One Week to E-Day

I would guess that each of us that is married, with a partner, or in love with someone, has a song that reaches into the depths of our hearts and pulls out the range of sweeping and powerful emotions that reside there, connected to that special someone.  I recently shared with Heather that her song (for me), the one that I would sing and play for her if I had those skills, is "Tomorrow in Her Eyes" by Ron Sexsmith.

It was the song that sustained me when she not well and the doctors struggled to find a way to reduce her discomfort and pain back a couple of years ago.  It is the song that sustains me today, when we are away from each other.

I see tomorrow in her eyes
And where my future lies
So I don't need a crystal ball
At all because I've seen tomorrow In her eyes

Whenever life tears us away
I'll hold on to the words we say
And if I have to wait awhile
Then I'll be dreaming of tomorrow
And her smile

We went to see Ron Sexsmith at Keyano Theatre last night, on the eve of our 11th wedding anniversary.  I had sent him a message on Twitter about an hour before the show: Welcome to Fort McMurray! See you soon. "Tomorrow in Her Eyes" for Heather if you feel inspired. Our anniversary tomorrow.

He responded almost immediately with I'll certainly try - RS.  He puts his initials at the end of any tweet that he writes, as opposed to the ones crafted by his communications people.

Ron was in fine form last night, singing a mix of songs from his long career that stretches back to the mid 1980s. Near the middle of the show, he had all his band members leave the stage and he sat down at the piano for the first time.

"Shortly before the show," he said, "I had a special request.  This song is for Heather.  It is a beautiful love song."

I got all choked up, Heather's head snuggled into my shoulder, listening to her song.  It was a magical moment and a great way to acknowledge and celebrate the gift of having Heather in our lives, in my life. Happy anniversary Honey!

---

I was flying back from Calgary last weekend, having attended a two-day conference with non-profit leaders from across Canada, feeling the incredible fatigue and weight associated with an election campaign that has been littered with emotional ups and downs.  It started off with fireworks on day one as a former Minister, MLA, Mayor and Councillor decided to run for a seat in our ward with the reasoning being that he was hearing that "the inmates are running the asylum".  I took offence to the comment and wrote a rebuttal piece on my blog which I then forwarded on to the media.  For the next week I was in the eye of the proverbial storm being pitted against this unusual suspect who came out of the woodwork to the shock of most of us.

As I sat on the plane reflecting on the past three weeks, and the assorted non-election things that have also been happening, I said to myself that I needed to draw how I felt.  The pen started in the middle and went from quadrant to quadrant, almost by magic, contrasting the negative and cold vibrations that have seemed so predominant, with the soft and warming curves of the foundations of my life, centred and rooted by family.  I felt so much better by the time the pilot announced that we were "making our final descent into Fort McMurray."

"Excuse me, but is that a mind map you were drawing," said the passenger who was seated behind me on the Sunjet, Suncor's corporate bird that was taking us all home.

"Uhh, yes," I said tentatively, not realizing that someone had been watching.

"I've never seen one being drawn in real life," he said.  "That is quite a skill, one that I wish I had."

I gave him a closer look at the finished product, thanked him, got off the plane, collected my bags, and happily headed home.  It was good to be back.

---

While I had been away, Dylan had gone with his mom to see Boeing Boeing at Keyano Theatre, a raucous comedy that Heather and I had enjoyed the weekend before.  An innocent question about what he thought of the show triggered a flood of feelings that he had been holding back for quite some time.  A trickle became a torrent and he purged for several hours about how unhappy he has been at his new school, feeling isolated and alone, unable to connect.

God bless him for being able to open up and begin to process what he was going through.  Being a true extrovert, he needed to vocalize and share in order to find a way out of the funk he was in.  Conversations with us, with his Fort McKay family, a school counsellor, and friends confirmed and reinforced his eventual decision to transfer from Holy Trinity to Composite High School, adjacent to Keyano College.   He signed in and started yesterday morning.  The effect was immediate.

Apparently, as he walked down the halls, heads were turning left, right and centre.  "What the?" was followed by "Was that Dylan?"

He was back on familiar territory, with his tribe, his gang from Dr. Clark School who had made the leap to Composite back in September.

