If it seems as if I am obsessed with the sun lately, it's because I really am. It is bright out when I walk to school in the morning and not quite dark when I walk home. What an amazing gift, in the middle of January, to have the light come back. I bought a stencil called "Happy Old Sun" by a local artist. It is absolutely luminous - just as I see the sun now.
The winter, like the rest of the school year, is flying by. I am going south for the last week of February - very exciting. This will be my first trip out since August. This week I began working with some other people in the community on a project called "Story Sacks". I learned about this at a workshop that was recently put on here by the Nunavut Literacy Council. We are going to record and transcribe some stories told by elders and make dolls, sets, etc. which can be used to tell the story to kids. Everything required to tell the story goes in a cloth sack. We had our first session on Tuesday. An elder lady called Regilee came into my class and told a couple of stories to a rapt group of kids.
Other news - I am taking a distance course called "News Writing". Really interesting - I'm excited at the prospect of writing news stories from Nunavut. There are so many interesting things going on here all the time. It remains very cold, the wind chill was minus 40 something yesterday, but the brightness takes the edge off that. Crystal and I walk further and further on the weekends. There are still reports of polar bears near town, though. The feeling locally is that the effects of climate change have made it difficult to predict where they will be. I have never actually seen one, so they continue to be an invisible menace in my mind.
Hi Deborah,
ReplyDeleteterese and I are here at school reading your latest blog. She loves your new stencil painting. yes we can tell you are obssessed with the sun, but in a good way. We are in the throws of winter here on this Island, too! we are all waiting for spring.
Sounds like a pretty cool project you are going to start, local history is always interesting.
Keep writing!!
we miss you!!
I am anxious. In two weeks, I should be feeling the heat from the sun.
ReplyDeleteInteresting how they handle spring break in NU.
Your project sounds very fun and meaningful. Careful, you might end up creating a museum!
Hey Paula & Terese,
ReplyDeleteI'm trying so hard not to be homesick, but your comment made me cry like a baby. My best defence against homesickness here is that I have a whole new group of kids here to be crazy about. What do you think about the idea of getting Freeport and Clyde River kids together on Skype? I'll try not to bawl my eyes out. Much love to everyone at Islands Condolidated School. Save me a seat at the grad banquet, I'll be home on June 9th.
For other readers, Paula is a friend and colleague of 18 years and Terese is a remarkable young woman who is a student at the other love-of-my-life school in my home town - Freeport, NS.
Hey Deb!! This is actually the first time I've checked out your blog.....was thinking about you and went back through my e-mails to find the address. Sounds like you're having quite a winter...must be different with no sunshine. I'm going to make it a point to check in from time to time and see what you're up to.
ReplyDeleteHi Deb,
ReplyDeleteMy comment is actually for the cup stacking post but I am unable to comment on that post since "the administrator" has prevented comments to be posted. So I post my comment on this post instead:
Cup stacking is a great way to foster self-esteem and confidence. Kids LOVE this game! Check out Youtube or TeacherTube for some videos of competitions.