This poem was printed in the Summerside Journal and Western Pioneer on December 5, 1867, top and centre on the front page. Author unknown, from the year when the Dominion of Canada was born on land stolen from the original inhabitants of Turtle Island.
For had he not dominon where now his steps intrude?
On windy days like today, I like to visit this hypnotic globe to see how the wind whipping our trees around connects to global weather patterns. You can also view lots of other data like ocean currents and temperature, auroras, and on and on. I get a weird sense of adventure watching a visualization of the ocean currents off the coast of Antarctica or the wind blowing down on PEI from Greenland.
Firs are probably my favourite type of tree. They were always the Christmas tree of choice when we went to the woods during my childhood, their soft flat needles and lovely smell the very essence of the holiday.
A few firs close to our house have grown to the point where they should probably be removed before they get much bigger. Firs seem to have a shortish life span, die quickly, rot inside and tumble down. I need to be more ruthless in keeping them cleared, but it’s difficult when they look so lovely when fresh winter snow decorates them outside our door!
I’m trying, as much as possible, to let nature do what it wants on the land I live on, so cutting down any tree is a bit uncomfortable but sometimes necessary and now always well thought out. It’s a funny balancing act, this rewilding instinct I have developed. When I started this journey I thought I was rewilding the land, but, of course, I’m really rewilding myself, uniting with nature rather than trying to change it to always suit my needs or ideals. Nature always wins, but humans consistently believe we can control nature, and we never can. We are a funny animal.
If you are on PEI and want to pick up a free tree for your holidays, I have a few between 6 and 10 feet tall and would be happy to have them be adored and adorned by you. They are a natural, unshaped tree – more Victoria and Albert odd than Disney World perfect – but will smell lovely and are chemical free. I possess many manual and motorized felling tools to assist the culling. Wear a toque, plaid shirt and wool mittens and have a real PEI heritage moment! They had a good life, I will miss their presence, but will not miss them toppling onto my house during a storm when I’m an old lady.
My mother had recovered enough from a recent illness to attend the third and final launch of a book, We’ll Meet Again, that features stories about PEI women who served in the Second World War. The author, Katherine Dewar, has been so lovely to my mother and the other women veterans, and she made a point of featuring my mother’s story today as she had been unable to go to the first launch with the other surviving veterans.
Although seating was very limited due to pandemic restrictions, we were still able to say hello to friends and family who attended, and my mother had the unusual experience of hearing someone reading her words out loud and seeing her uniform and other pieces of memorabilia on display. On the way home I asked her how she had found the whole thing, and she said she didn’t think she had really done much more than outlive everyone else, that her story wasn’t that special! Like most things in her life, she has just taken it all in her stride, which I’m sure is part of how you live to be 99.
Katherine has dedicated much of her historical research and writing to preserving the stories of PEI women, accomplished women who had exciting and important careers, and even had military honours, but who often lived quiet lives after the fact, who blended back into society because that was what society demanded women do. My mother’s exit interview from the RCAF, for instance, an organization that had given her opportunities for training, adventure and independence she would never had at home, suggested that she would be best suited to being a housewife. She went on to do that, and so much more. Tomorrow she plans to bake cookies to thank the hospital staff who recently cared for her, still defying expectations, looking and acting beyond herself, an inspiration to all who know and love her.
Both of my parents served in the RCAF during the Second World War, so attending Legion services on Remembrance Day has always been a part of my life.
My father joined the Ellerslie Legion Branch #22 right after the war, but women weren’t allowed to join at that time, so my mother didn’t immediately become a member. In the 1980s, the Legion helped her get the disability pension she should have received after the war for hearing loss she suffered during her service, so she must have finally joined in 1991 as she was presented with her 30-year membership pin at today’s Remembrance Day luncheon.
My mother was recently in the hospital for a couple of weeks with pneumonia, a serious condition at 99, so it was heartening that she was able to rally today. She has always been a very social person, happy and upbeat, so people were thrilled to see and speak with her, and it greatly helped her recuperation. For many there today, she’s a link to their own long-gone parents and grandparents, a walking, talking time capsule. I heard one woman, who has to be in her late sixties now, reminiscing about buying candy at my parent’s general store when she was a child, glowing with the memory of those visits.
It was a lovely afternoon with old friends and extended family, everyone glad to gather again to remember.
Bought a few items today at a used clothing sale in Summerside that will benefit the Prince County Hospital. I just tried on what looks like a brand new hoodie from Canadian fashion staple Roots, a store I have never set foot in, so I’m probably a bad Canadian! The hoodie fits perfectly, but I quickly took it off again because of the perfume smell coming from it. I can still taste that smell in my mouth, yuck!
I’ve used unscented “eco” products forever, (unscented Tru Earth laundry strips is what I use presently) so am always surprised how heavily scented laundry products are now. Breathing these chemicals in every day can’t be good for a person. What are we doing to ourselves? Out on the clothesline goes the hoodie!
Stoic Week starts tomorrow, Monday, October 18. I’ve been doing this annual program for quite a few years and it has been so helpful to me, especially in finding some emotional balance. I have a pretty easily triggered fight-or-flight response to conflict, and practicing Stoic principals has helped me find ways to step back when I feel threatened and see things from a more detached place. I’m still working on this, and in no way can I claim to be calm in the face of everything, but more and more I’m able to stay in my body and think things through, and this is in large part due to reading and thinking about Stoicism.
There’s still time to enrol in this free course, and this year they are offering a new program for students or those who are caring for or instructing young people. They have added more video and audio supports, which is helpful to people like me who are not strong readers. I have an especially busy week ahead, and there is a bit of a time commitment to doing the readings and exercises each day, but it will be worth finding the time for a Stoic reboot.
Bumble bee season is winding down here. There are still a few flowers in bloom around our house, and a few bees moving between them, but most bees and other insects are bedding down and getting ready for a well-deserved rest.
I now have confirmed four bumble bee species through Bumble Bee Watch, all observed within a few feet of our house. Leaving patches of red clover, purple vetch and asters to grow in our lawn has brought many more insects to our yard. It looks a bit messy to most people, but only if you think a lawn should look like a bowling green; I think it looks like a bee buffet!
Kiva is hosting its first international Kiva Hackathon, “supporting microfinance, digital identity, poverty alleviation and financial inclusion.” Ready, set, hack!
This piece on the former Indian day school on Lennox Island First Nation has made me rethink so many things I thought I knew. I happily went to a brand new, modern elementary school only 15 minutes from Lennox Island at the same time the children there were being abused and mistreated. I’m ashamed that I had no idea this went on next door to me. This is the truth.