He owned the decision to go to Trinity, and he owned the decision to transfer.  We are grateful to everyone who supported him through this transition and thankful for the courage he showed in facing his feelings and making the tough decision of how best to move forward.

---

As the clock winds down on the election campaign - the votes will be counted next Monday, October 21st - Dylan, Ben and I are anxiously awaiting the start of rehearsals for Les Misérables.  We were all delighted to find out that we had been cast in the show that will be opening in February 2014.

Ben will be a member of the youth gang.  Dylan will be one of the thugs in Monsieur Thenardier's gang.  I get to play the lascivious, lecherous and loutish "Master of the House".  We are all thrilled, especially because Claude will be returning to direct.

---

We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, that you are able to pause and reflect on the gifts we have been given in this life, and the people who make is so special.  Lots of love from all of us to all of you.

Summer's Gone

The sun slices through the early morning mist at this time of year, straight up the valley from the east, right into my study.  On the last day of summer holidays - Ben and Dylan will both be in school tomorrow - it is going to be a perfect day, sunny at 28-degrees.  Everything is still green and lush, though the growth of the grass has slowed considerably, and the leaves are ready to make their colourful transition to the painted forest.

We've had a great summer: July spent here at home, a week traveling to Kamsack and Calgary, a week of interPLAY, and two weeks in Ontario.  In our travels we connected with 43 family members.  I counted, on our flight home last week, as I couldn't sleep and I needed something to do. I also listed the name of every single person that I could remember from Mindcamp, Canada's creativity conference, five days that closed out our Ontario excursions.  Remarkably, that number ended up around 75.

Meeting people and spending time with family are awesome, but the measure for me of a great holiday is experiencing the sensation that time is standing still and mentally disconnecting with the world back home.  As I look back, one week felt like two and two felt like four, so time did indeed slow down.  And while I had to deal with one or two things that came up back at home, I felt mentally present throughout our travels.  It was a great vacation.

I thought I'd do something different with this edition of the Wood Buffalo Update.  Rather than writing from memory, I'm going to use photographs as memory triggers and sharing whatever stories they inspire.  How does that sound?

SASKATCHEWAN SUNSET

We drove 1,300 kilometres on that first leg of our holiday, driving the northern route from Fort McMurray to Kamsack.  As we were getting close, a beautiful sunset was developing and I insisted we stop a couple of times so I could snap a few pictures.

Justifiably, Heather was getting tired of pulling over for me, so rather than asking a third time, I opened up the sunroof, carefully positioned my iPhone in the jet stream, holding tightly, and snapped a picture of the sky as the sun made its final descent.

I think it was worth it, don't you?  You can see the reflection on the roof of the car in the foreground.  Stunning!

KAMSACK TIMES

I leaf my way through the stack of local newspapers when I get home to Kamsack.  I have done it religiously going back to the mid-1980s when I returned for the first time from university in Saskatoon.

Mom and Dad are great about resisting the urge to toss the growing pile of yellowed newsprint in the garbage until both Doug and I have had a chance to go through them.

There were two items, apart from the one celebrating Dad's volunteer efforts in the community, that really jumped out to me.  One was the obituary for John Friday, a fellow who was quite a bully when we were little.  Playing football on the site that is now the RCMP detachment, likely in 1979 or 1980, he bullied us for the last time as I finally pushed back, and punched a few times.  Seeing that he is gone reminds me that he was somebody's son, brother, father and grandfather.  He was only 45.

The other was the obituary for Lawrence.  He was always around, from the time I was knee-high to a grasshopper, the local Mr. Fix-It who had every tool under the sun and the skill to fix or build pretty much anything.  A lifelong bachelor, Lawrence was always friendly, eternally helpful and a fixture in the community.  It seems surreal that he is gone, though he lived a good long life passing away at 84.

SMILES

It was so nice to see everyone, smiling, talking, reconnecting.  It was great to see Dad doing incredibly well.  Here are a few pictures that are worth sharing that capture brilliantly the spirit of the three days we spent in Kamsack.

