Lest we forget

Image via Wikipedia

Today's post is a poem written by John Gillespie Magee, a young Canadian  pilot who did not survive World War II.  He wrote this at age 19 a few months before he died.

High Flight

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth

of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things

You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung

High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,

I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung

My eager craft thro' footless halls of air....

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue

I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace

Where never lark nor even eagle flew—

And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

Put out my hand, and touched the face of God

*Thanks to my friend Linda Granfield for the reminder.  She's one of those special people in the world who has been able to lead the way in helping us celebrate fallen soldiers without glorifying war itself.  Thanks for all your work Linda.

Home sweet home

Arrived home sweet home last night and my puppy was super joyful.  So nice to be loved...
Today was laundry, bill-paying, shopping, walking Ruby and catching up on my mail...writing up conference talks, updating bios & booklists, etc.

The next travel installment

Here's the next travel installment...

Weather has been fabulous...we're so lucky.  Went to Arches National Park and had a really hard time leaving.  It's one of those magical places in the world, especially with so few tourists visiting during the late fall. Having stayed in nearby Moab, Utah, we were able to get there quite early.  The sky was crystal clear, and we definitely need our toques, gloves and down jackets.  We did several short hikes which added up since the elevation was between 3900 and 5800 feet.  One of the hikes we took was led by a young volunteer and his theme was survival of the park.  This is a place whose survival is in our hands.  These parks are such a treasure.  This is a place I want to go back to...

Down the road in another canyon cut by this lovely sedate river, we discovered some amazing petroglyphs.  There were dozens of panels that stretched about 125 feet along a rock face.  I'm including one of the panels.

We left these amazing petroglyphs just as the sun was setting and drove some long hours through two mountain passes that had me white knuckling the steering wheel so that we could be close to Zion National Park the next morning.  It was worth the drive even though it was probably the most developed of the parks we'd been to, complete with shuttle busses.  See for yourself.

The road out of Zion to Bryce is seriously scary with 1000 foot drops and no rail guards and a series of tunnels blasted through the sandstone during the depression.  One of the tunnels was over a mile long.

We stayed just outside of Bryce National Park that night and it's a good thing we did.  Although we woke up to sunny clear skies, by 2 pm, the first snow storm of the season hit. The altitude made for hard hiking.  We started out at 6500 feet and topped out at 9100 feet.  The last time I was there (30 years ago) I hiked the entire way up to Rainbow Ridge, but this time, we drove most of the way.  Still, it was beautiful.

After Bryce, we did a lot of driving...and driving...and driving until we hit the Columbia River Valley.  We decided to go to the top of the ridge for the views and discovered wind, and power in the form of 500 + wind turbines (soon to be 1000) in high ranch country.  I was kind of excited about the whole renewable energy in action concept until we had lunch in the tiny town of Bickleton (population 90) where a man by the name of Bob, the County Highways Supervisor informed us that most of the power produced in the area goes to California...go figure!

At least Bickleton is getting a new school out of the deal, although not much else seems to have changed there in the last fifty years.

The last place on our list to see was Mount St. Helens National Volcano Park.  On the way there the rain was coming down so hard that we could hardly see the road.  We were almost ready to cancel the Mount St. Helens portion of the trip, but decided to hang around to see if the weather cleared.  Lucky us...it did. The views were stunning.  I remember when this volcano blew back in 1980.  The blast snapped trees as if they were matchsticks, and ash filled the air for months.  It changed the face of the valley, and the pacific northwest.  It reminded us that nothing is permanent.  After a few hours of fog, and a climb of a few thousand feet (by car, not foot), this was our reward...

 

We've only a few days left before crossing the border and taking the ferry home.  It's been a wonderful adventure.  Glad to have shared a little of it with you...

Sheryl

Next part of the trip

Apologies.  It's been ages since my last post, but between driving, hiking, visiting, and reading natural history material in preparation for our next stop, I have been slack with posting.  But, we've been having a wonderful time so far. 

After a few days of visit mom, we went to Bodie, California, an abandoned mining town which sits at nearly 9000 feet.  It was fascinating.

  

Then onto Manzanar, California, the home of a US Japanese internment camp in the middle of Owens Valley (the place where water was taken from to feed LA; it's the basis of ChinaTown, a movie about how corruption let to 95% of the Valley's water being sucked dry).  Apparently it used to boast being fertile orchard country.

After another long drive, that included a tour through Death Valley before we visited the Grand Canyon.  These photos don't come close to the grandeur...

