High School Redux

Anne Renouf    Senator O'Connor College School    1969 - 1974

Recently, I listened to the album 'Tea for the Tillerman' by Cat Stevens, (1970), in its entirety, for what was probably the first time in fifty years. I was in the kitchen, cooking, and surprised myself by singing lyrics, unsung by me for almost that long. 

It was the album of that year,
known by every one of my classmates. 

We were Grade Ten students, thrown together from various parts of suburban Toronto and small communities north of Toronto, in a relatively new Catholic high school, 

Senator O'Connor College School.

The school was distinct in a number of ways. Built on land donated by Senator Frank O'Connor to the De La Salle Christian Brothers, (in the Parkwoods neighbourhood of North York), the school buildings surrounded the striking Brother's House, (the former home of the Senator), with the J.J. Lynch building to the east, and the O'Connor building to the west. 

While the Lynch building was standard 1960's school style, the O'Connor building was avant-garde, designed in a hexagon by Fisher Tedman Architects. I'm not sure we fully appreciated the building's beauty at the time, with its quirky angled staircases and oddly shaped rooms, but the erratic hallways made for amazing games of hide and seek, and hidden corners to slip away into, unseen.

The Christian Brothers, and nuns of the Daughters of Wisdom held various teaching posts in this ground-breaking co-ed Catholic school, as well as many lay teachers, (including former brothers and nuns). I still think of a number of teachers from the early '70's with huge fondness - Marg Gardonio, Hugh McShane, Brother Walter, Sister Anita, Harold Brathwaite, Phil Small, Theresa Duffy.

It wasn't just the building or the staff, though these were pretty great. 

There was a strong emphasis on academics, and not just learning facts and figures, 

but developing critical thinking skills, strengthening self-confidence, experiential learning, and teamwork.

My strongest recollections of that teamwork was a distinct camaraderie in Grade Ten. 

Friendships, yes, but also trust, loyalty, 

love.

Now, fifty-six years later, I listen to Cat Stevens, and it all comes back. The melodies, the lyrics, the tight friends I was with when listening to them - all of that - but also, who I was as a person, where I was headed, and what an extraordinarily good education we all received.

*

Some months ago, I picked up one of our grand-boys after an exam at his school in Peterborough,

 to shuttle him home. (We had some good chats on those half-hour drives.) This time I mentioned that Grade Ten, for me, had been the best.

"Why?" he shot back, curious. "What made it so great?"

"It was the sense of belonging", I told him. "We were all part of something."

As I thought about this, I could picture my classmates - the school musical, sports, the fund-raisers, the 'Miles for Millions' walkathon, the hockey pools, the class trips,

the singing and guitars in the beautiful school chapel.

Primarily though, the sense of belonging was in the classes themselves, some boring, yes, but nevertheless, 

ours,

a shared experience by the same twenty-five tight friends of 10D, 

all navigating being fifteen-year-olds.

Together.

Five friends - Senator O'Connor College School - 1969-1974

'Weather Diary' at Twenty

Weather Diary 

Twenty years ago, in the Spring of 2006,

I had the opportunity to travel to 

Ocracoke Island off the coast of North Carolina,

 to live and work at my art.

(This ‘Artist Residency’ was actually a 

50th birthday gift from my husband Doug Brown, 

the only one who knew of my desire to become a 

hermit in order to produce some new work.)

I wanted to focus on drawing, using materials I

 hadn't used in a while -

primarily oil pastels, watercolour pencils, chalks and

 graphite.

I set off on my month-long pilgrimage with these 

materials and lots of drawing surfaces.

It is a seventeen hour drive from Peterborough 

Ontario to Ocracoke NC.

 I was to live in a cottage, (sight unseen), in 

Ocracoke Village,

 just me and our three-year-old black lab, Chester.

It wasn't long before I fell into the rhythm of island life. 

I wanted solitude so as to work without distraction. 

Yes, I had that.

And I wanted the sea.

Whatever was happening with regard to my artwork

 and the weather, 

each day included a long ramble on the glorious 

Ocracoke Island beach, the wide open 

Atlantic-facing expanse of bliss. 

This daily beach walk led to the creation of a 

series of works entitled 'Weather Diary', 

one-a-day drawings infused by the sea, sand, 

dunes and wild moody skies - the elements -

 that found their way into me.

