School's Out! (For Summer)

I love school—honest I do—but the last three months have been rough. Learning online isn't quite the  same as being in the classroom with my teacher and friends. I'm pretty sure I passed everything (even Math), but homework sure took on new meaning. <heh>

So, for the next two months, I’m not even going to think about homework, or studying, or worrying about whether my internet will work during a lesson. It’s finally summer! Yay!

And boy, do I ever have a lot of great things planned.

Of course I’ll be training for track and field. This is my favourite time of year to start running around Grandpa’s canola field. By mid July, the bright yellow blooms will be out in full force, creating the perfect backdrop for my morning runs. As long as I can outrun some of the bees—but Grandpa says they won’t bother me since they’re busy pollinating his canola flowers.

I’m also go to catch up on my reading. I know, I say that every year and you'd think with the pandemic going on, I would be reading all the time. The truth is, I've been doing more binge watching than reading. Now that the libraries and bookstores are open again, I'm excited to start working my way through my TBR.

The campgrounds are also open, so Dad and I are planning a “guys only” trip to go fishing. Maybe Grandpa will come too! (I mean, if he's not too busy on the farm.)

The rest of the summer will probably be spent hanging out with my friends (from a distance) and family. And I probably have a list of chores Mom needs help with, like mowing the lawn and weeding the garden. I don’t mind, though—Mom lets me eat her peas.

Sounds like a busy summer, right? How about you? What are your summer plans? Whatever they are, make it one where a part of every day is doing something you enjoy—even 10 minutes of reading or writing or practicing hoops can create good feelings about summer. Even if it is a bit different than what you're used to.

Gotta jet! Have a great weekend.

~ Chase Superman Duffy

A global celebration for Dad

Dad says he’s my biggest blog fan, which may be true since he always brings up the topics of my writing at the dinner table on Friday nights. Mom says she even shares my posts on her social meeting, which was a surprise to me.

Considering how much attention my parents pay to my blog, I won’t tell you how *I* am celebrating Father’s Day this year, because I don’t want to spoil the surprise.

So I thought instead, I would research how Father’s Day is celebrated around the world. And I learned that it isn’t the same across the globe—in some cases, it’s not even on the same day! In Australia, for instance, the day for honouring Dad occurs on the first Sunday in September. Same with New Zealand.

In Thailand, Father’s Day is celebrated on the birthday of King Bhumibol Adulyadej (that’s a mouthful) on Dec 5. The King gives a speech and many people in the country wear pink to honour him. Canna Lilies are a popular gift.

Men—not just fathers—are celebrated in Russia. The Feb. 23 holiday started as a military commemoration, and soldiers are still honoured in parades throughout the country.

Mexico honours Father’s day with a 21K Father’s Day race—thought maybe not this year given the coronavirus situation—and people in Brazil celebrate St. Joachim on Aug. 2. St. Joachim is the patron saint of fathers and grandfathers.

Interesting, right?

I’m always fascinated by how different cultures celebrate the various holidays, especially since Canada is such a culturally diverse country. What traditions do you have?

Gotta jet! Happy Father’s Day everyone—I hope it’s a special one!

~ Chase Superman Duffy

Stopping to smell the...science?

My grandma has a garden full of roses (and I mean, full)—red, yellow, pink, even orange (actually, I think the technical term is apricot). Grandma could probably open her own flower business with the number of different coloured roses in her garden.

I'm teasing, but the truth is Grandma's rose garden is exceptionally pretty with all the different colours. Except...Grandma doesn't grow any of her favourite-coloured roses.

Grandma loves ROYAL BLUE ROSES. I concur—they are beautiful. But…you won’t see many of those growing in a typical garden.

That’s because blue roses are grown using biotechnology—which is a scientific process that’s pretty hard to explain but essentially means the plant’s DNA is naturally altered to create a specific trait—in this case, its royal blue colour. Sound complicated?

It is!

Which is why even though scientists have been growing royal blue roses for the last six years or so, my grandpa has to order them in for special occasions—like Grandma’s birthday, Mother’s Day, and June 12 (that's today!)—which is ironically, Red Rose Day. (Who makes these days up?!)

Biotechnology is pretty fascinating science, and of course like all science, it’s evolving all of the time.

We talk about biotechnology in the Superman Duffy educational graphic novel 5-7-5 ERRAND BOY. If you've read it, you know that biotechnology affects our daily lives more than we think. If you don't have a copy, you can get a free copy by visiting the Alberta Canola Producers Commission website.

Gotta jet! Have a great weekend—and don't forget to stop to smell the roses....

~ Chase Superman Duffy

Gone fishing!

I've been thinking a lot about all the things I haven't been able to do this spring because of the pandemic—like swimming, hanging out with friends, or spending a few hours at the library. But I realized something this morning—that's "stinking thinking."

It's true, this has been a strange year. A tough year. An emotional year.

But instead of focussing on all of that, I want to start turning my thinking around. Like remembering how much time I've been able to spend with my family. Or how Mom's yard is looking pretty awesome because she's had time to take care of it.

And instead of focussing on the things I can't do, I'm going to turn the spotlight on things I can—like fishing!

This afternoon, Mom is taking me and Amelia to get our fishing licenses. This afternoon, we're going to bike ride to a fishing hole I know about.

I’ve been digging through Mom’s garden soil for worms (you wouldn’t believe how many of those slimy things are in a shovel’s worth of good soil!) and I already have a big jar of them, perfect for trout fishing. Amelia is in charge of packing snacks.

It doesn't even matter if Amelia and I catch fish—Mom says we need to just enjoy the experience. I plan to! What experiences will you enjoy this weekend?

Gotta jet! See you next week.

~ Chase Superman Duffy