This is the state of man; today he puts forth the tender leaves of hope; tomorrow, blossoms, and bears his blushing honours thick upon him!

Today, we are putting forth the tender leaves of hope, hope that this school year will bring us back to something we can consider "normal".  Maybe, in the months to come, our leaves will blossom into honourable flowers!  We have a new beginning ahead of us and we do have the power to make something of it.  Let's do our best and have a positive attitude and take the lessons we learned from the last few months into our new school year.

No matter how challenging the last few weeks have been, with all of us trying to imagine school and what we will do, I know that once I get to see your shining faces back in the theatre, I will feel like there are all sorts of new possibilities ahead of us.  We will figure all of it out together!  Many heads are certainly better than one.  A few things to keep in mind to keep yourself (and old folks like me) safe -- wear a mask when you can and try to respect the two metre physical distance from people.  Wash your hands whenever you think of it.  Try your best to follow the rules -- they've made these rules (like the directional arrows in the hallways) to keep us all safe.

If you are interested in the school play, I am planning something different this year, since it is unlikely we will be able to do a regular performance with an audience crammed into our little theatre and with you guys hanging around at lunch and after school for rehearsal.  (Maybe that can happen in the spring!)  I mentioned Spoon River Anthology before.  It is a series of short poetic monologues spoken by the denizens of the fictional Spoon River cemetery.  The idea for this is that each of you could prepare one of the character's monologues and we could get some of our film school students (presently in film school, or graduates, so they'll know what they're doing!) to put it together and we could present the thing virtually.  There are lots of monologues, so if you are an alumni, recent or long ago, we would love to have you participate, too!  You can tell me if you're interested in the comments section of the blog, or you can email me.  I hope to hear from lots of you soon!  I will post a couple of sample monologues here in the days to  come.

Brevity is the soul of wit!

 If you did write that short story, look at the CBC's website to see how to enter it into the CBC's short story contest.  You could win $6000 and get a chance to go to the Banff Centre for a two week writing residency and get your story published!  Here is the URL:  https://www.cbc.ca/books/literaryprizes/calling-all-writers-the-2021-cbc-short-story-prize-is-now-open-1.5705720

Won't be long now until we're back in the saddle!  It will be very different, and we are having a staff meeting to find out all about it today, so I am looking forward to that.  On Thursday or Friday next week, you will be coming in to get all the latest information, so don't stress too much till then.

See you soon, everybody!

Welcome back to that same old place that you laughed about!

 Hey dudes and dudettes!  It appears we have a plan to proceed with in September.  From what I understand, teachers will be at school on September 8 to get things ready.  On September 10, you guys will come and find out about the safety procedures and how the school year will unfold.  Then "regular school" (which will be a bit different from what we've come to expect in the past) will begin on September 14.  Yes, it will be different from what we are used to, but if we are patient and positive, we will figure out how to muddle through it together.  I know that most of us benefit from routine and it will feel strange at first, but before you know it, it will feel like this is the way it has always been.

I am a bit anxious myself about how it will play out, but we have another week and a bit to relax and get outside and breathe deeply and listen to the birds (always a comfort).  The best thing you can do is enjoy your last week of holidays as much as you can.  Do something you really like to do.  Eat a bowl of blackberries that you picked yourself (they're nice with ice cream).  Finish the short story you've been working on.  Watch a movie that makes you laugh.   Read a book that's a real page-turner.  Go for a long walk with your dog (or, if your dog is Daisy and very slow, a series of short walks, with breaks in between!)  Get out the frisbee and throw it around with a buddy.  Then, you will come back to school all refreshed and ready for the challenges that await us.

I have been thinking about what we will be able to do for a play this fall.  I don't think they will be encouraging us to get together in a big group to rehearse and perform so I had this idea that might be exciting and fun and will still give us a chance to put something together as a performance.  There is this book called Spoon River Anthology by a poet named Edgar Lee Masters.  It tells the story of the people who lived in the fictional town of Spoon River, with each person in the Spoon River cemetery having a short monologue about his or her life.  It is really lovely and touching and I think we could make a very moving and thoughtful presentation with it.  I would also like to reach out to any alumni who might be interested.  There are about 200 short poems in the whole book, so there are lots of characters to choose from.  If you are an alumni and are interested, shoot me an email (hopefully before September 25) to let me know you'd like to take part (there is a link to my email on the school website).  If you are still going to SLSS, we will "get together" (maybe virtually, if necessary) once school is up and running.  If you are in touch with any alums, let them know what we're up to!  See you all soon.

Not in our stars, but in ourselves

 Hope you're enjoying the second month of summer holidays.  The minister of education says that we will likely start school gradually, with teachers and other staff back on September 8 and then kids arriving later that week, but it is all still quite vague, so you need to stay tuned.  I imagine it is quite a scheduling challenge for our admin team and I am sure they are working on it now to figure out the logistics of getting everyone back in class safely.  I wonder if you saw the photos the student took in Georgia of kids crammed into a hallway between classes.  (They start school in August there, apparently.)  It did not look good and I imagine that the powers that be don't want us to have to face that here in September.