Uncle Lloyd, Shelley and Aunty Lydia

Heather with Anwyn; Dylan and Henry; Ben, Anwyn and Kade; Sophia and Maggie, Dylan and Maggie

Malisa, Greg and Jana; Kade, Dylan and Doug; Kim and Keith; Doug, Mom, Kade and Dad

WAGNER REUNION

We have established a summer tradition with the Wagner side of the family that we convene in a new location each year.  As Michael and Kathryn had recently made a big move to Calgary and in respect of the latter being great with child, we decided to use their home as a base of operation for a number of outings in the area.  High flying fun at Calaway Park, fishing on the Bow, playing games and exploring the Glenbow Museum were some of the highlights of our few days in Cowtown.

Julia loved the day at Calaway Park. I enjoyed the fishing in the trout pond.

Games are often in progress, especially between Dylan and Grandma Wager as they often engage in long checkers battles

I can't say enough our our Bow River fly fishing adventure

Ben, Michael, Julia, Susan, Dylan, Neil and Heather outside the Glenbow in downtown Calgary

We got to see the Escher exhibit at the Glenbow, absolutely a highlight

We always enjoy our time during the Wagner reunion, wherever we happen to be, but this year especially so.  Michael and Kathryn's new home is so comfortable and roomy.  I was also delighted to have caught my first fish using a fly rod.  

A Little Piece of Paradise

After traveling across the country, renting a car and braving the 401, there was no better place we could have been than Marcel and Kathy's "farm" near Guelph.  I call it a "farm", though there is only one animal - a lovely dog named Boda - a garden and several fruit trees.  The only other way to describe this place is "a little piece of paradise", which Heather beautifully wrote about in a recent blog post that you can read here.

From the wonderful art on the walls to the conversation-rich gatherings around the long dining table, from the mysterious forest to the refreshing swimming hole, the "farm" is a place of tranquility, connectivity, and abundance.

We were grateful to have spent several days there before heading into Guelph to enjoy Pierre and Robbie's hospitality.  Their new home is gorgeous, with a striking view out the back and lots of room for company.  We had a great gang of us on one night, including Uncle Joe and Aunt Betty.

After telling everyone about my visit to Maryann and JP's dairy farm last fall, the gang was eager to visit for themselves.  We took a drive one afternoon and enjoyed an awesome tour of this beautiful facility and parlour-side seats for the 5 pm milking.  It was awesome.

I took a lot of pictures during the wonderful Guelph portion of our trip.  Here are a few of our favourites.

Heather with baby Juliana and her Aunty Emilie

The boys playing around in Fergus

The beautiful ladies: Heather and Kathy

Cool dudes: Pierre and Dylan

The musician: Erica

We enjoyed several great visits with Uncle Joe and Aunt Betty

Robbie and Pierre are always so full of life

Maryann and Joseph Patrick gave us an awesome tour of their dairy farm

TRENTON TIMES

We departed from Guelph, choosing to take the road less traveled, or, at least the one we thought would be so.  Highway 2 runs parallel to the much faster and busier 401, cutting through towns and cities with names like Whitby, Oshawa, Bowmanville, Port Hope and Cobourg.  And no sooner had one place ended another began, towns sitting kiss to kiss, with nary a field between them.  

Chris and Corinne moved to Trenton shortly after the last time we were in Ontario as a family.  And while we don't see them often enough, we sure enjoy our time with them when we do.

They asked what kinds of things we wanted to do when we were there.  We were very explicit that we were quite happy just hanging out and discovering their little community and area.  So, that's exactly what we did.  On one day, we went for a mini-wine tour, through Prince Edward County, tasting some of the local vintages and shopping in some of the out-of-the-way galleries and stores.  

On another day, we discovered the beauty of Lake Ontario, spending time on the beach at Presqu'ile Provincial Park.  I'm still struck by how beautiful it was and how few people were there.  Who needs to go to Mexico when you have a beach like that in your backyard.

Sometimes, everything you need to have an unforgettable time is within your reach.  One evening, Corinne started bringing out her collection of musical instruments: trumpet, saxophone, recorders, cantor (for the pipes), guitar, and pan flute.  We all got into the act, with Ben loving every minute of being surrounded by musical things.

