Trudy Handel for Langley School Board

Sad but true.

Things I never expected to see: Hugh Jackman jump rope dancing to an *NSYNC song, and finishing with the Wolverine pose.

OMG - is it spring, after the long winter of our discontent??! The frogs in the swamp have started croaking but where are our faithful swans?

There is an old pony in a big pen by the barn. He has no real purpose. No kids ride him, he is not a companion to another old horse.

We have no history together. He came into my life by happenstance. There are no fond, warm fuzzy memories. I owe him nothing. But he’s polite and kind, and nickers to me as I come out the door in the morning.

He eats a princely sum of special food, and has a premium round bale of irrigated grass that the other horses can only dream of. His water is fresh, and warmed in the winter. I’ve gone out there late at night to make sure he has food, and he’s the first thing I attend to after morning coffee.

Why? Why not send him to the sale where ‘someone’ will want him? At 40 cents a pound, he’d be worth a nice steak dinner and drinks in town. They’ll load him on a truck with 30 other old ponies and horses, and somewhere down that line, if he doesn’t fall from his bad knee and get trampled in the transport, he will become dog food.

There’s a bum calf in our scale house on this cold frosty night. He’s little and scrawny, with p**p stuck to his butt, and a bit of a runny nose. There’s a heater in there keeping the temp above freezing. In the morning I’ll make him a bottle of warm milk replacer and try to convince him to eat some of the pony’s special food. Bob will clean his little house and put down fresh bedding. It would be easier to have left him in the field with the 500 bigger, stronger calves, to steal milk from the occasional tolerant cow, to eventually freeze to death and feed the coyotes that lurk about the herd for just such an opportunity.

There is a wild kitten in the barn who most likely jumped off a utility truck a while back. We’ve been leaving food just for him, and making sure the heated water bowl is full, so he doesn’t have to go outside and perch precariously on the horse waterer to drink.

I guess we sound like saps, the old cowboy and I. Sort of wimpy and un-ranch like.

I guess we are. But at our age, with certain infirmities starting to creep into our daily routines, and the realization that we are not perfect, we are thinking that kindness is a virtue and care is our purpose.

Care of not just the healthy robust animals that make money and pay the bills, but care of everything we are capable of caring for - those creatures that, like us, are in need of a bit more attention to get through the day.

We didn’t go about seeking these creatures- they came to us and landed here not of their own choosing, or ours. But here they are, and off I go to town to a business that provides enough to buy the expensive milk replacer, premium hay, and special pony food.

There may be some karma in all this, or maybe not, but in the end we’ll know we did the best we could for those that needed us.

Peace. Really, I mean it.

B.C. permanently bans use of rat poison | CBC News Last July, the government imposed an 18-month ban on the use of rodenticides over concerns the poison is inadvertently killing owls, among other wildlife.

Thanks to everyone for their support - I am not going to be one of the school trustees, but it gave me a platform to say some things that I thought were important.

I'd like to offer my congratulations to those who were elected, and wish them good luck in the coming years.

Thanks to all the friends and neighbours that supported my run. It means a lot knowing that you thought I could help. I hope that the new School Board and the new Township Council can work together to sort out the problems on the north slope.

And to the provincial government - get your bloody head out of the sand, and start funding education properly in B.C.! There's a reason why the BC Teachers Federation bankrupted itself to take this issue through the courts. It's so important for the students, parents and teachers in this province!

To the Ministry of Education - stop wasting taxpayer dollars over and over again for legal fees on this issue, and start using that money for the educational needs of the children in this province!

Thank you so much, everyone, for your support over the past few weeks! It means a lot, no matter which way the election goes.

Langley School Board is facing some rough water ahead - between the ongoing class size and composition debate and the massive development on the north slope, there are a lot of important decisions in our immediate future..

Whoever you want to vote for tomorrow, please do get out and vote!

As they say in the movies, "Tomorrow is another day!"

This situation is one of the reasons I'm running for Langley School Board. I was always told by Langley Council that if the number of children in an area reached a certain number, the Ministry of Education would pay for new school construction.

But at the end of September, the Ministry said, "Don't bother asking, there's no more money". There has been rampant development on the north slope in Langley. Because building permits have already been issued, the building will continue, and I haven't heard anyone say that they need to stop issuing building permits until this is resolved.

Where are the children going to go? The newest school in Langley already has a number of portables. I was housed in a portable when I was teaching at BCIT, and I can tell you that it's not a good idea, and certainly not for children.

No money for new schools, says province - Langley Times Langley district left in a tough spot by Ministry of Education belt tightening, secretary-treasurer tells board of education

What can I offer as a Langley School Trustee if elected on November 15?

I have over thirty years experience teaching at a post secondary level, which has given me great familiarity with the types of problems that teachers are facing in today's classrooms.

I have done many years of curriculum development and class scheduling.

I've written successful proposals for funding from provincial and federal agencies.

I was the chairman of the BC Motion Picture Association and the Langley Agricultural Advisory Committee.

I was the head of collective bargaining for the BC Institute of Technology Staff Society (1,000 members) and led the union through a successful binding contract arbitration.

At the B.C. Institute of Technology, I arranged funding, organized curriculum and co-instructed the "most successful aboriginal project that BCIT has undertaken."

What is my best trait? I don't give up. If I feel that something is unjust, or needs to change, then I'll do everything in my power to make that happen. If you feel that any of these skills can help with the current School Board situation in Langley, I'd appreciate your vote on November 15.