You can view the art,

and read about my 'Weather Diary' pilgrimage

 here:

 annerenouf.blogspot.ca

 

                                 

Creatures We've Had In Our House

 

CREATURES

WE'VE

HAD 

IN

OUR

HOUSE

⬇

Living for fifteen years in an energy efficient home 
overlooking a wetland,
(in Otonabee-South Monaghan Township, 
Peterborough County, Ontario), 
we are definitely what you would call 
'off the beaten track'. 
What we love most about living here is the wetland 
and woodland wildlife, 
seen almost daily.
Occasionally, some of these make it into the house.
Here is my list of those who have crossed our 
threshold...(so far):

HUMANS - many

Mostly invited, these are humans other than 
the two of us who inhabit this space. 
Family get-togethers, dinner parties, Cinq-à-Sept, 
Studio Tour visitors, Art Days, 
drop-ins saying hello, 
those asking advice, giving advise, 
coming for a walk in the woods, a workshop, 
a cup of tea, a beer -
all fairly regular events.

DOGS - 5+

Chester, our forever dog, 
Best friend Fido, 
Granddogs Burley, Momo and Sully,
Rex and Toby (regulars),

and perhaps a dozen other dog visitors, (not all at once).

 CATS – 4

Larry the Cat, long-time resident,  
Gertie, who died at 22, known as ‘The Biting Cat' by the grandhumans, 
Grandcat Milo, 
and one feral cat, a longtime nocturnal visitor, via cat-flap.

 
BABY BUNNIES - 1

Brought in, very much alive, by Larry the Cat.

BIRDS - 3

Wild birds, each time, when the door was inadvertently left open. 

In October 2024, a chickadee spent an hour in our rafters, 

trying to find a way out of our clerestory windows. 

Her feet eventually, (and embarrassingly), 

became entangled in cobwebs, and I was able to climb a ladder 

and scoop her up, remove the tangle of webs, 

and let her go. Outdoors.

Happy ending.

TURTLES - 1 

A snapper, (Methuselah), right up to the threshold, but not I suppose, technically, in.

RACCOONS - 1 

Caught dragging a bag of birdseed to the cat-flap in the middle of the night.

MICE – lots

INSECTS - 1,000s

A note on insects…
I'm wondering if anyone else has had a pet wasp.
Yes, a wasp.
We once had a rather dopey, partially hibernating (queen?) wasp living in our house through the winter. We occasionally placed small saucers of water or (un)frozen blueberries or blueberry juice near her, and she (we think) nearly overdosed, judging by the amount of time she spent perched on a blueberry.
Her life ended tragically that March. 
After biting the hand that feeds her, (mine, actually my leg), contrary to popular opinion, she did not die, at least not right away, living for about another week.
Rest in peace, Willa. 

TREE FROGS – 4

The first one hopped in during a Studio Tour... a bit of a surprise for him.
The remaining three, (several years later), hopped in on a warm, wet late summer night, and hopped out again (though one took some finding), the following morning.

RED SQUIRRELS - 1 

Ran in, sat up, looked around, ran out, all in about 3.5 seconds.

SPIDERS – Oh, yes. 

(They get a category of their own.)
Specifically, in fact almost exclusively, Pholcidae, (daddy-long-legs).
We have a soft spot around here for daddy-long-legs, which goes back to our years living in the  little cabin in the woods, where we were plagued with mosquitoes from May to August, and loved that daddy-long-legs are purported
to eat them, or suck the juices out of them, or otherwise reduce their numbers. 
Not all of the humans who frequent our home are fans though. 
Our number three grandhuman once exited the bathroom proclaiming,
“I counted eight spiders in there.”     

                                      
I like them.                             
They are sort of the ‘Fred Astaires’ of the arachnid world - graceful, coordinated, quick. 
In typical Canadian fashion, I have apologized to one for inadvertently brushing it aside. 
They have great resilience. They can look crumpled and dead, and on closer inspection, suddenly unfold themselves and stride away.     
All of that, and of course, the mosquito thing.    

  
So they stay.
 
‘Creatures We’ve Had In Our House’ can be regularly updated, (the beauty of lists), depending on who comes in. 

(Latest update: Jan. 2026)
I might add that we’ve had a wide variety of creature visitors who have peered in, scrambled over, and crashed into, while not actually entering the house. 
Perhaps a list for another day, but these include ducks, geese, turkeys, crows, doves, one hawk, (RIP), and last Fall a small herd of teenage calves, (brown, white and cheeky-looking), who made it as close to the house as the patio, two metres from the door. Maybe if they ever show up again, we’ll leave the door open and see what happens…

- Anne Renouf