I took this picture (the sunrise, yes, RISE), while driving south to school, about 8:20 a.m. I find it hard getting up in the dark and always have, but there are some things to be grateful for (a lot, actually), and seeing the magnificent prairie sunrise is one of these. Every morning (well, almost every morning...this morning was cloudy) I am treated to skies so spectacular that sometimes it's a little hard to keep my eyes on the road. Fortunately it's a decent road and there's no traffic. On this occasion, though, I stopped to savour God's own painting.

We are gradually settling in to acreage life. As with any new home, there are glitches to be worked out; the previous owners left us with several repair jobs to do. More accurately, Bernie does most of the repairs, and some are simply going to have to wait for renovations. Bern is pleased with the fresh brown eggs he gathers each day from our eight chickens. With my parents having returned to their home in Whitelaw, AB, after a stay of five weeks, we have a few more eggs than we need, at that rate, so are able to send a dozen or so towards Jerry and the kids, or friends in the city. Some of the chickens have ended up in stew, however...

And summer is a memory. I would have liked to put my dill-weed bouquet picture here, rather than above, but one of the things I don't like about Blogger is that it does not allow you to distribute your pictures throughout (or maybe it does and I don't know how. Proposed solutions could certainly be emailed to me...)

Anyway, the days are shortening but the nights are lengthening. We are approaching Bernie's 50th birthday (he's allowing me to throw him a party, which is lovely from a man who doesn't like birthdays) and also approaching is our 25th wedding anniversary, at the solstice in December. I married him mostly because he made me laugh...and he still does. I think if you asked him why he married me, he'd say something about...well, actually, let's not go there. (Just kidding. I think he'd say he thought I was smart. Maybe sometimes, but I'm glad the kids got his math genes.) BTW, I took a picture of my shadow the other day (it's the only way these days to get a skinny picture!) Cool, hey?

And about reading...I continue to enjoy my afternoon and evening reading sessions. Last week I read from my new book at a launch at McNally-Robinson booksellers in Saskatoon and while I was there, picked up two books, both of which I am greatly enjoying. They are not 'easy reading' but they are taking me out of my own small world here and reminding me of other interests: philosophy, and changing the world. Check them out: Moral Clarity: A Guide For Grown-Up Idealists, by Susan Neiman, and Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, by the wife-and-husband team of Sheryl WuDunn and Nicholas D. Kristof. The former is fascinating, and the latter hardhitting and not for the weak of stomach.

By the way, I am often asked how to get a hold of my book (ie 'where can I buy it?'), and really, there are a number of booksellers which have it in addition to the above-named McNally's. Try online with Amazon, for example; here in Canada, that would be Amazon.ca

Of course, my book can be purchased through its publishers and other Baha'i booksellers. I want to say something about this. It's a comment that I made when I was speaking at the launch last week. Some people have asked me why I publish through Baha'i Publishing. Well, for one thing, they publish me. I have not wanted to self-publish, at least not usually (current blog excepted) because having someone ELSE accept your book for publication gives it, in my mind, not only legitimacy but a better infrastructure. Baha'i Publishing is pretty good at marketing their works, IMO. I have also been published through the U.K. at George Ronald; A Warm Place in My Heart, which comprised stories by youth world-wide, is not as eclectically marketed so is a little harder to get a hold of.

However, I am really proud of this book (A Warm Place), because I think it was a good idea: gathering other people's stories fascinates me still, but these youth, well, they are, as my dad would say, 'humdingers'. Apparently I am not alone in thinking so: I recently received an intensely heartwarming email from a reader in an oppressed-country-not-to-be-named and this reader was in the midst of translating the stories and sending them out to others by e-mail to 'encourage' and 'hearten' them, as the individual put it. Wow. Bravo for the translator.

