Summer Dancing

Some readers may not be aware that the Province of Alberta has seen fit to produce against me a bylaw stating that I shall NOT dance within the province's boundaries - I am that bad a dancer (perhaps due to my big feet OR the fact I have the rhythm of a dead cat). My first and second graders are more open minded than the province and less prone to following geo-political treads. A group of 5 grade ones and 1 grade two, thirsty for fresh creative input, invited me to dance with them to what they consider the "best children's song in the universe." Unbeknown to me, my students had been diligently working throughout many successive recesses inventing an infinite number of different dance routines to their favorite song. The song itself is simple enough; a catchy melody over a beat for them to wiggle and jiggle to. I left my personal dignity at the door and happily shed Alberta's social taboos. Finally a group recognized my choreography genius! They were more than happy to follow me around the room looking like fools. By the end, all our cheeks were red with laugher; the kids' eyes bright and the worries of a dark world pushed impossibly far away.

I went for a great run today. Yesterday too but today I took a new path. The road had always been sitting there but today I took it. Less travelled the road was rough in comparison but empty and the weather perfect. To my left was the steep shear hillsides so common in Japan shrouded in the low clouds that have become ubiquitous in Shikaoi lately. To my right the gurgling of the Sasagawa River, overgrown and deeply green colour, it was impossible to make out the river I could only hear. Exactly 1 and a half hour at a quick pace, this I know because I heard by chance the chimes of the town's announcement system.