This past weekend, I managed to hit a couple of events in town.  After the crazy weather we’ve had this month, it’s was nice to get house of the house again…and for fun too!  I’ll get into the weather insanity in another post but I thought I’d write up a quick blurb about these two events.

The first is a bit of a Saskatoon tradition.  Of course, this time of year, trade shows are a big thing but Gardenscape in particular seems to hold a special place in the hearts of Saskatoonians.  Or at least, it used to.  I have to admit that I haven’t been to it in years.  When I go to a garden show, I want to see plants.  Call me crazy but the green stuff is what gardens are all about.  But in recent years, the landscaping side of Gardenscape and gardening in general has really taken over.  Now, I totally understand that landscaping is a big part of gardening too but, as some of the nicest gardens are also the simplest, it does seem a little sad that the plant part has been overshadowed.  And not just by the landscaping stuff.  Many of the greenhouses in town seem to spend more time selling us knick knacks and do-dads for our gardens and even branching out into fashion so they’re displays of plants end up shrinking too.  This year’s Gardenscape was no different.

Please don’t think that I’m saying that it was a horrible show!  I actually did enjoy it this year.  Partly because of the company I had but I think it was also a little more…shall we say, cozy?  Apparently, they had to move halls this year which meant that things were a little more together.  The smaller hall in particular seemed to flow together nicely.  But it still would have been better if the tables were more plant oriented.  As I may be taking over a section of my parents garden this year, I was hoping to be able to get more information from some of the nurseries and greenhouses around and there really wasn’t much of that.  I still came away with a few things though!

The other thing I had a chance to go to was the closing night of a play called ‘The Science of Disconnection’; a one woman play about the life of physicist Lise Meitner.  First of all, amazing!  I loved the acting and the way the story was told was beautiful.  So right there, it was definitely worth going to see.  But more importantly, I think it’s really important of plays like this to get out more often.  We all know by now the troubles that women faced in the sciences but sometimes you just need that visual representation to really understand it.  Hearing someone – even an actor – talk about persecution and the effect of it in her life really brings home the everyday struggles that really happened.  And that’s where and when empathy can begin which is so critical in these days.  I’m so glad I went but I only wish that more people could have seen it.