Here is one of the teacherages in Wabasca.

I applied for another job in Alberta yesterday. This one is also on a reserve, but the population is 5000. You can find more information about the school and community here. The school is pictured above.

Sakura with her grandma.

Happy 3 months! Yeah, you don't care, do you?

The trepidation on her face reminds me of a picture of Jamie. Mom had wrapped a sheet around him, and was getting ready to cut his hair. He was squirming around so much that mom wrapped him up in tape.

Keiko bought this cake for Sakura's 3 month birthday. The three characters on the top are Sakura's name in Hiragana. It can also be written in Kanji, which are more complex.

Tomomi told me that Sakura loves to play with fabric. I suppose it might have something to do with the texture. When this photo was taken, she had been playing with this piece of fabric for half an hour. Apparently, she talks to herself as she plays with the fabric. I wish I could see it.

I'm not sure what she's thinking here. She looks pretty intense. I miss her.

This is the Busse (rhymes with "fussy") Game Warden. Its blade is 1/4" shorter than the Active Duty. I believe that it is the smallest Busse knife. It will shortly be available at the Busse Company Store.

The woman holding Sakura is Aki. She is the daughter of Keiko, one of Tomomi's aunts.

I bought a Leatherman Wave for Tomomi two years ago. At first she has apprehensive, but soon found that it was actually useful. This is the same model, just in black. I thought this might be a useful tool for a prospective electrical technician

My darling.

This was taken last spring at a picnic.

This is Nathan Farr, my upstairs neighbour, and the Learning Resource Teacher (LRT) for the junior division. He is an avid hunter and fisherman. Actually, he is out goose hunting as I type these words. We'll be going out fishing on a regular basis once the ice is out.

This is one of the best pictures I've ever taken.

This is one of my favourite fishing pictures.

The man with the fish is Jeff Hutchins. He taught Grade 8 last year. He was living common-law with one of the nurses, Krista. They lived in one of the nurse's residences. They had satellite TV and a BBQ on an elevated balcony. They also had safe drinking water delivered on a regular basis. We were a little bit jealous.

This is our shop teacher, Keith, picking up some groceries off a King Air. The King Air is one of two different passenger aircraft that gly up here. The other one is the Pilatus. The best thing about these planes is that you always have your choice of an aisle or window seat, the reason being that every one is both an aisle and a window.

It is far more convenient to get groceries in the winter. The snow on the roads is packed, smooth, and untouched by salt or sand. I can use a sleigh to pull the boxes. It is far easier than carrying them.

The pictures with the guns are from last Thursday. I went out with Chris, Brent, John, Jen, Nate, Nate's dad, Sarah and her boyfriend Gary. We took a half-dozen old CRT monitors to the dump to dispose of. Nate brought his 12ga. and hisLee Enfield Mk.IV .303. Brent brought his 12ga. too. John contributes a box of .303 rounds.

After taking care of the monitors, which was a lot of fun, we went to the sandpit, and shot at skeet. I would say we shot skeet, but the reality is that for the most part, we only shot at them. As Nate's dad observed, if we were out hunting, we'd be going home hungry. Maybe we'll do better next time.


Chris left the next day.

Chris, my Grade 5 teaching partner, left yesterday. He's got an offer of regular supply work in the York District School Board. There are a few school within a 20min. drive of his house in Caledon. We're all sad to see hi leave, but we're happy he's going on to a better place.

He used to make brunch every Saturday morning. He did omelettes and pancakes. I told him that I was going to try my best to pick up the slack with him gone. I started this morning by hosting my own brunch. I made omelettes and waffles. I used Tomomi's favourite waffle recipe. It uses yeast and baking soda so that the waffles are light and airy. She found it in The Breakfast Book, which was given to me a long time ago by Loretta Mahoney.

John brought sausages, and I cooked them in the oven the way Chris taught me. I think everyone enjoyed the spread. I'm going to do it again next week. It's a bit of work, but at least it will motivate me to keep the place clean.

For all those robot fans out there, I came across something that I thought I should link too. Here's a sample.

Tomomi said that she often opens her eyes wide like this. It can be a little unnerving late at night when she is feeding.