October, 2015

October Events:
 Note these events are listed for information purposes only. Dates and locations may be subject to change; see the source for details. If I’ve missed anyone and you’d like to add to this listing, please contact me. All times Mountain Daylight Time.

Oct. 2-4: Calgary Gem and Mineral Show at Chinese Cultural Centre. http://www.calgarygemshow.com/
Oct. 2-4: The New Earth Expo at Big Four Building, Stampede Park. http://thenewearthexpo.com/
Oct. 2, 7:30 pm: Calgary Witches' Movie Night. http://www.meetup.com/calgary-witches 
Oct. 3, 7:30 pm: Covenant of Gaia Coffee Cauldron. http://www.cogcoa.ab.ca 
Oct. 9, 8:57 am: Mercury retrograde ends.
Oct. 12: Thanksgiving Monday.
Oct. 12, 6:06 pm: New Moon. Gort/Ivy lunar month begins.
Oct. 16-18: Calgary Tattoo and Arts Festival at BMO Centre. http://www.albertatattooshows.com/Tattoo-Calgary 
Oct. 19: National "Vote Harper Out" Day.
Oct. 20, 7:00 pm: Calgary Witches' Meetup at Weeds Cafe.
Oct. 24, 7:30 pm sharp: Covenant of Gaia Samhain Ritual.
Oct. 25, 1:00 pm: Cochrane Witches' Meetup at Cochrane Coffee Traders.
Oct. 27, 6:05 am: Full (Hunter's ) Moon.
Oct. 27, 7:30 pm: Calgary Witches' Meetup Full Moon Circle.
Oct. 31, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm: Calgary New Age Market at Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Hall.
Oct. 31, 6:12 pm: Sunset. Samhain begins.
Oct. 31, 7:00 pm: Calgary Heathen Meet & Greet. Info: Calgary Heathens on Facebook.
Nov. 1, 2:00 am: Daylight Savings Time ends. Fall back!

The Wee Free Men

The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is the first of Pratchett's "Tiffany Aching" young adult novels, which reached their conclusion with his just-released final book, The Shepherd's Crown. Fans of the Discworld series, particularly those familiar with his witches, will not be disappointed. Nine-year-old Tiffany Aching learns her connection to the land and comes into her grandmother's inheritance while retrieving her young brother from the clutches of a Faerie Queen. While the book is supposedly intended for younger readers, it doesn't talk down to its audience, and if anything contains much less wisecracking than some of his earlier novels. The Nac Mac Feegle "pictsies" embody Pratchett's inherent irreverence, and are a welcome addition to the canon. "The Chalk" invokes the Downs of southern England, very much "another part of the Disc" from the witches of Lancre, who have a brief appearance at the end. The book is filled with Pratchett's nuggets of wisdom, and should be required reading for any apprentice witch ;).



View all my reviews

When A Child Dies

I will give you words, show you words.
Every time a child dies, we roll out the comforting memes that "there is no word for a parent who has lost their child." It's a lovely sentiment, one designed to comfort the parent, to show our empathy for the depth of their loss.
And yet, this is easy, lazy. The fact that parents lose their children is as old as humanity. My own family tree is peppered with children who died too soon, including an aunt and a cousin. And still the same old platitudes are brought out, that "there is no word". Well, why not?
There already is a word for parents whose child is stillborn, though it's not in general usage. The word is "stillparent".   By extension, one is a "stillmother" or "stillfather". And with due respect to those who have lost their children at childbirth, I think the same can apply to those who have lost a child later in life. "Still" in the sense of quietness and emptiness, the hole in their lives that is left when a child dies. And "still" in the sense that they will always be the parent of the child who was lost. Perhaps in due time they will come to move on with their lives, but the life of the lost child will forever be a part of them.