Sunday, September 24th

Fall arrived in a hurry...In less than a week the birches are sporting flaming yellow apparel, which contrasts beautifully with the dark green of the pines. It's too bad that maples don't grow over here, or there would be reds and burgundys in the palette as well. As you can see, the house sits at the top of a hill, which has a few advantages: rain runoff, a lake view from the kitchen window, and in winter I can forsee some sledding off to work....
Weekends are the most peaceful I've experienced yet, you wake up to silence and relaxation with the only agenda being the one you make up for yourself. I enjoy writing this journal, as part of my weekly reflections and Sunday to do list.
Yesterday we went for a walk by the lake in the eastward direction, which was accessible as the water line had gone down. The best part was the clean beach, given the normal inaccesability of this side and the absence of litter. We had a different perspective and companion for this outing, different direction: different dog, I suppose it must be a territorial question among the canines over here. When we got back home, Ricardo and I took our first unexpected lesson in Oji-Cree. We sat out in the front deck, eating bananas and getting our first list of most used words and phrases from three young visitors, Rosanna, Carla and Robin (all in the school).
The weather is quickly getting fresher, we can expect snow as early as October so I've been told. Ricardo has begun Karate lessons in the school gymnasium twice a week for adults initially, and it becomes a great venue for exercising and releasing frustrations (great for the teaching staff).
Work has been completely unexpected, since I've been here. Certainly not the usual administration job description, I've been involved in counselling, in organizing crisis interventions, and doing research on suicide prevention. This past week there was another attempt, fortunately caught in time by the "informal buddy system" put in place. It is very hard to pinpoint one solution, as there is a myriad of sociopolitical causes for the situation, and has to be faced with short and long term interventions. For now, the band's chief has imposed a curfew, which at least keeps the kids of the street past ten at night. We are also organizing parent information nights, with coffee and cookies as a hook (food does it here).
All in all, it is a surprising challenge which gets creativity and innovation going.....for now we continue with our walks by the lake, enjoying the majesty of nature and facing one thing at a time!