Anyway, I digress. What I really wanted to say is that nobody ever faults Deepak Chopra for writing from his tradition, integrating Hindu practice with Quantum Healing or The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire or How To Know God. Actually, since I seem to be in a very chatty mood this afternoon, let me tell you a wee story about how I came to own the latter volume. One of the basic points of Baha'i belief is that God is "Unknowable". It's a long story....but anyway, there I was, in Value Village in Kelowna, BC, (I get a lot of my books at what my husband calls the "VV Boutique"). As I was browsing books I saw Deepak's How To Know God, which I had not yet read. As I stood there, I realized I was having a conversation with Deepak. Out loud. In front of the book display. Regardless of any curious bystanders. And let us just say that as a former drama student, I do not have weak projection. So here is Me: Deepak, you can't know God. He's the unknowable. More so, if you can't know Him, how the hell can you write a whole book about Him which has a title that suggests that you can? Mutter mutter mutter. Deepak: (No, just kidding, I don't think he really answered me!)

In fact, I bought the book, read it, found it brilliant, and have since bought a few other copies to give to family and friends. But really, no one does fault Deepak (I know narrative of people should use their last name but I feel like I know Deepak....not unlike God lol) for writing from his beliefs; in fact, his beliefs add infinitely (pun intended) to whatever subject he's writing about. Furthermore, does anyone fault Rabbi Jonathan Sacks for writing as a Jew? Duh? Or Rabbi Harold Kushner (whose bestseller, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, is deservedly and frequently read), for writing as a Rabbi? Or Dr. M. Scott Peck, the ubiquitous, writing from his Christian practice? Or Karen Armstrong, who has made a career, after her renunciation of the cloister, of speaking about a variety of subjects, often religious and clearly scholarly, and has successfully broken into the mass market of book buyers? People don't NOT buy their books because they are religious, do they? Do they? Any more than I don't refrain from buying books by people like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and their ilk (and that's maybe even a plug), who've made writing careers, possibly writing history, out of slamming God, just because they're atheists (although admittedly that's kind of like knowing the opposing viewpoint in a debate).

Without the spirit animating our words, we believers in this world being more-than-the-sum-of-its-parts, we wouldn't have as much to say, nor, presumably, as much good sense about what we are saying. So yes, my books, including this most recent one on education, unabashedly speak of spiritual life in education as if it were a meaningful enterprise. So, yes, it's a "Baha'i" book but it's not ONLY a Baha'i book (and even if it were....) There is Baha'i content in my non-fiction books but the subjects (marriage, youth, education) are universal. Right?

Well, I seem to have started from a prairie sunrise and then gone on an authorial rant. Mea culpa. I think I'll dedicate this post to E.W.S. in New York, a former student, now a graduate of Wellesley College, I believe...who says she turns to my blog occasionally for book recommendations. Allow me, Elizabeth, to recommend my own books, today! And for good measure, let me suggest to you the writings of Chopra, Sacks, Kushner, Peck, and Armstrong, all of whom you will find on the shelf at your nearest bookstore (Dawkins and what's-his-name don't need any help from me!). I wish Oprah would read mine too, and then I could join these famous people on the mainstream shelves in literary land!!! (Be careful what you wish for, especially publicly.)

Seriously, I really like Susan Neiman's Moral Clarity: A Guide for Grown-Up Idealists, and will therefore now order her Evil in Modern Thought. And I'm learning a lot about Immanuel Kant. Very cool.

And it's very cool on the prairie, but not yet stone forty-below cold. In fact, there's not even snow yet (touch wood) and the drives continue to enliven the morning. I'm glad working makes me get up for the sun.

I am pleased with the publicity that McNally-Robinson is giving to my coming book launch. I hope the turnout is good. I was very pleasantly surprised recently when the librarian from nearby Speers, SK did a truly excellent job in organizing a Monday night reading at the library. The room was full, probably about 30 people, and the books well-received. At that event I read both prose and poetry. Thanks, Colleen!

Dear Grade 9s: This is an open letter for our class on November 12 because I won't be there and it is our computer day. Your instructions for the class will be found below. I wanted to explain that I am absent because it is a very special day for my faith. You know that Christians celebrate Christ's birth with an occasion called Christmas. It's not actually Christ's birthday, but people around the world use the day to remember the spirit of Christianity (although in some places it's become a commercialized holiday). Well, in my faith, we celebrate the birth of our founder, Baha'u'llah, on the day which was His actual birthday, and if Baha'is are able to do so, we take the day off work as a special Holy Day. In fact, I will be hosting the North Battleford area Baha'is at my house in the afternoon. We will share prayers, readings, music, refreshments, and fellowship in celebration of this day. You are welcome to look this information up by following this LINK after you have done your work below. Have a great day!

