Carrots and Beans

Vitamins A and B for the weekend. Thanks to our school garden. 

What are you harvesting before the first frost?

Signs that Times are Tough

Your tank is nearly empty, and you’re still waiting for gas prices to drop.
You look for lower-priced gas and drive around the block.
You wait for a miracle and don’t fill up.
MLJ/04/09/2025/TimesAreTough

https://www.cbc.ca/calgary/features/gasprices/

David Suzuki

David Suzuki’s final episode of The Nature of Things after 44 years 

"... and I think there will be many suprises that will not be good. But there could be many surprises that will be good if we give nature a chance." - DS -

Of Crows and Magpies

 Matthew 6:26-27

²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[a]? https://www.biblegateway.com

Nope. Worrying indeed shortens our life. Wish we could be like the birds, but we’re in a capitalist society where the privileged few play with supply and demand.

After a week of heat warnings, this mild morning sent me back to my long walks with foraging crows and magpies, cawing and hopping on the ground blessed with the recent rainfall and crumbs left by night prowlers. Squirrels scurried up trees turning into fall colors like they couldn't wait for the 22^nd. Neither can I. MLJ/01/09/2025/LongWalks

Pretty soon, it’s fall.

Pretty soon, it’s fall.

Wildfires will rage on underground,
Zombie fires. They’re to hang around.
Smoldering til spring
Though snow is melting.
Resurfacing like the Phoenix,
Immortalize by our follies.
Mother Earth is balding,
Retiring. Just like me.
MLJ/01/09/2025/SignsOfFall

MERCH

Much, much, too much merch, merchandise!

Everywhere you look. They fill your very eyes!

Ready to buy, buy, buy more? Right now? Do you need to?
Can you resist the temptation to accumulate, or are you
Hooked into a fad or craze? Should it be costly to be cool?
MLJ/31/08/2025/TooMuchCommercializationAndConsumerism

2025: Twenty Years After Katrina

Who doesn’t have a Katrina in their lives?
Moments of challenges and struggles
Moments of faith, strength, and survival
Moments of heroism and selflessness.

USA had Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden.
Are Americans any better?
Canada had Martin, Harper and Trudeau.
Are Canadians any better?

Now it’s Trump again in his circus tent,
Moving Maxwell to a luxury prison.
While Justin-Sophie’s vows were bent,
Leaving Carney with tariffs all wrong!

Putin and Zelenskyy are still at it.
The clown’s 24-hour promise shattered!
Israel and Hamas are still at it.
The vulnerable scattered and exhausted!

Through hurricanes, tornadoes, heat waves,
Recessions, pandemics, and wildfires,
Katrinas have come and gone, again and again.
And no matter who’s hired or fired,
Mankind is tired but will always rise.
MLJ/28/08/2025/NorthAmericaInTwentyYears

Roses and Chocolates and More...

 

Imagine the swag bags you get when attending special events. We teachers got them from our school administrators, along with large roses and chocolates, at the start of this school year. Treats also come on many occasions throughout the year. Now, who wouldn't want to work in our school? This reminds me of another principal, Mr. PL, who has now retired. We'd find Kisses in our mailboxes all the time. How would you show appreciation for your staff if you were the boss? MLJ/26/08/2025/Here’sToANewSchoolYear

When carrots and russet potatoes go on sale...

 Use them in this recipe if you're out of sweet potatoes, purple yams, or cassava. Enjoy! 

Ginataang Halo-Halo

How many potato varieties do you know?

Thank you, John Denver

 

Perhaps Love

4th Industrial Revolution: John Denver's response from 1977

To the mountains, I can rest there
To the rivers, I will be strong
To the forest, I'll find peace there
To the wild country, where I belong.

Oh, I know sometimes I worry
On worldly ways and means
And I can see the future killing me
On a misbegotten highway
Of prophecies and dreams
A road to nowhere and eternity.

And I know it's just changes
Yes, and mankind marching on
I know we can't live in yesterday
But compared to what we're losing
And what it means to me
I'd give my life and throw the rest away

To The Wild Country by John Denver

Bring It On!

  

We made it to the finish line in June. 

We're ready for the next race, but we need everyone's support. 

There's nothing like a newly-polished floor. 

The Seven Sacred Teachings: love, respect, courage, honesty, wisdom, humility, and truth. 

The 4th Industrial Revolution -- Anything else?

 

School Garden

 

        

Carrots planted in June by my Grade 2 class. Ready for harvest...

How many carrot varieties do you know?

At Inglewood Bird Sanctuary: Wood ducks and mallards