2016 Christmas Letter

2016 really has been another good year for me personally. No dramatic changes though Holly the cat at 21 is getting more arthritic and crochety as she chimes in on this letter. 

I am still in my house and my garden looks rather nice again after I had my falling down garage taken down and some re landscaping.   I still really enjoy living in this neighbourhood . It is an oasis in a busy city.

I still go for lots of walks and enjoy exploring favourite areas.  Beach walks are a regular part of my life.   I am still going to yoga and my fitness classes.  I am also still working with Cam next door on his reading and volunteering two mornings a week working with first graders

 

I am still knitting though took a few months break but I just finished another hat this week.  I got back into watercolour art classes at Van Dusen Gardens in the spring and did a spring and summer session in April, May, and June, and am in my second course this fall.  Here is a bit of my winter artwork below.

I still read lots and go to movies and am blogging but have been a bit discouraged somehow losing pictures in past posts-nothing seems to be permanent.  

In January, my friends’ Anne and Barrie’s daughter and son-in-law and granddaughter moved here from Toronto. It is fun having them here and Anne and Barrie have been out twice to visit.  A highlight was having little Kasia trick or treat for the first time on my street.

In March, I was able to do a big trip to Spain and Portugal with my friend, Sue.  Most of it was a guided tour with Insight which was quite excellent.  We had an extra day at the end of the tour in Barcelona on our own and then we spent a couple of nights in Majorca staying with friends of Sue’s. 

It was just a magical trip with so many highlights.

This picture is from Barcelona where we went on a walking tour based on the book, Shadows of the Wind, which is set there after the Second World War.  

In July, I spent a week in Boston and Cape Cod with my friend, Donna, initially attending the International Literacy Association conference.  It was a long time since my last visit and we had great fun, even seeing a Red Sox game. We visited Boston Public Gardens, the setting for children's book, Make Way for Ducklings and had lunch at Cheers across the street.  

August included a road trip to Christina Lake in the Interior visiting Elaine and Terry and it was lovely to relax at the lake and enjoy the Olympics as well!

There have been several trips to Whistler staying at my timeshare. It is beautiful in all seasons.  I also went to  Ucluelet twice.  The second trip was due to my winning two free nights at a resort.  The picture here was our view.  A bonus was visits with friends Art and Jennifer in Port Alberni along the way,

When I was on a beach between Ucluelet and Tofino in September I learned the sad news of my good friend, Carolyn’s death.  She had been diagnosed with stage four  cancer in July, the previous year.   I miss her but feel so privileged to have had such a good friend.   

Festival of Lights Van Dusen Gardens

Friends and I went to Seattle in October for a fun weekend, and to see Beautiful, the Carole King musical, which we loved.

Like many I have found world events this year sad and disturbing, but I also have been fortunate to see beauty in each day.  

Wishing you a very happy holiday and the best 2017 possible from currently snowy Vancouver.  

Meredyth

Loss

I always think of writing when I experience a sense of loss.  A week and a half ago I was stunned when Hilary Clinton lost the American election.  I just couldn't believe that Donald Trump was going to be president.   I still can't.  Then I found out Leonard Cohen died, whose poetry and music seemed such a part of my university days.

Then of course it is November and somehow November has these deadly connotations.  I mean it begins with All Souls Day, the Day of the Dead, then we move onto Remembrance Day.  It gets dark earlier and earlier.  Leaves have deserted tree branches, the colours become muted.  And in Vancouver a good day seems to be when it doesn't rain.

But more personally, this week I went to two memorial services, both for people with whom I had worked.  One was at probably our most elegant church, Christ Church Cathedral.   The other was  in  a lounge that can be rented for events.  I must admit I kind of liked the second where I could grab a glass of wine as soon as I entered, although there is  beauty and comfort in a  familiar service.  The events were really as different as the people.

The first was for a man who too briefly was my principal.  The second was for someone with whom I worked for five years and became a good friend.  Both at the same school and for awhile in the same time frame.

They were both similar in some ways and different in many others, but both very special people, people who really cared.

I think it is really hard to describe teaching to someone who isn't a teacher.  it is intense. Each year a special journey.   The school where I worked with both these people was the biggest elementary school in the city and we had many challenges but the staff was quite amazing and generally I just loved teaching there.  It was definitely not always easy but for me, rewarding.

I was impressed by Dave because when he came to Moberly as our principal  my third year there, he was committed to doing  a really good job.  He put his heart and soul into it.  He came to soccer games in the rain, entertained the staff at his home, and treated everyone-staff, students, parents  with respect but still had a sense of humour. He celebrated learning.   Unfortunately in one year, he had pneumonia, his wife died suddenly so he was left a single parent with three teenagers, and then he had a stroke and wasn't able to continue as an administrator.  He would rebuild his life, become a grandparent, travel, but later lose his second wife and step son to illness. I would run into him from time to time and always have a nice conversation.   At only 68, he died from Leukemia.

