Day 3 - 336 -- Celebrations Begin

Tomorrow is the last day of classes for the Fall term -- two final wrap-it-all-up lectures and information around exam formatting and it is over. There are still final exams to set and then grade, but this one is almost in the history books. We plan to have a student-faculty end of term event in the late afternoon once the last class (mine) is over at 2:15. I'm looking forward to that -- a bit of a break in the chaos.

Today the Boston tree was lit. This year the tree came from Cape Breton near a Mi'kmaq reserve. It is immense, but then it needs to be large to be THAT tree. This tradition began several decades ago to commemorate and thank the people of Boston who came to help after the Halifax Explosion almost 99 years ago. It seems a wonderful way to show gratitude and friendship between the two cities.

Since the Advent season is upon us, the blog will move into its historical roots through sharing of holiday music. Tonight I share a song that came to mind when thinking of the tree sent to Boston. There is a line early in the song about cutting Christmas trees, while others talk about decorations and snow. I love the idea of finding a place of solitude as presented by the singer-songwriter, who is from home -- a Saskatchewan girl -- so it brings thoughts of home and family, too. The emotions found in this selection are many and diverse, with the intro and extro modulations filled with feeling. Enjoy!

River -- Joni Mitchell