Tonight, if it's not cloudy, you have the chance (which comes yearly) to see the Perseid Meteor Shower (with over 50 shooting stars per hour blasting through the sky).  The best viewing is apparently several hours before dawn (like 2 a.m.) and you should try to get away from city lights if you can.  There is a star gazing event at Aldergrove Regional Park on Thursday evening.  We have gone in the past and it is a nice spot with a great view of the whole sky.  You can take a blanket and a picnic and there is a lantern walk and story-telling and it is away from the brightest lights of the city.  Check out the park's website for details. 

Here is a link to 17 apps that help you identify birds and bugs and natural phenomena you might see if you go for a hike or do any activities in the great outdoors:  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/11/travel/outdoors-app  (from my buddies at the New York Times).

"It's funny how many different kinds of things you can make a halfway decent life out of if you believe in them and work at them." from Wallace Stegner's "A Shooting Star"

 I finished the book I mentioned yesterday, the one with the directionless protagonist.  She learned a lot of lessons by the end, but I'm not sure if she has resolved her many issues.  At least, she seemed to be able to identify that she is the problem and that is a big step.

Here's another poem by Barbara Kingsolver.  It presents me with some questions, but I like the sentiment.

Rent a house near the beach, or a cabin
but: Do not take your walking shoes.
Don’t take any clothes you’d wear
anyplace anyone would see you.
Don’t take your rechargeables.
Take Scrabble if you have to,
but not a dictionary and no
pencils for keeping score.
Don’t take a cookbook
or anything to cook.
A fishing pole, ok
but not the line,
hook, sinker,
leave it all.
Find out
what’s
left.

• How to Fly (In Ten Thousand Easy Lessons) by Barbara Kingsolver is published by Faber (£14.99).

Indeed, there will be time to wonder/"Do I dare?" "Do I dare?" (from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot)

 You have probably heard that the Minister of Education wants schools back full time in September.  A friend of mine asked me if I was "freaked out" and I am not.  I think we have done very well in BC so far and I have confidence that whatever happens in September will be okay.  It is important for all of us to prepare as best as we can -- I have several masks (which I wear when I go out, of course) and I am planning for classes in September.  I'm really excited to be teaching one block of English (which I used to do all the time) and have been reading all the material to get ready.  Prepare for a full return to school with a couple of notebooks, a water bottle, some pens and pencils and whatever else you usually need (a positive attitude is important!).  If things take a turn for the worst (fingers crossed that they don't), you'll be ready for whatever happens!

I am sitting in my living room right now (it is early because, of course, Daisy likes to get her morning walk in at 5:15 so she can have a nice long nap when she gets back).  I have a bird feeder on my front balcony and I also put peanuts out for the squirrels.  I know they can fend for themselves in the summer, but we have a couple of neighbourhood cats who make it difficult (I have told their owners to keep their cats inside, but they give me the helpless shrug as if the cats have more power than they do!) so I like to provide a safe place for the little creatures to eat.  Anyhow, there is a fine figure of a squirrel out there right now really putting paid to the nuts and it is such a pleasure to watch her pick up a nut in her little hands (their paws are very much like hands) and nibble away at it and then move on to the next one.  

I have been enjoying my summer and binge-reading.  Presently, I am embroiled in a book (Space-opoly square -- "read a book with a title that relates to space") called A Shooting Star by Wallace Stegner (who spent some of his formative years in Eastend, Saskatchewan and who taught other famous writers like Ken Kesey, Thomas McGuane and Larry McMurtry).  It is about this wealthy woman who has no direction in her life.  I am enjoying the book but I hate the protagonist.  She blames everyone else for her troubles and keeps whining about how she wants to have a purpose but that no one will help her find it, no one is paying attention to her needs, blah, blah, blah.  There are certainly people like this, so it is realistic, but I always think the answer is to find yourself a good job.  (Good work is so helpful to making a person feel worthwhile and purposeful.)  My mother, a very wise woman, said (among other wise things), "don't expect someone else to make you happy!"  You have to find happiness in yourself.  Another person isn't responsible for you being happy and can't MAKE you happy.

More on the comet "Neowise"!

Dear fans of the night sky,

Who wants to see Comet NEOWISE from the Trottier Observatory??  Join us tomorrow for Virtual Starry Nights and you might get to see it close up and personal!

When: Friday July 14, 10:00pm to 11:30pm PDT

Where: https://youtu.be/oLMVE6in8KA

The weather is a little iffy, but since the comet has recently moved high enough to be seen by the Observatory, and given that the comet is fading fast, we're going to take our chances!  We will also look at other amazing things in the sky, weather permitting.

Remember that if you are in the telescope loyalty program can receive credit for attending the event!  To receive credit, email us within 24 hours after the event at sfuscienceoutreach@sfu.ca with the following things: 

• A list of the objects that we observe during Friday's event.  
• A photo of your stamped loyalty card.

If you're unable to join us, the youtube video of the event will be posted on Sunday morning.

Hope you'll join us tomorrow!
Joanna Woo

This is from the Starry Nights people.  In case you haven't seen the comet yet, here's an opportunity, if it clears up later today.  (It is supposed to accordingly to the Weather Network.)  We did go out last week to look and it is quite apparent when you look into the northwest but binoculars really help.

I also tried Curtis Sittenfield's advice and got a good hour in with my play and managed to get over that "nearly ended" hump.  And I have arranged to have two big old pieces of broken down furniture taken away (always one of my tasks in the summer -- I have to ask myself, "where does this stuff come from?").  

I hope it rains before it clears up.  When Daisy and I walked this morning, it felt like it wanted to!