30 in fact. Before you know it I will be winging my way south to Timmins, Toronto, Newark and Orlando to join my family for a Christmas Disney vacation. Not sure if I can stand the heat; however, it is something grand for which to look forward!

In the meantime, I am well. I am enjoying the work, my colleagues, my home away from home and the daily walks to and from work. I regularly take a "longcut" to school and come by some interesting sights. This morning I was surprised by a road closure that blocked my normal route. The new snow made it quite lovely. Fortunately, the alternate path around was not too difficult and I managed to get to work in plenty of time to settle in for another day of teaching.

So happy to be writing from Canada!

Until next time,

Bee Rich

Autumn Skies, Masks and Halloween

Snow sprinkled on the railings. 

Week five in a Northern town. I am settling in. I am hosting dinner today for some of the younger teachers- roast pork, sweet potatoes, carrots, onions and other veggies from the market and some muffins baked at home. They all have been so kind to me, I thought they might  appreciate a home made meal.

The exciting news is that I bought Tim Horton's coffee for half price at the Northern Store. The bad news is that drinking it gives me an awful headache, so I will have to really cut back on the coffee consumption. I have also bought two containers of Tim's Hot Chocolate, which I adore.

I am enjoying the house and with company coming decided to do some serious cleaning, including sweeping, washing windows and dusting. It feels nice to sit down in a relatively clean space, pull out my new laptop and reflect on the week that was.

The weather has been pretty fine. Highs of 3-4 C and lows of minus 3-4 C. It is sunny today, though often cloudy with a chance of flurries. Not much accumulation compared to what has fallen this weekend in Maberly. My poor husband had to shovel this morning.

Here are a few pictures of the Northern Ontario daytime sky, captured on my phone:

Add caption

A sunrise

During sunrise the trees behind the school are often lit up with the morning rays.

Sun on trees

Snow on trees

The school has an interesting aerial view. Part of that view includes a giant Dreamcatcher, a First Nations net-type circle that gives their children only pleasant dreams. This week I stopped to capture part of its beauty, seen below.

The Dreamcatcher area at the school

Also at school this week it's Halloween. The teachers and students have been decorating doors and bulletin boards for the occasion and the Youth Council organized a Haunted Hallway in the school. I have to tell you I was a bit scared myself, even dressed as an imprisoned skeleton. It was very frightening!

Boo!

Masks were provided!

Kindergarten displays

Spiders

Witches

And one of the most interesting things about the school is that when your children are outside, you are required to be on duty. Many schools rotate their yard duties, but here, not so much. So everyday from 8:40-9:00 a.m., 10:30-10:45 a.m. 12:40-1:00 p.m., and sometimes in the afternoon, all classroom teachers are out supervising the students. As outdoor shoes are banned from inside the school it requires multiple changes during the school day. But the best part of this ritual is that everyone gets outside for some fun activities.

This week the Grade 4-5 students built this bridge to go across a huge patch of "deep" water ice. They love to stand on it and use it to cross into the bush behind the school. And the fun never ends!

The Bridge

I could go on about the differences between teaching in a foreign country and Northern Ontario; however, that will have to wait for another time. Dinner time will soon be upon us, and I have a dozen progress reports to prepare this afternoon.

Wishing you and yours a very safe and pleasant Happy Halloween.

Until next time,


Bee Rich