There’s been a tameness… a hush this Autumn 🍂 of ‘24. Not a “calm”, but more a steady & deliberate creep forward. Although parts of the US we had visited this summer were battered in the south, we fortunately sidestepped several major weather events this year and emerged from the October hurricane season unscathed. School eased along and we joined the legion of teachers treading water into meeting & reporting periods. Thanksgiving also rolled in… but free of the full on turkeypalooza and more about the kids rolling home with music, chatter, cards and next steps. All very chill…
Interjections to the “same old” were few… but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention this first! A chance weekday Camp Lumsden visit billowed into my only ever encounter with Aurora Borealis, and a crushing display of the Northern Lights over Smelt Lake. I’m no celestial authority, but the Oct 10 solar display in Eastern Guysborough County was both emphatic and magical. Words don’t seem to lend justice to swirling, dancing, mystical skies from my lakeside vantage point. It was a privilege to have managed a few vivid captures of the evening! In fact… I enjoyed at least a night on most weekends this October, including an awesome day long canoe adventure with P McKenna early on and several winter prep excursions. Lucky!!!
As always, NSTU Conference Day came with our annual trek to Halifax mid-month. It was, well, meh 🫤. I’m kind of at a spot with work where I feel it would be much more productive to be in my class, and dealing with the mounting heap of paper, communications and tasks. Programming, student health, data collection/reporting and “academics” might be a better use of time with my present assignment and headspace. Perhaps I just don’t like to be told what to do anymore 😂! I’m here for the kids… it’s where I find the most gain and reward.
And… travel! We bantered around another possible “pre-election” trek south to the US… but that didn’t seem to align, so it looks as though we’ll consider the three treks this year (Vegas/London & Berlin/Appalachia) the throughput for 2024. Not bad at all! The “attention” has turned to March Break 2025, and eyes 👀 on another Mediterranean look. Perhaps putting some of my MtA studies, such as the works of Herodotus and Thucydides, to work and fashion a Lumsden style Greek adventure! It would be new territory for us with incredible cultural, entertainment and historic potential. Maybe even pull off a football match to raise the bar!!! I can see us pulling the trigger on this one soon. Regardless… we roll into November with glasses half full 👍.