Scrabble, again

There are several great games that can be played by two people. My game of choice is Scrabble, which is a fun and social board game that uses tiles to create words.

Scrabble is also very fun using the facebook app Lexulous. This way, I can stare at the computer screen for a very long time, coming up with word combinations that have a large score. Two and three letter words become important, and can, when used strategically, create very large words scores. My recent favourite: Xi, which netted me 50 points.

My opponent plays early in the morning, and so I have started to check her latest move when I first get up. This of course costs me valuable time, and we leave for school two minutes later than we should. We then have to travel fairly quickly to school, me urging the boys to walk faster or run while I push Owen in the stroller. It is fairly stressful.

I should probably start playing after John arrives at school, on time. The lure of the high Scrabble score is very enticing, though, so this will be a struggle.

My first garden....

I have never been much of a gardener, or interested in plants. I have often had one or two dusty plants kicking around, marginally watered and clinging to life. In fact upstairs I have a jade plant that must be at least 20 years old, looks terrible and looks the same from year to year.

However, I have a new interest in gardening, which has not developed from an interest in plants, necessarily, but more from a desire to produce food. Produce grown in one's backyard is as local as it gets.

There is, as I have mentioned, a fair bit of grass in a suburban neighbourhood; I wonder, as gas prices continue to rise, if this will change. In 10 - 15 years will we see sections of lawn turned over to vegetable production? Will fruit trees emerge, small orchards in the backyard?

Anyhow, our garden, was full of grass and weeds. I pulled them out, and planted 9 tomato plants and 5 lettuce... it is small, but a start.

This is the "before" picture... I will add an "after" picture later.

patterns of thought and behaviour

I think we get into patterns of thought and behaviour. The boys and I successfully walked to school, and I returned home with Owen. I even forgot the stroller cover, and while it was raining lightly there was enough cover from the stroller itself that Owen did not get wet. There was indeed more traffic than on a sunny day, as more children are driven to school when it is raining or the weather unpleasant.

I think this is just a pattern - of thought, and subsequent behaviour - we have developed. It is generally unnecessary for any individual to have to drive due to rain. (Exceptions can be made, of course)

Someone once told me that there was no bad weather, just bad clothing, and I completely agree. I am off to buy some rubber boots, for if this rain continues I want my feet to be dry.

rain in Ontario

It sure is raining a great deal in Ontario. It rained all weekend, and has rained every day this week. It is raining now.

I have let the rain affect the amount I walk to school with the boys. In a way, it is perfectly legitimate, as I have a very young baby.

However, really, if we wear the appropriate clothing: rain boots, rain coats, a hat, we can quite comfortably spend time outside. I have a plastic cover for the stroller.

For most of human history, we have functioned without cars to transport us in times of rain. I am going to see how it goes this morning, with the three boys, as we walk the 800 m or so to school.

Election reflection what's your connection?

We just had an election. And with that came a fairly significant change in the political scene. Prior to the election, there was a minority Conservative government, and now, after voting day on Monday, we have a majority Conservative government. Truly a step backward. Coupled with the win of Rob Ford, the new right wing mayor of Toronto, it feels as though there has been step to the right in the Canadian political scene. In a certain respect, that is the case.

However, the fact that the New Democratic Party won 102 seats is important and historic.

The approach for the NDP in this government will have to be different. Instead of being a smallish group of MPs that can push for or prevent legislation in a minority government, they are a largish group of MPs who will bring a different, less direct, type of influence in a majority government. With a majority, the Tories can pass legislation on their own. However, the fact that 102 left wing MPs are arriving on parliament hill is extremely relevant. Furthermore, the fact that a bunch of them are super young is very cool. We need a bunch of young people running around parliament hill stirring the pot, and then we need to take that energy and continue to organize.

Perhaps an MP who is young and energetic will bring a new and interesting perspective to Ottawa.

Any election brings a mixed consciousness, people happy and people sad, and people like myself a bit confused. I suppose that is the contradiction that may be inherent in people living today, in a complex modern society. We can feel different ways about the same issue. And hence with an election, the electorate is greatly affected by the media, the mood, the economic conditions, geography; hence results like this can be so diverse.

I kind of feel that I might as well be optimistic, as that is a hell of alot more fun that feeling sad and bitter.

The weather is nicer too, which helps.

parent/teacher/parent

Today I went into my school to work on the Ecoschools application. Ecoschools is a pretty cool program promoting environmental literacy in Ontario schools. I like it.

It was interesting to be back at my school, where I am a teacher, as opposed to the boys' school (well, Cameron is just in daycare there, but still, it is his school), where I am a parent. As a teacher I have a fair bit of freedom to walk through the school and into spaces such as the office, halls, library, and staffroom.

At the boys' school, my relationship to the building is completely different. I am definitely a guest there, and while can sign in at the office know that it would be completely inappropriate for me to stroll into the library unless I had a very specific purpose. There is a very small area where I am allowed to be; essentially, where I pick up John and Cameron and, if I have an appointment, down to John's classroom. Sometimes I saunter down with John to drop off his forgotten indoor shoes - outside his classroom - and I kind of feel like I am invading the teachers' space, even if they are not around. And I wonder: if I were a teacher here, would I find myself (as a parent) kind of weird and overly interested in his education?

I think being a parent is kind of tricky: I wants to advocate for my child but not be aggressive or needy about it. It's challenging for any parent, but for the teacher parent I think it is particularly difficult because I know how viciously teachers can talk about aggressive, needy, and weird parents. I really don't want to be put into either one of those categories, but at times am concerned that I am. It's much simpler to be at my own school, where I am the teacher, have some authority, and do not feel like a visitor or guest. But then I have to deal with those damn parents! Ha!

Scrabulicious

My good friend Ruth was down for a visit last week, and we played four games of Scrabble. As Ruth is the best Scrabble player I have ever played with the fact that I won two of the games was particularly significant.

I showed her suburban activist, and she questioned why anyone would want to read about the suburbs.

Hmmm.... I thought.... and agreed.... relevant insight. A suburban neighbourhood, however pleasant, and close to a bus line, and a large wooded area, and a nice downtown of a nice little town, is somewhat dull. Not many may be interested in the lawn mowing practices of my neighbours.

Hence, while I continue with the title Suburban Activist, I am going to broaden the scope to, really, anything that I am interested in or doing. These topics include: movies, reading, relationships, environmental issues, walking, hiking, activism, life in general, living in a suburban neighbourhood, religion, politics, photography, and, of course, children and the education system.

I have much time to sit around and nurse a lovely little baby boy. When I was last on maternity leave, I played Scrabulous on facebook, and was sort of obsessed with it for a period of time. (I was somewhat successful with improving my Scrabble game, as is evidenced by my Scrabble tie with the aforementioned Scrabble master). The third, and final, time around I will be, among other things, updating this blog.

Comments?