Then onto my brother Bart's  in Phoenix.  We cruised around Canyon Lake, which I hadn't been to since I was a kid (it's one of the nearby lakes where we used to camp when I was a kid).  We also went to the Museum of Music which is world class, and so well done; it was amazing and well worth a visit if you're in the area.  

When we left Phoenix we headed for more Canyon Country.  The first stop was Monument Valley where a lot of the westerns were filmed.  We also visited Gooseneck State Park.

We've been covering a lot of miles, but every day seems to be a highlight.  We visited Mesa Verde, one of the homes of the Anasazi (a word no longer in use by the way) which totally blew me away.  The drive up and down just about did me away, with hairpin turns and steep cliffs, it sits atop the very high dessert mesa pictured here.

I thought Mesa Verde was amazing.  Then we went to Chaco, New Mexico, another home of the "Ancient Ones" ( 850-1100 AD).  It was desolate and beautiful and amazing.  It's been called the North American equivalent to Stonehenge since the building site is aligned such that light shines through corner openings at specific times of the year to capture solar and lunar cycles.  It was a major cultural centre for the Pueblo peoples and comprised the largest buildings in North America until the 19th century.  It's mainly quarried sandstone, but the Chacoans hauled wood for roofing from as far as 50 miles away... without the aid of the wheel!

Next installment in our Four Corners visit is Arches National Park and  then Bryce Canyon and points north.

Goodbye Seattle, welcome to Reno

  So far, the weather has been lovely.  Had a great visit with my nephew and family in Seattle with gorgeous sunny days.  Visited the Pike Street Market, read books with my grand niece Abby, bounced baby Chloe on my knee, and went out for a fabulous dinner with Brian and Diana.

 After Seattle, we did a long day's drive to get to Susanville, CA where we had fabulous chili rellenos in a family Mexican food restaurant before crashing.  Arrived at mum's place the next morning and have been hanging out for a few days, drinking tea, catching up on family news and going for 5k runs to burn a few calories for the out-of-proportion meals she insists on serving.

Since mum isn't into computers, we are at Starbucks in Reno, Nevada, using WiFi to catch up on email and drinking a London Fog. Not a lot of gambling going on for us though...we walked into a casino but the cigarette smoke chased us away after only a few minutes...I hear there are non-smoking places, but we haven't discovered them so far.

Time to head south tomorrow to visit Bodie, California, a mining ghost town which just might make a really great setting for a novel. I'm hoping so...I've always wanted to write something set in a mining town since my dad was a miner and I grew up in small mining towns.  It never hurts to think of the next book, even if you're only mid way through the first draft of the work in progress.

Sad & Excited

Just said goodbye to my girls after a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.  I'm sad and excited all rolled into one.  I treasure the time we spend together now that they each have their own busy lives, but this leaving was made easier because tomorrow is day one of a month long road trip to the American Southwest where I'll get to reconnect with my mom and sibs, and where I'd love to set a novel (after the one I'm working on now).

This has to be a short and sweet post as I'm on the run to get a million errands done.  My next chore (hee hee) will be to pick out a couple of books from my bedside pile to bring along.  I had planned to bring Inkdeath, the third in Cornelia Funke's Inkworld series but I've decided against it as I'm having a hard time getting into it even though I grew to care about Meggie, her parents and the fire-eater Dustfinger in the first two books.  No worries though...the pile to choose from is BIG!

Returned home from a writing workshop to an almost complete renovation

I returned home from Quadra Island where I spoke to a grade 4/5 class, followed by a two day writing workshop with 5 other Vancouver Island writers. When I left the bathroom was totally pulled apart with renovations taking longer than planned.  The reno is almost complete.  Just waiting on special order part.  In the meantime, I now have a deep, comfortable bath for bubble baths which I love love love, especially after a run.

Canadian Thanksgiving coming up.

Image by bucklava via Flickr

I'll be on wonderful Quadra Island, BC working for the next several days and will be picking my girls up from the ferry on my way back into town on Friday night.  They'll be home for the long weekend (Canadian Thanksgiving) so no posts for a while, especially since I have to make apple, pumpkin and blackberry pie to keep everyone happy!  Not to mention turkey!  Hope you all have a great book to read!

Five K down and it's only 10:30

Here are  my friend Trish (in the blue vest) and I closing in on the finish line of this morning's 5K Run for  the Cure.  Now it's time for a quick cup of tea and a shower, before work.

One more day before Run for the Cure

Image by Barnaby Jeans via Flickr

Only one day before the 5 K Run for the Cure.  Consider donating either your time or $.  Women everywhere will appreciate it.

