I love this time of year as we peer into the dirt for signs of cracks in the soil and seeds pushing their new faces up into the sunlight. I saw this little guy cheering on his companion in our Darcy Bear Community Garden plot today. I can just hear him yelling, “Come on! Hurry! Snow is coming!”
Thanks to all the wonderful people at the SHA Prairieland Park drive through vaccination clinic. Over the weekend, we packed a lunch and got Rick loaded up with his second. Thanks to Nurse AJ and the crew. Another step closer to seeing the grandkids! Now to get Mom and Dad their second dose, followed by Jim and me. Can’t wait. On the way home, we passed a group of anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers. One young woman held up a sign that read, “Until you wake up, we’ll fight for you.” Okay. I’ll be napping over here, not getting polio, diphtheria, hep A, B, tetanus, rubella, measles, whooping cough, mumps, chicken pox….
The summer issue of Saskatoon HOME is out and if you don’t subscribe – which I hope you will do – you must pick up a copy of this issue. It’s packed with all sorts of great stuff about Saskatoon, today and yesterday. One of my favourite encounters with decent humanity and its canine companion lately has been with The Lily Man. His faithful sidekick Booster has a face that only, well, only someone with a beating heart could love. We are all keeping our fingers crossed for no lily beetle sightings, and we look forward to a slow drive by – who are we kidding? It will be a Park-and-Gawk when all of Peter’s 50+ lily varieties are blooming at their magnificent best later this summer.
I’m honoured and humbled to be in the company of these authors short-listed for the Saskatchewan Book Awards (City of Saskatoon/Saskatoon Public Library Award). Visit the Saskatchewan Book Awards Facebook page to read the judges’ comments on the short-listed nominees in all 14 categories. SBA is posting a new category each week. The winners will be announced June 17th. This is my cohort. I’ve already met Leona’s wonderful Sylvie, and my ‘must read’ list now features the other three:
After many years living far away from her, it’s so good to be able to say “We’ll walk over soon!” Have a happy day, Mom. We’ll sit outside, watch the birds and admire your nanking cherry in bloom.
It doesn’t take much to stoke a much-needed smile these days, and we keep coming across many little examples of caring in our community. All these add up and help us get through difficult times. We’re happy to stumble across small acts of kindness like these, even though this cat is clearly not impressed that his owner is embracing the neighbourhood dog population.
Karin Melberg Schwier 