Jonathan, Matthew and Thomas have all grown up since we last saw them.  Matthew is so tall he can touch the sky.  

Jonathan and Dylan ended up finding lots to talk about, as did the two sets of parents - no stone was left unturned by the time we packed up and darted off to our final stop at Mindcamp.  But that's a whole other story that would cause this edition of the Wood Buffalo Update to go on forever.  

As you can see, it was a full summer of travel and fun.  We've logged a lot of miles, but it was worth it to see people that we dearly love, people we don't see often enough.  I hope you've enjoyed looking at the pictures and getting a wee sense of our holiday adventures.

Summer breezes

I had no sense that I would spend some time with the Wood Buffalo Update this morning, but after having a few sips of coffee and shaking myself from my longer-than-normal slumber, something niggled at me that it was time.  Sure enough, it has been almost two months since I last checked in, mere days before the news conference that announced my significant professional shift.

I'm a little sleepy for two reasons: first, because it is a cooler morning with a lulling soft rain, and second, because I spent many hours on Christina Lake yesterday, sucking in fresh air and life.  By the time we got home I was pooped.  Out on a boat for about five hours, I caught 14 fish, several of which were nice sized walleye.  It was outstanding.

The move into the role of interim executive director of the Arts Council was announced on May 15th and happened just a few days later.  As my focus on the arts had begun almost a full year before that, it really wasn't a jarring change, outside of the technology adjustment from the Microsoft to Apple environment.  I'm still working out of the same office in the Arts Centre of the college, surrounded by familiar people and things.

Where we are heading is much clearer to me now after spending a full day with the Edmonton Arts Council and crafting a business plan for 2014.  Assuming our funding request goes through, we would quickly jump from a party of one to a bustling organization of four in year one, six in year two.  We would be managing the municipality's public art program, doling out arts grants, and advocating on behalf of the sector.

Based on my understanding of the relationship between the Arts Council and my political duties, my guess would be that I would be running for re-election in October.  I haven't made that final decision or announcement yet, but the last three years have been fantastic and the opportunity to serve for an additional four is one that I'd like to seize (we are moving from 3-year to 4-year terms in Alberta), if I can avoid conflict of interest.  The fact is that I might need to seek some legal counsel before making that final call.  In any event, I'm protected completely right now because I am on a secondment until the end of May in 2014 thanks to Keyano College.  They have "given me over" to the Arts Council, covering all of my wages, benefits, etc.

The day before my 46th birthday, I saw on Twitter that a flood watch had been issued for the Hangingstone River in Fort McMurray.  I immediately jumped into my car and went to the end of the street where this normally tranquil stream cuts through town, adjacent to Heritage Park.  Tranquil had turned terrifying as almost 100 mm of rain that had fallen in the watershed had filled the Hangingstone to historic levels.  As I was standing there, the edge of the water was already creeping up the sidewalk.  To my right, a group of school kids were on a tour of the park, oblivious to what was happening.

By early the following morning, I almost couldn't process the pictures I was seeing, particularly of the Sport & Wellness Centre at Keyano College, the main floor of which was covered in a foot or two of water.  Heritage Park was a lake and several neighbourhoods were put on alert to evacuate.  We declared a state of local emergency - the first of many to come in Alberta over the next few weeks - and put our EOC (Emergency Operations Centre) to its second highest level of activation, something that had never happened before.

I was preparing to go to a weekend conference in Banff when news of the flooding in southern Alberta began to hit the following week.  Organizers made the decision to move the gathering to downtown Calgary which proved to be its death knell as Cowtown ended up being in the path of the largest flow of water in the province's history.  By the next morning, the largest city in Alberta looked eerily like New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.  High River to the south was an unmitigated disaster zone. Our flood seemed inconsequential as images of the devastation began to dominate the news.

Life carried on, and clean-up efforts and restoration are in full swing here in Fort McMurray and throughout the southern half of Alberta.  At the College, the new and improved Sport and Wellness Centre will reopen in early September in time for the start of the fall semester.  The Calgary Saddledome, flooded up to row 10 according to some reports, will take a little longer to restore, but it will come back, as will High River and other places ravaged by water.