Steve was someone who came into teaching later after being a renovator and a traveller.  He was a committed environmentalist, a practical dreamer, a builder, an explorer.  We came to Moberly at the same time and he was there my first five years.   He taught my science.  I taught his class creative writing and French and we worked on other projects together.  He and his wife became good friends although I hadn't seen them as much in recent years.  He  retired three years ago, the same time I did,  and then two years ago he and his wife and son, who was in seventh grade, took a year to travel the world and he developed diabetes and had to come home early, but that didn't seem to slow him down.  He died  this year from a heart attack while happily on a group bike ride, a shock to everyone.   Such a loss especially to his wife and son.

I wrote an earlier post about having to learn to let go.  And also I think of regret.  For instance, I am still not sure why I didn't try to hire Steve to deal with my falling down garage.

But where there is loss there is gratitude. I am grateful  that I  had the pleasure of knowing both those gentleman.  In teaching it makes such a difference when you have people who give you support, people who you can laugh with, people you respect, and with whom you share a vision of how things should be.

And November is when I start to see the beauty of tree limbs, when I can see all the way to Grouse Mountain, and actually see the sun rise without trees blocking my view.  And my own week included ocean walks, water colour painting, reading with first graders, and yes, celebrating lives well lived.  And to echo Leonard Cohen...Hallelujah

On being a refugee...

As a teacher I often tried to find novels for my students that would increase their understanding, enable them to be more empathetic.  I think it is often hard to really comprehend world events that we are not directly involved in.

As someone whose ancestors lived in Canada for many generations, the idea of having to leave your home country with only what you can carry with you, and fearing for your life if you stay, is a little out of my experience.  The biggest move I have ever made was from Montreal to Vancouver.

This summer I read two books that were about that experience of being a refugee.  One book takes place at the end of the second world war, the other more recently.  I found both fascinating.

When The Moon Is Low by Nadia Hashimi is about an Afghani family who flee Afghanistan after the father is arrested and is killed by the Taliban.  I have read quite a few novels set in Afghanistan but this was one I couldn't stop reading.  We watch as their comfortable life gets more and more difficult until the only option seems to be to leave  and embark on a dangerous and unpredictable journey with only forged papers.  Their goal is to get to England where they have relatives.

I can watch the news and read about the refugee crisis but a novel helps you feel what it is like.  We see how the family has to adapt to the hard situations they find themselves in along the way.  I have read about what it is like for refugees in Athens and in Patras but here I could really feel the uncertainty.  It is heartbreaking when the family becomes separated as well.

A friend told me how frightening was waiting for the ferry to England and watching how refugees tried to get into the back of trucks to smuggle into England but here I really had a picture of what it would be like to be one of those people living in the camp  in Calais ready to take desperate measures to get to the other side of the channel.

I am currently somewhat obsessed by the American election.  I really wish Trump supporters would read this book.

As I was writing this review I was reminded of another novel I recently read The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout.  I have to admit I had no idea that there was a significant Somali population in Maine. I grew up close to Maine in the Eastern Townships of Quebec and have spent time there but am obviously not up to date.  Lewiston, Maine, the second largest city in Maine in 2011 had 35000 people of whom 3000 were Somali!  This novel's pivotal event is when a young man throws a pig's head into the local mosque.  This incident precipitates his two uncles, both lawyers, return from New York City  to town to help with his defence.  The central story is more about the Burgess family but the secondary story of what happens after the incident and the picture into the Somali community there was really fascinating to me.  I think it is fascinating how someone who has come as a refugee to escape violence chooses to handle a situation like this.  Again it is gratifying to see how some really want to understand a different community and how understanding can develop.
Another very good book

Refugees are not a recent phenomenon.  I love books that teach me something new.  I like to get my history in fiction form.  I went to an excellent session at the International Literacy Association Annual Convention this summer with authors of historical young adult fiction.  My main reason for going was I wanted to hear Ruth Septys.  I had really enjoyed her novel set in New Orleans , Out of the Big Easy.  If I like a book I find it fascinating to get a chance to hear the author speak about her writing.

Her latest book,Salt to the Sea, is about a group of refugees fleeing from East Prussia as the Russians march on Germany at the end of the Second World War.  She tells the story from four points of view, that of a Polish young woman, an East Prussian young man, a Lithuanian young woman and a German soldier.  The three refugees are trying to make it to a ship to escape but that ship has its own issues.

I found the scenes so strong in this novel.  I will never forget the scene where they seek a respite in the abandoned home of an East Prussian landowner.

Each refugee has a secret story as well that unravels as the novel progresses.  For that matter so does the soldier.

Ruth was inspired to write this story because of her father who was a Lithuanian refugee from the Stalin regime and by her aunt who was trapped in East Prussia.  Until I read this novel I don't think I had much awareness of East Prussia which is on the Baltic and borders Poland and Lithuania.

It also made me wonder about the story of my parents' friends who were like an aunt and an uncle to me in my childhood.  He was Estonian and she was German and all I really knew was they came to Sherbrooke after the war.  I don't think anyone was all that interested in what their story really was.  I wish now I had the opportunity to ask them a few questions.

I should also add that Ruth Septys also wanted to focus on the current plight of refugees as well.

Two good books and to some extent a third that help you understand a bit of what it is like to be a refugee...