A seasonal pot-pourri

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/08/2021 (653 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The seasons come and go — in nature as in our lives.

After not being in close contact with fellow tenants at our assisted living quarters for well over a year because of COVID-19 restrictions, we now look anxiously around us to see if we can spot the friends we’d made through our years of mutual fellowship.

Have they survived? Have they moved on to a nursing home? Or have they passed on, as we’re all destined to do eventually?

We feel blessed to meet new people outside our building, now that summer is here. They are trying to fit in and be accepted as we ourselves once had to do.

I like to go for a walk before the day gets too hot. Yes, we’ve been experiencing hot, hot temperatures lately, sometimes for a whole week at around 30 C. People in Western Canada have experienced temperatures above 40 C and fires completely ravaged the town of Lytton, B.C. Farther south, in Phoenix and Los Vegas, the reading sometimes reaches 45 C, or 113 F. The rest of North America, including our north, is feeling unrelenting heat as well, causing our glaciers and icecaps to melt and recede.

What does this extreme weather mean? Climate change in full view! Crops are suffering from drought. The grass is starting to look brownish, even though the trees still shimmer their glossy leaves like spectators waving tiny banners at sports events.

That’s wishful thinking, but I welcome the sight as I proceed across the street to investigate the flurry of heart-shaped signs spread out on the front lawn of École Jeanne0Sauve, where the flag has been flying at half-mast for weeks. Displayed on sticks in groups of three, row upon row, are six dozen messages written in memory of Indigenous children whose graves at former residential schools are being confirmed.

I step into their midst and read:

• “Every child matters… There is no reconciliation without truth.”

• “Sad day in history… In hopes never to repeat itself.”

• “I commit to learn more… I pray they will Rest in Peace”

• “And a little voice says, ‘It’s OK now, they’ve found us.’”

There’s more;much more.

The recent vandalism of royal statues brought out declarations that violence does not further the economy or education, but that “destruction of material things is nothing compared with the destruction of children’s lives.”

Sobering thoughts. It is encouraging to see the younger generation address the problems that previous generations have allowed to fester. In the young, in the future, there is hope.

On a lighter note: a big thank-you for help with distribution of my MUSINGS book. Pickup continues at 204-237-9056.

Anne Yanchyshyn is a community correspondent for St. Vital. Email her at acy@mymts.net