Step 1: At the right side of my blog, you will find a list of links. Look at each one. Choose the one which is most interesting to you and write a paragraph in a Word document. Keep the doc because you will be using it shortly.

Step 2: Go to www.blogger.com and create your own blog. Follow the site instructions (which are easy) and remember that the name of your blog should be something you are going to be happy with for a long time. You will be using this blog in English classes and if you wish to, personally, and when you put something on the Net, anyone can check it out. It's public.

Step 3: Find a picture you'd like to use. You may have to access one from home to do this. Take the writing you did earlier, commenting on the link of your choice, and post it. You may write an introductory paragraph about yourself, first, if you like.

Once you have finished your post, doublecheck it for English errors and accuracy. Bring in a link if you like (the button is above the part where you write, once you are into your blog page, and is a green symbol at the left of the margin choices). You can link to a favourite video, Youtube, an article, an advertisement, or other choice. Or, you can learn how to set your permanent links by following the model under the "Settings" section above. If this is too difficult, leave it for next time and I'll show you how to do it.

Step 4: If you have finished all of these tasks, and have successfully created your first blog, send me an email (heather.cardin@gmail.com) to provide me with the link.

Step 5: Sign out. DO NOT FORGET TO KEEP YOUR PASSWORD SO YOU CAN GET BACK TO YOUR BLOG WHEN YOU NEXT WANT TO DO A POSTING.

Step 6: If you have time left, go to www.freerice.com and learn some new words while you give some rice to people less fortunate than yourselves.

See you tomorrow!

Photo Credit: Ashraf Ogram

With our return to the prairies, every day is a discovery. Today is raining and I find myself grateful for the slight moisture offered to my newly planted peonies, irises, roses, lilac, and lilies of the valley, not to mention the solo sunflower which volunteered in the middle of the garden and which is in full bloom. There are also some tomatoes and zucchinis from the previous owners, along with a few buckets of fall potatoes. Bernie has purchased chickens so we are wakened in the mornings by the proverbial cockadoodledoo, and hear it throughout the day. I have been teaching now for about three weeks and am very much enjoying the school and the students. The city is different. Give me the countryside any day.

However, there is a great shadow, and that is the disappearance of the son of dear friends here in the province. In July, this young man drove off in his car and because he is 19 and because he was under some stress, it was essentially treated as an adult leaving home and not as a runaway situation, understandably. However, last week his abandoned car was found on a road near his home and the evidence in the area suggests that something has gone very wrong. He was unable to walk; he could drive but not walk, and it may be that he was stranded and simply unable to return home. Search parties are now out looking, under the auspices of the RCMP, and we have been asked to offer prayers on behalf of this young man and his extended family. Might I ask anyone who reads this blog to also offer prayers for this beleaguered family? While his life expectancy may not have been great (he had HIV from birth), he had, and has, a strong, loving, and supportive family and community. It has been a very rough summer for his parents; his father's mother passed away, suddenly, at age 90, just after his own disappearance. I find that I think, these days, of Rabbi Harold Kushner's helpful book, Why Bad Things Happen to Good People. These are good people, and they are enduring great sadness. Let us send all the prayers and loving energy we can to the Perreault family at this time.

We are anticipating having my parents come and spend a couple of months with us. They hope to arrive early in October, and since I am home most afternoons, we'll no doubt have lots of time together. Dad will no doubt help me with the garden and Bernie with chickens and perhaps rabbits. They are both enthusiastic about such projects. Mom likes to watch tv, close up because of her eyes, and with technology these days we are able to offer her many options. I tend to buy a lot of the films I have in the house. The next one I'll be using, actually, is for school: I intend to show excerpts from the fascinating film, The Rabbit-Proof Fence, to my grade seven social studies students, as part of our study of Australia, and as introduction to colonialism. I am not sure Mom has seen the film so perhaps she'll enjoy it.

