Tag Archives: Canada

Commentary, Photography

Remembrance Day

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In Canada, today is Remembrance Day. The tradition is to wear a poppy pin in recognition of our war dead and to stop at 11:00 a.m. to reflect upon their sacrifices, often through a non-denominational and non-religious service at the community war memorial.

The poppy symbol found its origin in a poem – In Flanders Fields – written by John McCrae, a Canadian doctor who died during World War I. His memorial poem reflects on the huge numbers of dead and on the poppies that grew where they were buried.

Since WW I, the poppy has gone on to become a symbol of remembrance for the war dead of a number of countries, including the UK.

Usually, a projection of falling poppies representing our fallen soldiers is displayed on the Parliament buildings in Ottawa. Except for the striking of the clock, it’s a silent, solemn memorial with each falling poppy representing a Canadian soldier who has died in battle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYYEWbiXDuM

I hope that some day, we will have peace, and we will learn how not to add any more falling, blood-red flowers.

Reblogs

Reblog: Vote for Kindness

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This isn’t a political blog, but sometimes I feel a profound obligation to use my voice, small as it is. I’ve posted about kindness many times here, …

Vote for Kindness

I am Canadian living in Canada and therefore don’t have a stake in the U.S. election nor do I blog about politics, but this post seriously resonated with me. Please click the link above to read the entire piece.

In our present Parliament we have an opposition – I hesitate to use the word “leader” since he’s nothing of the sort – “head” who has been employing and inciting harassment, intimidation, invective, personal attacks and name-calling as a method of trying to get ahead.

Watching a so-called “debate” in Parliament has become an exercise in tolerating unbelievably juvenile behaviour; a class of 12-year-olds is more mature. As important national issues are belittled, ignored and passed over, the crude, infantile and noxious squabbling continues unabated.

Regardless of your political stripe, this is not something we should accept or tolerate in this country. We in fact have a long history of NOT tolerating it. Kindness and respect are basic behaviours that we should require of all our politicians, no matter where they’re from, who they represent or what their platforms are. We hold the power to ensure that they do, and maybe it’s time for us to start enforcing it.

Food for thought.

nature, Photography

Ocean Thoughts

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Haida Gwaii beaches …

… are fascinating places. Eagles that hunt in the ocean …

… for crabs and other delicacies …

… large cables of kelp that look like prehistoric creatures …

… massive stumps that have been pummelled by waves and then thrown up on shore …

… the birthplace of all life on earth. The salt is in our blood.

nature, Photography

Wild Flowers of Haida Gwaii

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I loved seeing all the wild flowers everywhere on Haida Gwaii – a beautiful bounty.

Wild morning glories. These were growing next to a vegetable garden fence, but we saw them everywhere, even in the forest. These are not bindweed, an invasive plant that looks like morning glory.
Crane’s Bill. Very, very tiny blooms. I found these growing next to a beach.
Wild pea.
Alberta wild rose.
Wild foxglove. These are everywhere too, in forests and next to beaches and roads.
Cloudberry flowers. There are huge numbers of these growing all over. Some of the fruit are already very ripe.
Nope, this isn’t a wild flower, but I thought I would add a picture of a cloudberry. Very sweet with tangy overtones.
Buttercups are so bright and pretty!
And my favourite, daisies.

We also saw many, many bees on Haida Gwaii. Their numbers have been dropping in lots of places so it was fantastic to see them thriving.

Happy Wednesday.

nature, Photography

Haida Gwaii

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We arrived on the archipelago of Haida Gwaii after a very smooth ferry crossing from Prince Rupert.

The distance looks a bit deceptive but we were also crossing the Hecate Strait, an area of ocean that can live up to its namesake, so caution is required, even in the summer.

We spent our first few days in Masset at the northern end of Haida Gwaii and explored lovely beaches and many trails through the rain forest.

Haida Gwaii sits in a very temperate weather zone; it’s almost a “Goldilocks” location. It’s never too hot; never too cold, despite its more northern location. It’s lush, verdant, stunningly beautiful and very, very green with lots of huge old growth trees everywhere.

Near the ocean, we frequently found moss encrusted trees with huge ferns growing on the forest floor in this natural ode to recycling. Old trees die, fall, and then provide nutrients for the next trees and other plants.

There were many of these “nursery stumps” with new trees growing from the old ones.

More will follow later.

Happy Tuesday.