Sister Pledge Equalizers
Initial Thoughts: Sororal YEG-GA and H.M.
The Moroccan selinite for this carving was obtained from the enterprising rock merchant Asad (now retired) on 118 Avenue, Edmonton and it is part of a small group of "sister carvings" found elsewhere in Project Y150 YEG-GA. The fractures and natural “imperfections” of the rock reminds us of how to achieve contentment by learning our past missteps. This sculpture is dedicated to inspired students who devote precious time documenting sorority life, the achievements of their fellow Sorority members, and their travels in and around the environs of the Edmonton area. Sororal YEG-GA was given to H.M., an Honours History Student during late Spring 2016. H.M. was part of a group of impressive students enrolled in a Worldwide Waterways History class that featured a "Learning Environment" exercise. Students crafted "carving vignettes" as a means to contest and confirm competing theories of "Creative Destruction" found within the North Saskastchewan River Valley, Edmonton.
H.M.'s River-valley experiences definitely dovetail with the goals and spirit of Project YEG-GA. H.M. is also deeply committed to scholarship and promoting an understanding of History, including Public History initiatives which encourage the pursuit of multi-cultural knowledge and advanced literacy. In addition to her current educational journey, H.M. is a publisher of an undergraduate journal while she also posseses unique insights into soriety life on a Canadian campus. Her first set of vignettes were completed during the Summer months, 2016, when she lived in a student dormitory on the largely vacant university campus. In August whe moved into a sorority. As a few of her vignettes reveal, she also worked for a large home improvement company in the Edmonton area. The vocational experience, coupled with H.M.'s extraordinary determination to triumph over all challenges, actually reminded the School of One Carver on more than a few occasions of the actor Denzel Washington's character in the movie "The Equalizer", hence explaining another reason for the title of this e-travel space charting the travels of H.H. and Sororal YEG-GA.
Chapter One: H.M. and Sororal YEG-GA Confront the Summer, 2016
the window by my chair
5:44PM, June 30 , 2016. 15°C.
During my ten years living in Alberta, I have not experienced so many consecutive thunder storms as I have recently. These stingy storms just thunder and do not provide showers. Given this trend, remarkably it started to pour around 2:00PM today. By 3:00PM it was clear. 3:14PM was marked by another Severe Thunderstorm Warning from the Weather Service. The storm cells were scattered along the urban territory extending from Clareview on the North side of the city to the University Campus (found overlooking the South bank of the North Saskatchewan River) and further.
Tamarack House
5:26AM, 1 July, 2016. 8°C.
The University has constructed some ‘fantasy show home’ dormitories in the Pinecrest and Tamarack student housing buildings and these exclusive residence choices are not even available to first year students. The attractive exteriors of the buildings do not really convey or change what it is like to live as a UAlberta tenant. In my own case, I was kicked out for a week this Summer so that painters could have unrestricted access to where I pay to live. The painters did not show up until the last day they were scheduled to complete the work, and, even then, they had to come back the following week. The representation within student governance for tenants was more than halved at the end of Winter Term, 2016.
No Feats on the Seats
5:54AM, 1 July, 2016. 9°C.
Sororal YEG-GA faces forward like a good little rock while the LRT train crosses over the river. Most people, especially during the morning commute, turn to look out over the North Saskatchewan River Valley for a precious thirteen seconds before entering the dark tunnels again found on both sides of the bridge. This holiday morning, I waited half an hour for the first train travelling North for Clareview. If I had been required to be at work at 6:00AM I would have been late. I understand that it is a holiday, but, nonetheless, trains seem to run more frequently to cater the "9-to-5’ers" who park at stations located on extremes of the North-South axis of major LRT line so that they can avoid paying for higher parking rates in the City centre. Meanwhile, the "minimum wage types" who depend solely on public transit and work 24/7 are faced with limited services, especially on weekends, holidays and non-peak hours.
Holiday Special
3:43PM, July 2, 2016. 22°C.
Alberta has the fewest statutory holidays of any other province. Boxing Day and Christmas Eve are holidays that seem to be reserved for for government employees, teachers or university professors and "retailers". Commercial ventures, sadly, do not care about my opinion and will remain open on any occasion. Customers, moreover, remain blissfully unaware of the plight facing workers at these places of business. I hate working on holidays, especially patriotic ones like Canada Day and Remembrance Day. Ultimately, I cannot pass up the time and a half wage that my company gives for holidays. It just happens to be a harder pill to swallow, including yesterday, when it was our important national holiday.
Under Pressure
3:43PM, July 2, 2016. 22°C.
Pressure treated lumber cannot be stained or painted for two years after installation. Pressure treated is very dangerous to burn. “PT” is chemically coated to prevent water or insect damage, rot, and a whole host of threats that would come with exterior applications. Alberta wss never warm enough year round for the pine beetle to cross the border from British Columbia, at least until my lifetime. Pine beetles lay waste to entire forests. If they are not hindered by extreme cold, the only thing that can kill them is controlled burns, or, equally devastating, forest fires.
Paddle Window
8:34AM, August 11, 2016. 15°C.
I am not certain where the tradition stems from, or from whom, but in the Greek Organizations on university campuses the presentation of paddles to pledges is a big deal. Some houses have pledge classes that decorate paddles to donate to chapters. Some other houses decorate and present "generational" or "legacy" paddles within member families. Active and like-minded initiates are also schooled in the over-arching terminology differentiating what are “Big” or “Little” Greek houses.
Residential Area
6:13AM, August 12, 2016. 11°C.
Unlike my sorority house found on the corner lot, I am convinced that the houses found in the background on this street are privately owned. I wonder how their owners like the University area given the constant activity. Thus far, I have found my block (on the edge of the Garneau neighborhood) to be noisier in the six months I have been here than the entire eight years I lived on one of Edmonton's least desirable avenues. Maybe the noise at night bothers me now because I am now living within the geography and cultural milieu of "the Grind” or “the Hustle”. I have never heard low-income people use these terms even though they are frequently ascribed them by upper-income social commentators. The terms, ironically, are definitely more appropriate monikers for this privileged environment.
Flowers
6:12AM, August 12, 2016. 11°C.
Generally, when I listen to a person hyping up something he or she knows little about I imagine that the person believes that they "sell" or makeup exotic, curious, foreign, and "naturally superior" attributes in order to make whatever they describe appealing. So, here I go . . . This mysterious foreign species of plant simply must be perennial because I can guarantee no one planted them this year. Given the human traffic and perpetual construction in this area, it is a surprise they are even here and survive this environment. It is also worth noting they definitely looked better two weeks ago. Insert $100.00 for a price tag here.
Screened Swamp
6:02AM, August 12, 2016. 11°C.
The mucky area outside is what I a swamp in the Southern U.S.A. might appear. The patch definitely is not what a Northern Canadian marsh looks like, at least any one that I have encountered. I am not sure what the University planned to do in this part of campus aside from moving dirt from one pile to another. Every couple of days a temporary or "quick" fence company will come in and set up a fence, only to come back shortly thereafter and take it down. Wash, rinse, and repeat. For some reason the University decided to adorn my backyard with what appeared to be a "misguided moat" which also ran along the base of our exterior wall. Not surprisingly, the hydraulic engineering marvel also channeled water into our basement. Unlike a Southern swamp, at least, there were no gators to follow.