The end of the school year heralded strong efforts by both Dylan and Ben.  It marked a watershed moment for their educational journeys as they will be in different schools for the first time this fall.  Dylan will be bussing to the other end of town to attend Holy Trinity High School.  Both had great report cards and Dylan was acknowledged with a Citizenship Award for the leadership role he played at Dr. Clark School.  We were very proud of both boys for their efforts.

Dylan is really finding his voice outside of school as well, enjoying strengthening connections made during the Hometown...The Musical! process.  He was recently invited to participate in a video podcast called Gamer Girls vs Gamer Guys.  His depth of knowledge about video gaming was evident in his first appearance on the show.

His adult co-host Ashley shared that "Dylan was incredible. Honestly, we were a bit worried about how having kids on front of a camera would go, but as soon as Dylan came in and started chatting with us we knew he would be perfect for it. And he nailed it!"

Ben spends his time making music and designing incredible things on Minecraft and wherever his travels take him.  He's excited to be going on a solo trip to Calgary later this month to spend a few days with his Uncle Michael, Auntie Kathryn and cousin Julia.  It's a bit of a challenge keeping him busy during these long summer days, but a complete re-design and re-painting of his bedroom should keep him occupied.

Heather is out the door early this morning, teaching a yoga class for 20 at the Higher Health studio.  She has earned a top reputation in Fort McMurray and is a lucrative catch for any studio that taps into her skills.  She continues exploring writing and has begun to share her creations and explorations on her blog site: http://heathersheartrevealed.blogspot.ca/.

We have begun a daily practise that is proving to be healthy for our bodies and our relationship.  Each evening we go off for a 30-45 minute walk.  Rain and shine, it has been an excellent way to get our bodies moving and a great opportunity to talk.

Our summer holidays will find us traveling to Kamsack toward the end of July, then swinging south and west to Calgary for our annual reunion with the Wagners.  Home for a week, we then hop a plane to Ontario where we will spend a couple of weeks visiting in the Trenton and Guelph areas, finishing off at YMCA Geneva Park near Orillia for Mindcamp.

We hope you have a great summer!

Mother's Day

On Mother's Day, love gets showered on ladies young and old, who have created, nurtured and sustained life - incredible women who soothe, encourage, scold, support.  I hope you all have a beautiful day. You deserve it.

Uncle Joe, an ardent reader of the Wood Buffalo Update, is probably ready to send out carrier pigeons in search of this post.  Unfortunately, the confluence of circumstance and timing has thwarted my best intentions. With a free and clear Sunday and the arrival of Mother's Day, I finally have the time, inspiration and impetus to sit down and bring you into our world, if only for a few minutes.

This was a week.  The things I've been blessed to do - and not do - in the last seven days make me shake my head in amazement.  As Heather was away for most of it, attending a spirituality retreat in the Canmore/Banff area, and as my calendar was packed every single night, I had to find something to drop to spend at least one full evening with Dylan and Ben, who are graciously independent when we need them to be.  When the least important thing I had to give up were two VIP tickets to see Bill Cosby, you can begin to get an appreciation for the week that has just floated to an end.

A week ago, I had the honour of being in Edmonton for a couple of arts presentations, including Catalyst Theatre's The Soul Collector - which is outstanding by the way, and a panel interview for the Premier's Council on Culture.  This will be a government committee of about 20 individuals that will report directly to the Minister of Culture.  I'll find out in June if I was successful or not, though I feel incredibly good about my chances.

My good friend and MLA Don Scott was treating me to lunch before the grilling, when former Minister of Enterprise and Advanced Education and current MLA Stephen Khan walked into the restaurant.  He came right over, asked what I was doing in town - we had met several times previously and discovered a natural kinship - and pledged to put an encouraging word (or two) in the Minister of Culture's ear.

As I am like to do these days, I spent several hours in preparation for the panel interview, synthesizing the job description and the role of the Council into a series of pictures, arrows, boxes and words - a mind map.  I had two pages in front of me as they peppered me with their standard set of questions.  They couldn't help noticing my reference notes and went off script to ask about them.  It was an excellent experience, and I got the sense that I might have been better prepared than the average candidate they had interviewed to that point.

