10.14.2024

foot pain, swimming, push-ups, and roast chicken: four things going on with me

I haven't written one of these silly personal posts in a while, and things are piling up. As I always say, I write this blog for myself, and I have some things to record.

Foot pain. I've been beset with crazy pain in my feet. I ignored it for months, continuing to walk 20-25 kms each week, while the pain worsened. New orthotics, proper shoes, but the pain worsened and became inescapable. Finally I went back to the podiatrist -- no small thing, as it means taking a full day off work, arranging dog care, a long day of driving. Diagnosis: peroneal tendonitis. Apparently, this is a thing. Who knew.
Quite sure my technique does not look like this.

I'm trying my best to not freak out. Walking is my principal form of exercise, and if I can't walk... what will happen to my health, and my quality of life? So I'm working hard to stay in the present and not think too far ahead.

Lots to do and not do. Resting my feet as much as possible -- no long dog-walks, no treadmill. Icing. Wearing compression sleeves. Getting physio and doing foot stretches and strengthening exercises. 

And... finding ways to get exercise that doesn't stress my feet.

Swimming again. There's always a silver lining: my foot pain led me back to the pool. I haven't been swimming since before covid. Our pool has a weekly, "sensory-friendly" swim which is perfect for me. I've been going every week and it's starting to feel great. I'm planning on adding an aquafit class on a separate day.

But my chicken did look like this!
Strength and flexibility.
 I had also really fallen off my strengthening and stretching, and the extended break from the treadmill has led me back to that, too. I found a YouTuber I like a lot, treated myself to the paid, ad-free level, and have been doing standing or sitting workouts, which are still quite challenging. 

Proof: for the first time ever, I did a full, non-modified push-up. It's been a personal goal of mine that I was never able to achieve, until now. 

Still, I am very much hoping to resolve the peroneal tendonitis and be able to walk for extended times again, at least rotating with pool time.

Roast chicken. I love roast chicken and have always been intimidated to make it myself. There are so many techniques, so much advice, I assumed it was difficult and complicated. Then I stumbled on Mark Bittman's roast chicken recipe, which sounded incredibly simple and delicious. I bought a cast-iron skillet, the first I've ever owned, and a pasture-raised, organic chicken. It was incredibly easy, and so delicious: crispy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside. Next time I'll put a bunch of little potatoes under the chicken and I'll be even happier.








10.11.2024

it was the best of times, it was the worst of times: a tale of one library manager on two consecutive days

This started out as a "things i heard at the library" post, but it got too complicated. Instead, it's a story about my life as the manager of a public library in a high-risk community.

First we heard about Georgie

Headed to a library near you.
Earlier this week, we learned that a regular customer of ours, someone we saw every day without fail, was killed. Murdered. We regularly hear of substance-use-related deaths, and suicides, and deaths from general poor health. But this was the first time in my experience in Port Hardy that we heard about a homicide.

The man who was killed was a sweet, kind, quiet person. He didn't have housing and lived at the local Salvation Army shelter. He was a regular at the community puzzle table. When he first appeared in the branch, he was very withdrawn and sat in a corner by himself. One of our staff took it upon herself to slowly, gradually, quietly bring him into the library community.

The news that he had been killed was truly shocking and heartbreaking. But I can't be heartbroken at work. If I'm heartbroken at work, I can't do my job. So I save my heartbreak for when I'm home, by myself. And in this way, my work unintentionally comes home with me. 

I also realize the same is true for my staff, and it's my job to support them and offer resources if they need them. So also in this way, my work follows me home.

Then we dealt with the retraumatization, and probably toxic drugs

The following day, someone came up to the info desk, spoke a few incoherent words, sat down on the floor, then collapsed. Kneeling beside her, staff first asked another team member to call an outreach worker, then changed her mind and asked her to call 911. While that was going on, two more people entered the branch, both staggering and incoherent. Both sat down, then passed out. Within an hour, four separate ambulances took away a total of seven people.

Things calmed down after that. Later in the day -- right before the start of a program -- another person collapsed, another ambulance called. That brought us to five calls and eight people, breaking the previous record.

We can only assume this was at least partly a response to Georgie's death, which triggered a wave of retraumatization. Adding to that, several area drug dealers are now incarcerated, which means that people are buying from new dealers, a new supply, so they cannot judge the dosage, and there may be fentanyl or other toxic substances in the mix. 

Everyone survived. We are grateful for that.

