Seen and Heard in Edmonton

Well, how many times have you been moved to tears over the past week? I lost count. The harrowing stories and videos of people fleeing the fires in Fort McMurray, the selfless acts of heroism, the immediate effort to help, the reunions, the tragedy of the two lives lost, the news that much of the city has been saved — just wow. Let’s start there, before switching our focus to motherhood and other matters:

• Shayne Woodsmith captures the hive of activity at the Edmonton Emergency Relief Services Society in response to the evacuation from Fort McMurray. (You can donate money to EERSS here.)
• “It’s always been Edmonton’s instinct to help, and help we have,” writes Mayor Don Iveson.
• Theresa E. Wells’s post on leaving Fort McMurray was definitely one of the stories that made me cry. Her resilience is inspiring.
• Jennifer Quist writes a love letter to Fort McMurray, her onetime home and a place that made her life in many ways.
• Lincoln Ho has been keeping an updated list of free services available to evacuees.
• OilersNation adds its voice to the call to help those who had to flee the fires.
• Robyn of Musings of the Edmonton Tourist counts her blessings and expresses her awe at the generosity on display.
• Kassey Koumarelas says a little prayer for Fort McMurray, a place where her parents made themselves at home.
• Maria K reflects on the fire in Fort McMurray and prays for a good, soaking rain.
• Mack Male tracks the number of wildfires and hectares burned in Alberta over the past 25 years.
• Mack also rounds up some of the behind-the-scenes stories that media outlets shared about covering the fire in his latest Media Monday. Our local newsrooms certainly rose to the occasion under difficult circumstances.
• Maurice Tougas has more thoughts on how the fire was covered.
• The devastating fire reminds Dave Von Bieker of another unstoppable and destructive force, which he memorializes in a poem.

Motherhood

• Marie a la Mode shares her somewhat traumatic but ultimately happy birth story. Welcome to the world, Miles John!
• Pregnancy and Thai food give Lori Godin a crazy nightmare.
• Trent Wilkie receives earth-shattering news from his wife (but the good kind).
• Karlynn Johnston finds a way to make everyone happy at the dinner table for Mother’s Day and her husband’s birthday.
• Lowetide pays tribute to his mother after checking in on the Oilers at the World Hockey Championships and the latest signing.
• Lyndsey at Over My Styled Body shares her surprise mother-daughter fashion shoot.
• Kristina Lynne asks four friends who are moms for some words of wisdom.
• Angelique Rodrigues previews an exhibition at the University of Alberta that challenges the public view of motherhood.

Miscellaneous

• Emil Tiedemann shares his ultimate Edmonton playlist (makes a great soundtrack for doing the roundup!).
• John Richardson reviews Cayley Thomas’s new album, Weird Love.
• Jenna Marynowski previews The Runcible Riddle, a Catch the Keys experience at the Citadel.
• Adina J is thinking of serializing her next novel on her blog.
• Christine Bruckmann has news of the city’s new outdoor pools pass — for $199, a family can go to any of the four outdoor pools throughout the summer.
• Raising Edmonton recommends some summer camps you may not have thought of.
• Lindsay at the Edible Woman writes an ode to passion fruit and shares a recipe that sounds dangerously delicious.
• Sharon Yeo highlights a recent popup to test the fare from the new La Mar food truck.
• Sally Neal stuck to her grocery budget in April, thanks to determination and lower produce prices.
• Erika Ensign resumes knitting the scarf that gives her blog its name.
• Megan McKenna shares spectacular photos from her visit to Vik in Iceland.
• Kyle Fox reinforces an interesting point about the importance of making decisions quickly in business — as one of my former bosses used to say, a wrong decision is better than no decision.

That’s just what caught my sometimes teary eye this week. There’s even more at ShareEdmonton. My previous picks are on my Flipboard magazine and in previous roundups.

These weekly recommendations and much more will be delivered to you every Thursday if you subscribe to the newsletter. Here’s a sample of what you’ll get.

Remember that you’re invited to Journalist Interrupted: Towards a blueprint for a new free press, on May 26 at MacEwan University. We’ve all seen this week how important it is to have local media telling our stories — let’s keep that conversation going.

This week’s Seen and Heard in Edmonton is brought to you by The Underdogs of Comedy, a new web series from the edmontonian media co.

The show offers a look at indie comics taking to stages at bars, venues and pop-up shows across Edmonton. Hear Jeff Samsonow discuss what intrigued him about their story.

Watch six of your new favourite comedians at theunderdogsofcomedy.com.