New short story collection featuring some of my fav authors is on it's way.

Image via Wikipedia (Kate DiCamillo)

I came across some great news today. Haughton Mifflin Harcourt Children's is putting together some of my all time fav. author to create middle grade stores based on an illustration.  Sadly, the book, Chronicles of Harris Burdick, won't be out until fall 2011.  The good news is that Lois Lowry, Walter Dean Myers, Linda Sue Park, Sheerman Alexie, M.T. Anderson, Kate DiCamillo, Louis Sachar and Jon Scieszka will all have stories in it.  Not to sound too fawning, with a star-studded line-up like that, it's bound to be awesome.

Flaunt Book Banning

Looking for a way to celebrate Banned Books Week?

According to ALA, here are 2009's most challenged books.
Flaunt book banning!  
Read one or more of these great books, and then leave it at a bus stop, subway or other public place for someone else to pick up.  

Out of 460 challenges as reported to the Office for Intellectual Freedom 
Some of these are favorite titles.  

1. “TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R (series), by Lauren Myracle 
Reasons: Nudity, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group, Drugs 
2. “And Tango Makes Three” by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson 
Reasons: Homosexuality 
3. “The Perks of Being A Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky 
Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Anti-Family, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group, Drugs, Suicide 
4. “To Kill A Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee 
Reasons: Racism, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group 
5. Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer 
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group 
6. “Catcher in the Rye,” by J.D. Salinger 
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group 
7. “My Sister’s Keeper,” by Jodi Picoult 
Reasons: Sexism, Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group, Drugs, Suicide, Violence 
8. “The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things,” by Carolyn Mackler 
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group 
9. “The Color Purple,” Alice Walker 
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group 
10. “The Chocolate War,” by Robert Cormier 
Reasons: Nudity, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

Run for the Cure

I'll be doing the 5 K 'Run for the Cure' next week before work.  I'll be running for all women.  You may not be inclined to run, but anyone can donate either your time, or a few bucks at www.cbcf.org.  I hope you'll consider it. I'll post a few pics after the race.

The Book Worm is Reading Waiting for the Whales

For the last several months, The Oak Bay Book Worm has been reading a different book every week, Alice in Wonderland, Treasure Island, Moby Dick are a few of the books being read.  My dog Ruby, aka "the shadow" is checking out what the Oak Bay Book Worm is reading this week; it's Waiting for the Whales!  Dan Bell, the creative horticulturalist behind The Oak Bay Book Worm, and all sorts of other horticultural masterpieces, you are awesome!

By the way, if you like what you see, let the Parks & Rec. Department of Oak Bay know.  I'm sure it would be a treat for them to hear some positive feedback for their wonderful living art, especially art that has encouraged reading.  And, it's always nice to have one of your own books on the Book Worm's reading radar.

David Weisner in Vancouver

Great news!   Author / illustrator extraordinaire David Weisner will be at Vancouver Kidsbooks on Wednesday October 13th at 7pm.  His titles include Flotsam and Tuesday, both stunning books.  He'll be promoting his new book, Art & Max.  Tickets will be limited, so call today.

Books for "Airlift to LA"

A few months ago, I was contacted by Helaine Becker, a writer friend.  She'd been in LA and had visited a school with virtually no books on the library shelves.  Not one to accept the status quo, Helaine decided to do something about it.  That something is about to come to fruition.


The following is a press release she sent along this morning.

Children’s book author orchestrates Canada-wide book drive to stack library shelves of inner city school in Los Angeles.

Helaine Becker’s Airlift to LA highlights the state of Canadian school libraries.

August 23, 2010 (Toronto, ON) Shocked by the empty library bookshelves during an author visit to a Los Angeles-area elementary school, children’s book author Helaine Becker is taking action. She’s started a campaign to put books in the hands of disadvantaged children in LA, and, just as important, is bringing attention to the alarming state of Canadian school libraries.

Becker, an award-winning Toronto area author, has written over 40 books for children, including Science on the Loose (Maple Tree Press 2008), and is known for her wacky, off beat humour for the younger set.

In a recent trip to California, Becker collected over 650 books (most were discards from more affluent schools) for Barton Elementary School, located in an inner city area of Long Beach. Books not up to library standards were given directly to the children and for most of these children, it was the first time they had ever owned a book or even read for pleasure. Now back in Canada, Helaine is spearheading a campaign — Airlift to LA — to stock the shelves of another Los Angeles-area elementary school in the Compton district.

