Making space for grief

You’re reading the March 20, 2025 edition of the Peterborough Currents email newsletter. To receive our email newsletters straight to your inbox, sign up here.

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Hello, and welcome to the arts and community newsletter from Peterborough Currents. I’m Alex, and I send this newsletter every week to catch you up on what’s happening in Peterborough.

Last week, the moon passed through the Earth’s shadow, causing a total lunar eclipse. I joined a small group of local stargazers as they braved the cold and darkness in the early morning hours of March 14 to see the astronomical phenomenon with their own eyes. 

Also in this week’s newsletter:

• Making art to express grief and loss
• Plus, more things to do around town this weekend

Let’s get started!

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Peterborough astronomy club members keep looking up

Local amateur astronomers fled the light pollution inside Peterborough’s city limits to take in the “blood worm moon” total lunar eclipse on Thursday, March 13.

Members of the Peterborough Astronomical Association (PAA) headed to Harold Town Conservation Area, just east of Peterborough, to watch over several hours as the Earth cast a dark shadow across the face of the moon. 

The air was crisp and still and the sky clear, making for perfect viewing as the moon turned a dusty red around 3 a.m. “This is the best you could possibly hope for this time of year,” said PAA member Rick Stankiewicz. “It’s unbelievable, because all week it was threatening to be cloudy,”

Bundled up in winter coats, thick mitts and thermal socks, the stargazers adjusted their scopes to get a closer look as the eclipse progressed. Only a few “diehards” showed up for the big celestial event, but in warmer weather PAA events often draw 20 people or more to the conservation area to look up at the stars and planets, said past president David Mills.

Mills tracked the moon’s entire transformation through his four-inch Vixen telescope, starting from when it first began to enter Earth’s shadow just before midnight.

Stankiewicz had a more elaborate setup: an eight-inch tracking scope, a huge twelve-inch manual scope, two digital cameras on tripods, and a smart scope that automatically captured photos of the moon every minute throughout the night.

However, beginners don’t need to purchase their own gear to go stargazing with the PAA. Members can use loaner telescopes and other equipment through the club. 

“That’s what the club is all about,” Stankiewicz said. “Everything that we bring people can have a look through.”

In addition to joining PAA members for the lunar eclipse, I also joined one of their regular monthly meetings, where a space educator taught a handful children how to create a map of the stars and planets. To read about that, check out my full story on our website.

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Using art to talk about death and loss

When Retired psychotherapist Brian Nichols has been talking, thinking and making art about death for years. 

A lot of his artwork comes out of the personal “place of grief” he carries inside: Three of his siblings died suddenly and both of his parents have passed away, his mother having had a medically assisted death.

Now Nichols has helped create a new tool to help others navigate the topic many of us would rather run from. He and other volunteers spent the last eight months crafting a set of 45 cards designed to guide people through what to do when someone dies.

Called “After A Death Planning Cards,” they include prompts and suggestions around how to make funeral arrangements, send out invitations to a memorial service, and honour a life lost. There’s also information on how to deal with the unforeseen tragedies, like murder, suicide and drug poisonings.

The goal is to help service providers in Peterborough, including those who work with unhoused and marginalized people, know how to respond when the worst happens. 

The idea for the cards came out of a conversation Nichols had with a staff member at One City Peterborough, after several people connected to the agency died in the span of one week. 

The cards were produced by InConversation, a volunteer group Nichols works with that helps open up dialogue around grief and death, through regular community events and discussions. One of those events is a weekly art-making session Nichols leads in partnership with One City every Wednesday from 2:30 to 4 p.m. at Artspace.

Nichols and his team launched the cards at an event at the Trinity Community Centre last week, where they gave away free sets to local service providers.

“We’re all part of this community. We need to get together around the losses that we’re collectively experiencing,” he said.

A series of Nichols’ artworks focused on serious illness and dying is currently on display at Platform D Gallery, on Hunter Street, where he will host a free or by-donation art workshop on Friday, March 28. Participants will create bunting flags expressing their thoughts and feelings around grief. 

For more details, follow Platform D Gallery on Instagram.

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What’s happening in Peterborough this weekend?

• To celebrate the International Day of Forests on March 21, Kristina Domsic of Rooted Heart Nature Connection and Yoga will lead participants in a therapeutic forest bathing session from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Camp Kawartha. The session includes a slow walk through the forest with invitations to pause, explore the senses and connect with the natural world. The practice will end with a wild-foraged tea ceremony in the woods. Tickets cost $20. Email Domsic at kristina@rootedheart.ca to register.

• Local jazz band Carpe Noctem will perform a free concert at Jethro’s Bar and Stage this Friday, March 21, from 6 to 8 p.m. 

• Brass funk band My Son the Hurricane returns to Market Hall this Friday, March 21 at 8 p.m. The multi-horn, multi-drummer group has performed in fifteen countries since their last visit to Peterborough and is ready to introduce new singer Sarah Faz. Tickets cost $40 online at the Market Hall website.

• Take Cover Books will host author Ethan Tapper this Friday to discuss his new book, How to Love a Forest: The Bittersweet Work of Tending a Changing World. “Tapper’s book is a tender, fearless debut by a forester writing in the tradition of Suzanne Simard, Robin Wall Kimmerer, and Robert Macfarlane,” according to the event description. Admission to the author talk is free, but space is limited so online registration is recommended.

• It’s time to ring in spring, and 65 vendors are set to showcase their wares at The Morrow Building from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. this Sunday, March 23 for the Modern Spring Market. Tickets cost $20, with children aged sixteen and under getting in for free.

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