Wild Life, school, and graduation

Fule for Thought

 

My son was recently in Canmore staying at his grandparents’ place, and decided to go on a “Tim’s Run.” 

He sent us back photos of a large group of elk gathered on the road. Now, I’m not sure if they were joining Brennen for a few “double-doubles,” but it’s always interesting to see wildlife right in the town. 

In fact, when I was a kid growing up in Canmore, we had one elk that kept coming to our fence for a few weeks. It was a huge thrill for us little kids, because back then, no one worried about things like domesticating these animals. We probably should have, because this elk really did like fresh bread, and we kids really liked to feed him! I’m not sure what happened to “Old Elky,” but he probably wandered back up into the hills.

When my wife was a young teenager, she and a friend saw her own “wildlife.” 

While playing tennis with her friend, some guy wandered out of the bush bordering the tennis courts wearing nothing but rubber boots! Needless to say the girls went running, and luckily her friend’s dad was a member of the RCMP. He came to take them to the station where they had to file a report, with a description of the guy! Can you imagine how awkward that would be for a couple of girls, when one of their dads is taking the report? I asked Deb if that day was a cold one, because you know, that would affect the guy’s appearance! They never did catch “Old Flashy,” and Deb and her friend skipped tennis for quite a while!

Years later, Deb and I were dating, and she told me she wanted to take me on a “nature walk.” 

Now back then, I didn’t have an aversion to walking, as I do now, so I thought it was a great idea. She said she wanted to show me the spring, and that it was popular spot for all the local neighbors. We walked through brush forever, and even crossed an inlet of the Bow River. Finally, after what seemed like hours (my hatred of walking must’ve started then!) we reached the “spring.” 

Instead of a bubbling spring of clear, cold mountain water, I saw an old rusty truck spring! Yep, what a joke … kind of like snipe hunting, and I trusted her!

Education in Canmore in the Early 70s was interesting. In Grade 7 social class, we would get in groups to design a “tribe” and create artifacts, tools, and things to represent our culture. Then, we 12 year olds would be given shovels! We’d dig holes and bury our stuff. The next part of the lesson was to wander around to other “tribe” areas, dig up their stuff, and prepare some kind of report explaining what their culture was all about. Yep, you guessed it … mass chaos! Kids running around with shovels, throwing dirt at each other, and basically wrecking this poor “Woodstock” teacher’s great lesson plan! It was kind of interesting, but some kids intentionally put bogus things in their dirt holes, to throw us off track. I never did figure out how a “Happy Face” button could tie in to a culture based on agriculture and what we thought was farming!

All over Alberta, we have reached the Grad Season, where kids’ thoughts are totally wrapped up in the celebration. The event has become huge over the years, and the cost for parents is the same. I can sympathize with you parents who are “living the dream” this week, because the day of grad and all its preparations is almost like a big wedding! I sometimes think grad has gotten too big. I mean years ago, it was hard for kids to be sent off farms to be educated. Not that many could graduate. Now, it’s reversed, and almost everyone graduates, yet the event has become way bigger, with expensive suits, dresses, and even limo rides … all for something that everyone should be expected to do. How did it become such a huge extravaganza?

We recently went to my niece’s high school graduation. It was a 4.5 hour carnival of “fun” awards, speeches, a slide show, and more speeches! The valedictorian was interesting though. In fact, he was honestly refreshing. You know how grads usually say their class is the best, the closest, the one that’s going to go far and change the world? At one point in this guy’s speech, he actually said to not count too much on his Class of 2014 to go out there and accomplish much! I laughed, and appreciated the guy’s honest approach to this big event! I mean, everyone knows the Class of ’78 was the best!

 

(“Fule for Thought” is a slice of life humourous column that appears in the Strathmore Times, written by long-time resident, town councillor, high school teacher, coach, husband and father of two – Pat Fule. If you would like to get in touch with Pat, you can send him an e-mail at Pat.fule@shaw.ca)