I imagine that Dad and I will also read her my new book. It is now available (at Amazon, at least) and my own copies are apparently en route (so I should be able to have a look at it soon). That would be Mind, Heart, & Spirit: Educators Speak. It's full of amazing stories from educators around the world and if you know a teacher, may I suggest that it would be a truly appropriate gift for October 5, World Teacher Day? It's not expensive and I think the book is heart-warming and perhaps even thought-provoking.

That's all for now from this rural Saskatchewan rainy day, where it is not yet cool enough to light the first fire of the season in my stone fireplace...but it will be soon. In the meantime, I have bulbs to plant.

Homecomings

Near the weir I watch white pelicans, fishers
far from home, as I have been.
Now, I walk from a building where once I was young
along a river, where once I was young, find statuary upon the dry green grasses, scent wild roses and the heat of this summer day in Saskatoon.

Near the weir I watch the water, rushing somewhere, anywhere east or west, running along rushes. A pelican dives; another soars above the river like any other wing-spanned bird you've watched. White on white water. Wingspan like mine has been, journeys. Till now, returning, the spot I left, still the same. Still not the same. The pathway curves around the river, paved for we walkers, for the cyclists on Sunday afternoon. Every day a gift comes to me from this place, where once I was young. It's still the Saskatoon wind which whispers at my greying hair/

this space fills me like years.
This is the beauty I sought.
I am the beauty I sought.

It's full summer in Saskatchewan. We're in Saskatoon, at my sister's home, until we buy our own house, and I am enjoying the summer holiday, reading, for the most part, in the backyard sunshine. I have completed works by educator Parker J. Palmer, and am reading one of Steven Pinker's books on language. Perhaps I'll pick up some fiction soon. I bought The Wal-Mart Effect for my husband and at Value Village yesterday, Andrea and I stocked up on teaching books for our respective assignments this fall. I will be teaching English, Social Studies, and Health/Guidance to Grades 7-9, and she will have a grade 3/4 classroom. A change for both of us...but it should be fun to try newer things, in my case in a smaller school and in her case at only one school.

I will soon load new photos and post a couple, both from our journey and from the past few months in British Columbia with other extended family members. A lot of them get put on Facebook!

For those unfamiliar with Saskatchewan, it's incredibly beautiful in summertime. The license plates call it "Land of Living Skies" and the school board I'll be working for is called "Living Sky" and both names are appropriate. The long summer evenings yield to sundowns you can watch for an hour or more as the sky lights up in every possible colour and vista. The prairie is awash with colour: multiple shades of green, brown, and golds, punctuated with flowers everywhere. The canola fields are just coming into bloom and if you haven't seen these acres and acres of golden flower, you've really missed one of farming's beauties. I like watching the birds, too, over and on the sloughs, and the glimpses of redwing blackbirds make me happy.

I have begun to write poetry again. I must be happy.

It is almost the first of June and the weather in northern Canada, at least this section of it, continues unseasonably cold. The snow is gone now, but rain, grey skies, and wind continue to be the order of the day. I have seen a few hardy tulips and daffodils but everything in the green world seems delayed. School will continue for a few more weeks. I am looking forward to my husband's return from a business trip and my daughter's visit during a side journey from her business trip.

In the meantime, my editor and I have been very busy with preparing my next book, Mind, Heart, & Spirit: Educators Speak, for fall release. Watch for it coming from Bahá'í Publishing U.S. For those of you who would like the perfect gift for World Teacher Day on October 5, I think it's a good choice. It's full of stories from wonderful educators from around the world.

My mother continues to struggle along. She will be 78 in a couple of weeks and has become very brave about bearing her pain. I think it's the arthritis that bothers her most now, although she has become almost stoic with the residual pain from shingles, and the thing that is mildly frustrating is the capricious come-and-go nature of the pain. Dad takes good care of her, though, and she continues to be able to watch movies if she gets close to the big screen. Recently my son was able to download several to her computer and she was very pleased.

I have just ordered myself a treat: three volumes in one of the Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz. I read them many years ago and remember loving them, so it's about time for a close re-read. Titles, for those interested: Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, Sugar Street.

More anon.