A Council meeting back home that burned the midnight oil, a two-day think tank called the Nexus North IDEAS lab, the screening of an award-winning documentary film, and a fundraiser for our athletics program with NHL greats like Mark Messier, Theo Fleury and Glenn Anderson rounded out the week.

There were many highlights, but getting to host a panel discussion after the red carpet screening of Oil Sands Karaoke stands out as something special. Filmed in and around Fort McMurray in the summer and fall of 2012, the film follows the lives of five people who work in the oil sands and their off-hours lives as talented karaoke singers.  It might seem like an unlikely premise for a documentary film, but it works.  In fact, it earned the distinction of being the most entertaining entry at the recent Hot Docs festival in Toronto, the preeminent documentary film festival in the world.

 I was joined on stage by Mayor Blake, Iceis Rain - the drag queen alter-ego of Aboriginal entrepreneur Massey Whiteknife, one of the stars of the movie, and Charles Wilkinson - the director of Oil Sands Karaoke.  It was an amazing opportunity to lead a fascinating discussion.  The comments when I was done were encouraging and effusive, a preview of a comment that would blow me away the following morning.

The moment I saw Alex Jadad at the Nexus North gather on Thursday, I felt an uncanny connection, but it was illusory - I couldn't pin it down, though I had a intuitive sense we had met before, whether in this life or another (if you believe in that kind of thing).  It turns out I wasn't alone.  Alex (short for Alejandro, an accomplished innovator from Toronto, originally from Columbia) was intent on seeking me out, as he had a similar sense of connection.  He also wanted to express appreciation for the movie and panel discussion the night before.

"The movie was brilliant," he began, "but your performance was even more so.  It was a thing of beauty to watch how how balanced the discussion. It was wonderful."

It is a little awkward and embarrassed sharing the comment, as it feels rather self-serving, but the way he said it, equally imbued with both sincerity and awe, blew me away.  In a way, it reinforced the feeling I have that I'm in exactly the right place at the right time doing the exact things that I'm meant to be doing.  That's an intoxicating sensation, one worth sharing, despite the discomfort.

Heather is in a similar place right now, intoxicated with the notion that she is living her passions and finding her voice.  She has recently re-discovered a love of writing that has brought her into the blogosphere. Her level of intuition, spiritual connectivity, and impact on people has never been greater - at least from my perspective.

Watching her soar is a thing of beauty!

She and Dylan went for the final screening of Oil Sands Karaoke last night while Ben and I darted for the bank of the Athabasca River so I could get my hooks in the water for the first time this season.  We had to traverse iceberg-like chunks of ice to get down to the water's edge - a scenario I have never seen before, at least not this late in the spring.  I gingerly climbed down to the bottom, carrying all of my gear, doing my best not to slip and fall into the water.  I placed my tackle box up on an ice shelf, put on my rig, skewered my minnows, and tossed the line out into the water.  Not a minute later, a large chunk of ice, probably 100 pounds, calved off from above and came crashing down, narrowly missing me but propelling my tackle box and all its content into the water and into my chest.  Momentarily stunned at the near miss, I looked down to see multiple spoons and jigs hanging off my shirt.  It was an amusing moment, but a sharp suggestion that I should probably wait until the ice melts away before giving fishing another shot.

As Dylan progresses toward the end of Grade 8, consistently coming home with reports of successful tests and projects, he will soon have to decide where to attend high school in the fall.  His heart seems set on a school that offers the opportunity to get involved in the theatre arts.  My sense is that it will either be Holy Trinity or Westwood, both facilities at the other end of the town with well over 1000 students each.

I am happy to report that I am no longer at a professional crossroads in my life.  The die has been cast, the road chosen, and very soon I will be able to speak publicly about the next step in my career.  An announcement and press conference is set for Wednesday morning, after which I will be able to share the news.  I am very excited about the opportunity that I have accepted and the challenge I have undertaken, as it aligns with my passions and my experiences.  It also addressed a pledge I made to myself in January 2012 as to how I was going to change the world.  Stay tuned!