“The three schools I visited were all understaffed, underfunded, and under stocked to the point of breakdown,” explains Becker. “I was completely shocked by how bad the situation was there. The way U.S. schools are funded through property taxes means schools in low-income areas have virtually no ability to meet existing school standards, nor to effectively educate the next generation.

“My hope is that by helping the kids in the Compton-area, we will not only deliver books to kids who need them, but also draw attention to the fact that Canadian school libraries are heading the same way. Our libraries are also dramatically underfunded, in every single province and territory,” explains Becker who recently visited a northern Canadian school whose dusty shelves included books such as The Red Indian and Young John Kennedy. “If you only have a part-time library tech to come in and look after the place one half-day a week, and no funding to restock the shelves with books less than 50 years-old, well, Compton, here we come.”

A long-time advocate for school libraries, Becker sees helping the children in LA as a short-term solution. “The real problem we are trying to address is the systemic problems we face on both sides of the border. Almost none of the school libraries I visit are up to Canadian standards set by the Canadian Library Association,” says Becker who authored a document that allows the public to determine how their school libraries stack up. “If they do the assessment they will see how poorly we are doing and, as a result, why our literacy numbers are going sideways. My hope is that the public will use the results to put pressure on the government to put the funding back where it can do so much good — in a fully-functioning, fully-staffed school library.”
Becker has partnered with Sandra Tsing-Loh, columnist and local celebrity in the LA-area and an advocate for public education, and Rebecca Constantino, founder of Access Books — a non-profit organization which organizes book drives and funding for underserviced school libraries. Last week, Becker shipped approximately 1200 books from over a hundred Canadian authors, publishers and the public to LA. in advance of the book presentation event at Ralph Bunche Elementary School, October 2, 2010.

The event will include author presentations by several Canadian writers including Becker, Wendy Kitts, Rob Weston and Kari-Lynn Winters who will also help refurbish the Bunche school library by sorting and cataloguing books and painting wall murals with the students.

For more information on Airlift to LA go tohttp://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=121216734588705.

To see how your school library “stacks up”, download the Canadian Coalition for School Libraries and Canadian Association for School Libraries Library/Media Assessment Questionnaire athttp://www.scribd.com/doc/36299260/Library-Assessment-Final-Draft


-30-

For further information on Airlift to LA contact:

Wendy Kitts
info@wendykitts.ca
506-382-4360 or 506-852-1600
www.monctonwriters.ca

Helaine Becker
helbeck@rogers.com
647-985-3682
www.helainebecker.com

To send a book donation by October 2, 2010:

Airlift to LA
c/o Access Books
3622 W. Slauson Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90043

What we need now is level heads and wisdom

Today is the 9th anniversary of 9/11, so I suppose a day to commemorate, it seems to me it is a day desperately in need of greater wisdom and less rhetoric.  I know that it is a day of terrible images that I wish I could erase from my own memory if not the memory banks of the world. I know it sounds naive, especially for someone in their mid-fifies, but I wish we could go back to a world before terror gripped America.  It has made the world a much harsher place for people of all faiths, both in and out of the USA.

Having spent the last few days with my youngest daughter, Katie, I am hopeful that young people will do a better job with world politics than their parents have done. Katie will soon be off to Southeast Asia, and then Australia.  My hope for her, is not just to have fun, although I do hope for that.  But, I especially hope that she comes home a wiser young woman.

Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll get to Australia while she's over there.

The Book Worm

This is so cool.  The municipality of Oak Bay always does these very cool garden instillations close to where I live, and close to the local high school, Oak Bay High School.  This summer they did a reading bookwork all created with flowers.  Every Monday the title of the book would change.  It's been Treasure Island, Harry Potter, and lots of other great titles.  This week, the book title was OBHS Course Selection Guide.  Too funny.  I love creative people, and creative municipalities!

Happy International Literacy Day

According to UNESCO, about 774 million adults lack minimum literacy skills. One in five adults is still not literate and of these,  two-thirds are women. About 75 million children are out-of-school and many more attend irregularly or drop out. However, literacy is also a cause for celebration on the day because there are nearly four billion literate people in the world.  


How can you help raise the world literacy rate?  Support literacy in your community through a cash donation or better still, by donating your time.  Buy a few books for a "have not" school in your community, support UNESCO, The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and their partners who work at the international level.  


Literacy is the opportunity for change.  Literacy is an opportunity for a better future.  Those of us who are literate take it for granted.  It's easy to forget how lucky we are.