In between, a program

The program went off as planned: "Good Health Starts at the Supermarket". A registered dietician from the public health office gave a presentation on how to "shop healthy". We had draw prizes of grocery gift cards, and a bag of healthy groceries. Ten people attended, and the prize winners -- low income people themselves -- shared with the others. 

I organized this program, which is part of what I do. Incidentally, and importantly, it was one of the very few programs attended by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous library customers. That was very gratifying.

While the program was going on, I attended (virtually) a Board meeting of the Mt Waddington Family Literacy Society, of which I am now co-chair.

The next day, building community connections to combat racism

The following day, I co-chaired a steering-committee meeting of the Welcoming Communities Coalition of North Vancouver Island. The Coalition is dedicated to reducing and eliminating barriers to newcomers' full participation in our communities, with a focus on antiracism.

Our North Island communities have become the landing place for a large number of newcomers to Canada. These folks, all of whom have arranged employment, are needed and should be welcomed into our towns, but of course that is not always their experience. 

Being a newcomer is not easy, but I cannot imagine how much more difficult it is made by small-town, remote-community life. When the Immigrant Welcome Centre opened an office in this region, I decided to make newcomers an intentional focus of my library branches.

Connecting with the Immigrant Welcome Centre, I also found the Welcoming Communities Coalition, which is part of the IWC, but not involved in direct service provision. One thing led to another, and I became the co-chair of the Welcoming Communities Coalition steering committee on North Vancouver Island. 

Through connections I have made during my work here, I was able to invite others to the table -- people who can greatly help move our work forward. These connections are indeed my greatest contribution to this work.  

At this recent meeting (which I organized), I truly felt the power and potential of forging and cultivating community connections. The people I invited will become the key players at making our efforts successful. I say this not to pat myself on the back or to win praise. I say it with a sense of wonder and much joy that I have come so far, and that I have shaped my work in this way. It is deeply satisfying.

The folks on the steering committee are seasoned, realistic activists and advocates. We know we will not eliminate racism in our communities. However, we will:
- organize events designed to celebrate diversity and promote cultural exchange,
- educate residents about racism and antiracism,
- connect newcomers with resources,
- encourage and facilitate the reporting of hate crimes and racist actions,
- help newcomers understand the specific cultural context of our communities, especially relationships with Indigenous communities, 
- educate people about human rights, and
- take a visible stand against racism and invite everyone in our communities to do so with us.

What else I'm up to

This is a window into my working life. I'm also interviewing and hiring new staff, overseeing and supporting the work of frontline workers, overseeing five facilities, giving presentations to community groups, designing programs, and plowing through a small mountain of paperwork. And hopefully soon, helping my union bargain our next contract. 

10.07.2024

what i'm reading: the wolf, outstanding nonfiction by nate blakeslee

current/international edition
The Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West by Nate Blakeslee is a masterpiece. It is truly one of the best works of narrative nonfiction that I've read.  (The book is also published under the title American Wolf, with the same subtitle.) 

This book had been on my radar since it was published in 2017, and I found a used hardcover at Powell's this year. I was almost afraid to read it, as I thought it might be too sad. Now I'm so glad I didn't let that stop me (and it shouldn't stop you).

Blakeslee's earlier book, Tulia: Race, Cocaine, and Corruption in a Small Texas Town has been on my List even longer; it was published in 2006. Now I will be sure to move it up in the queue.


original cover






I scarcely know how to write about a book that enthralls me like The Wolf has. It is a page-turner, with exciting, vivid scenes of wild nature unfolding before your eyes. It is also an education on how that wild nature is hostage to humans, and how humans are hostage to politics. And it is a view into a human community that has grown around a deep love of the wild, and an obsessive desire to be close to it and protect it.

Blakeslee weaves these threads together in a gripping tale. You could almost call it a multigenerational family saga -- both the generations of wolf families, and their enemies, the humans who are aligned against them.

You know I love and am deeply fascinated by wolves. So yeah, I'm primed to love this book. But my interest is also why I'm extremely discriminating in what I'll read on this subject. I stick to the big names in the field and can't be bothered with the mundane. That's why I can confidently praise this book so highly. 

There is heartbreak. You have to know that going in. Towards the end, I was weeping, and I'm sure you will be, too. But it's not the horror of animal cruelty, which I cannot read about and very much avoid. It's the heartbreak of losing a character that you have come to know, respect, and revere. Blakeslee also brings you the meaning that arose from that heartbreak, and there is comfort in that. There are also happy endings, too -- and if not happy, then positive and satisfying.

If you love and value the bits of wild that are left on our planet -- and if you believe that we humans must steward those wild places -- I recommend this book. Also, if you simply love to read good books: this is one.