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been such a great summer, thought I'd jot down a few favorite things we've seen and done this year ...   enjoy!

We had planned a nice dinner out while on holidays, but then, as is often the case while away, plans changed.  So, the following weekend we were back in Winnipeg and went to The Current at the Forks.  Dinner was really good, then we shared a chocolate mousse-brownie dessert made with Callebaut Dark Chocolate.  It was all so, so nice.  We are not in the habit of going out for expensive meals, so this was a rare treat.  It didn't hurt that it was a beautiful summer night at the Forks, and that we were on foot.  If you haven't walked around downtown, the Exchange, or the Forks this summer, I hope you get a chance soon!

I read Michener's ALASKA over the course of a couple of weeks - including two solid days when I was sick.  I'm such a fan of Michener's writing -   he's such a thorough researcher.  The way he ties things together, weaving the details from 1000 years ago into the present reveals such a talent for storytelling. 868 pages though - not for the easily distracted.   There were so many different perspectives of Aboriginal contact with Russians and Americans.  I really appreciated the care taken to show the difference between diverse clans and groups.  In particular, the Aleutian Natives are characterized as a peace loving, spiritual, reflective people.  Here's part of the story of one Aleut 'conversion' attempt -

 'Gravely, the shaman place Cidaq on a stool and took a position facing her; then, as if he were summarizing his entire life, he began speaking: 'young woman, have you not seen the Russian Christianity?  Has it done anything for our people?  Has it brought us the happiness they promise? Has it brought food (back to our island, after the merciless hunting and senseless killing of our food supply)? Do they love us as their Book says they should?  Do they respect us? Do they allow us entrance into their places? Have they given us any new freedoms, or even preserved the ones we had built for ourselves? Is there anything ... any one thing you can think of ... any good thing their God has given us? And, is there any good thing which we already had which they have not taken away?'"  

This particular plotline goes on to tell about Cidaq's long journey to reconcile the beliefs of her people and her childhood to the 'new way' brought by the Russian colonizers. Another 'contact' story is about sailors taken in and cared for by a small village.  Exposed to the Natives traditions and way of life, the sailors embrace new perspectives about them, genuinely SEEING them as people, not savages.  I'm sure there were many stories like this in the history of our continent - there just weren't ENOUGH of them.

We spent a couple of near Melville, Sk.  A good part of one of our days was at the Motherwell Homestead, near Abernethy, Sk. Even if you don't live in SK, the Qu'appelle Valley is gorgeous and this National Park Site is worth the drive.  The Motherwell family was important in early Saskatchewan History.  The house and barn were built of stone that took over 8 years to collect from the surrounding countryside.  The family had come from Ontario and brought some revolutionary ideas to prairie farming.  Mr. Motherwell's second wife was a teacher in the local residential school, where she apparently opposed the mandate of complete assimilation.  She allowed children to speak in their own languages, and tried to respect their history.  She was known as a 'difficult and strong minded woman' - I wished there were more of her history available!

We watched the Beatrix Potter biography, with Renee Zellweger.  What a lovely, sweet story.  Without giving away too much of the story, (because you should watch it if you haven't!) - I loved seeing the way that Beatrix grieved.  It seems rare to me to see such deep emotion in a film, expressed so humanly.  (maybe thats because my favorite genre is fluffy romantic comedies, watched purely for entertainment and escapism?)  Beatrix was a feisty and eccentric woman, and she became the best selling children's author of all time.  She had imagination, confidence, perseverance, and she wasn't flattened by rejection or ridicule. I was surprised that I remembered the names of several of her characters.... I think I love Jemima Puddle Duck best, but maybe its just because of her fun name.  Here's a quote from the movie, when Beatrix meets her soon to be best friend, Millie;

"I have decided that you and I are going to be friends. Norman tells me that you are unmarried, as am I, and that you're not unpleased about it... as am I.  I warn you, I am prepared to like you very, very much, and I plan to enjoy each others company quite a lot!"  

I'm sure it was just as risky to say such things in Beatrix's day as it is in ours, and I am always drawn to those who have the confidence to be honest and vulnerable.

Without meaning to do it, I've talked about three strong and unique women in this post.... maybe I should also recommend that you have a peek at my women and strength board on pinterest :)

Every Girl, Every Boy

For every girl who is tired of acting weak when she is strong, there is a boy tired of appearing strong when he feels vulnerable.  For every boy who is burdened with the constant expectation of knowing everything, there is a girl tired of people not trusting her intelligence.  For every girl who is tired of being of being called over-sensitive, there is a boy who fears to be gentle, to weep.  For every boy for whom competition is the only way to prove his masculinity, there is a girl who is called unfeminine when she competes.  For every girl who throws out her E-Z-Bake Oven, there is a boy who wishes to find one.  For every boy struggling not to let advertising dictate his desires, there is a girl facing the ad industry’s attacks on her self-esteem.  For every girl who takes a step toward her liberation, there is a boy who finds the way to freedom a little easier.

(Adapted from a poem by Nancy R. Smith, see www.crimethinc.com)

Mothers Day Proclamation

Julia Ward Howe is one of the women responsible for setting aside a day for mothers, a day to celebrate the gift of being and having mothers.  She was an activist, a poet, a suffragist, a feminist, an abolitionist, a reformer, an advocate, and a pacifist.  (thank you Wiki!) 
   (Is that not an amazing list of activities for any person, let alone a woman ... in the late 19th century! - WOW!)


The Proclamation below was written as a response to civil war.  Julia's thoughts are timeless, though.


Mothers Day Proclamation
Julia Ward Howe


Arise, then, women of this day!

Arise, all women who have hearts,
Whether our baptism be of water or of tears!

Say firmly:
"We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

From the bosom of the devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own.
It says: "Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel.

Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace,
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God.

In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And at the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

... Makes ya rethink the Hallmark version of Mothers Day, huh?  Maybe theres room for a little more than candy, flowers, and sentimentality! 

... on a lighter note, here is a picture of one of the reasons i am celebrated on Mothers day.. as I rounded the corner into our parking lot, there was some shouting from the roof, and there was my almost 16-year old son and his friend, way up high!

from where we've come...

(a mailing list I subscribe to advised me of this today.. thought it was a good reminder for all of us...)

Did you know . . .  January 28, marks 95 years since the Manitoba Legislature passed an amendment to the Manitoba Elections Act in 1916, giving most women in Manitoba the right to vote and run in provincial elections. Manitoba succeeded in being the first province in Canada to grant women suffrage. Women activists and their supporters spent many years dedicated to achieving this goal. In the years just prior to 1916, the movement for women’s suffrage in Manitoba was organized by the Manitoba Political Equality League, led by suffragette and political activist Nellie McClung and other noteworthy players, such as Cora Hind, Lillian Thomas, and Dr. Mary Crawford as well as many other dedicated women and men. The Manitoba Political Equality League coordinated the infamous “Women’s Parliament” a satire which turned the debate on its head and ridiculed the dangers of giving men the right to vote.

Importantly, not all women in Manitoba benefited from the 1916 amendment. It was not until 1952 that all Manitoba women gained the right to vote, when legislation changed so that Aboriginal men and women became eligible to vote in provincial elections and hold office without losing their treaty Indian status.

We look forward to a 100^th anniversary celebration of this momentous event in 2016!