October is Upon Us
October is officially here, and with it come the magnificent colors of fall.
The month of September went by in a flash, it was just yesterday I was kayaking in 70F (21C) weather. Unfortunately the weather has taken a turn for the colder... we have been having specks of snow here and there and my kayak is frozen solid in my backyard!
Thankfully, the snow did not stay very long, as it was warm and sunny the day after. As much as I love snow, it boggles my mind to be seeing heavy snow in mid-September. The walks are as gorgeous as always, rain, shine or snow. Lily enjoys the weather no matter what. As long as I layer up, there won't be any issues!
There was a heavy rain and wind storm a few weeks ago that caused a lot of damage to the forest, as you can see in the picture above, a few trees could not withstand the strong winds.
It was shocking to hear about a tornado touching down outside Ottawa, Canada's capital. My thoughts go out to those who were affected. We were lucky enough not to get very bad weather after, but it was still not pleasant to hear wind and rain whipping against my window in the middle of the night.
The month of September went by in a flash, it was just yesterday I was kayaking in 70F (21C) weather. Unfortunately the weather has taken a turn for the colder... we have been having specks of snow here and there and my kayak is frozen solid in my backyard!
It was shocking to hear about a tornado touching down outside Ottawa, Canada's capital. My thoughts go out to those who were affected. We were lucky enough not to get very bad weather after, but it was still not pleasant to hear wind and rain whipping against my window in the middle of the night.
With the beginning of fall also comes the beginning of fall crafts! My students had a fun time turning their hands into colorful fall trees. Surprisingly, they kept the paint on their hands and off of each other! We had a fun day on Friday as well, because it was "Declaration Day". This day is an important day for attendance because the school's funding is based off the attendance record for the day. We had a class breakfast, painting all day and card game playing! The kids and I had a blast together.
I also tried my hand at cooking protein pancakes...they turned into the mess in the picture below but at least they tasted good!
Another hike was in the air this past weekend, going all the way to Chapais, Quebec about an hour and a half drive to a small mountain. The weather was cool and rainy, perfect for Lily, but we had our feet soaked within 5 minutes of hiking! The colors in the forest were gorgeous and so were the views, but unfortunately we couldn't make it to the top because the trail suddenly ended. Needless to say we were very disappointed. The bad weather the week before must have caused trees to fall and block the path because we couldn't find the path anywhere! We backtracked and found our way out, but it was not as fun as it could have been.
Friday, September 28th was Orange Shirt Day, this day is a day to wear orange in recognition of the harm of residential schools that took First Nations children from all across Canada and put them in residential schools to "de-culturalize" them. These children were stripped of their language, their culture and their identities. They were taken from their families for 10 months of school and sometimes more. They experienced horrors and abuse at the hands of their care-givers.
The story behind the Orange Shirt day can be found here:
Recognizing and standing together in orange on this day in Canada is important because it continues the reconciliation and awareness of the trauma and oppression that the First Nations communities, adult and children alike, experienced during the era of the residential schools and continue to experience to this day. In the community of Mistissini there are many survivors, but there are few who are willing to speak about their experiences because it is so difficult for them.
I hope that by speaking with my students about the importance of this day, that they can remember and understand what some of their family members (grandparents, aunts, uncles and sometimes parents) went through in their own childhood. It reminds our students how lucky they are to be learning in our school and to continue learning their Cree Language and Cree Culture as part of their curriculum.
The website linked below gives an interactive timeline of the residential schools and some other history of that era.
It is sometimes difficult for me because as much as I want to understand what the community went through and what the survivors went through, I never will. Since I am not a First Nations person, I will never feel the same oppression that they still feel even to this day. The best that I can do is educate those who do not know and hope that history does not repeat itself.
Here is a beautiful picture of the lake to finish off my post.
If there are any questions or clarifications please feel free to comment or message me directly!
Happy October!
~Vicki
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