There are times I see things that don't seem to belong and there are times when something odd looks like it is meant to be there.
In nature, a crocus in a field or a western red lily at the roadside are wonderful surprises. Their vibrant colours and beauty seem to pop out of nowhere and although they seem a little out of place they really do belong.
This week I attended a few classes of the music festival in Lloydminster. Festivals aren't as stuffy as they were when I was a child, but they still seem to elevate the culture of a community, bringing out the talent of the performers and their teachers.
As the room emptied from the class before my child's I saw a familiar family exit. The child was grinning, matched by the parent in fire retardant coveralls. Here in the oilfield it is a common uniform. At the festival it was just a little out of place, but it wasn't wrong. It meant someone had a short break and spent it supporting a child in an artistic endeavour.
I expect to hear music in most public places and after spending time at the music festival I tuned in a little more closely to the ambient sounds around me. The family restaurant where we stopped for lunch was blasting top 40 pop hits and the high end furniture store I stopped to daydream had a jazz crooner softly playing in the background.
Sometimes things make sense and sometimes they don't, sometimes the odd things are just challenges to grow.
April is National Poetry Month and aside from the usual readings, emails and events this year brought something unexpected. The Saskatchewan Writers Guild and the League of Canadian Poets are leading a Mayor's Poetry City Challenge.
Across the country municipal councils were encouraged to invite a poet to read a poem at a regular council meeting in March or April. I approached our mayor in Maidstone and asked her if we could participate. It took only a couple of minutes for me to share an original poem at a recent council meeting.
I admit I was a little nervous. Sharing something as personal as a poem in a setting usually reserved for serious discussions about town planning and bylaws was strange. But, I did not feel unwelcome in the chambers as I brought something different to the table. Art in all forms should challenge us and surprise us bringing people together and making our spaces more beautiful for everyone.
