The Me That I Am

Fusion fission, universe constructed

Primordial puddle of chemicals.

Striving for life in the air no longer bound to salt water.

Long line of ancestors struggle to self-awareness,

struggle to art and society.

War upon war, men to crops, crops to men

European social constructs

German precision, Irish determination to survive

Grandfathers misted in time carry our DNA to a new world.

Oh Canada, so strong, so free.

Wealth by virtue of birthplace.

Maternal love, naive yet kind,

Paternal harsh fear,

both broken yet weld the next generation

Peers and burdens to good and evil

Every book that I read and understand.

Television sending my mind in too many directions.

Every voice that I hear, every soul that touches me

The love of a Great woman,

good and beautiful hearts of my young.

My inner spirit, forever pushing and controlling

The acts of kindness I pursue,

acts of kindness that are bestowed upon me.

The strength to reflect and examine the me that I am.

One Day In The Future

Bare cupboard,

bare shelves.

A hole in your stomach,

a hole in your heart.

Emptiness of poverty,

no prosperity.

You remember the blemished apple,

the restaurant meal too large to finish

the bread somewhat stale.

What you would give for even a morsel,

or a rotted bit.

In wealth there was waste,

recalled in your hunger,

Is this not Hell?

Highway to Peace

Finding peace

paddle to water

on the river.

Hidden mystery

living water

in the river.

Man and nature

living in harmony

near the river.

Our history

story of Canada

highway river.

Man in charge

nature vanishing

away from the river.

Find ourselves

find our place

look to the river.

Vibrant Summer

The strength of this summer was not in the beauty of the flowers but in the fact that we took time to notice. It was not in the absence of strife or in the plenty and abundant but in the fact that we were thankful. The bargains and windfalls of this summer did not make it what it was; it was the fact that we made proper use of them when presented to us.


We made the summer what it was by our attention to the human side of each other and our environment. We made the summer by recognizing the beauty that surrounded us and simple riches we enjoy.

From covered bridges to homemade pickles and paddling in the North, summer was ours. We did not fight a cause or demand justice, we simply lived life. We will stand for that which in not right, but it is just as important to watch your life and appreciate what you see.

Let the waves roll over your toes and sigh at the wonder of it all.

This Day?

So what is a day, how is it defined?

This one is not yet over yet I have cleaned out the eve troughs with the help of my sons. I have cut the lawn using my 60+ year old push mower (no gas and oil just sweat and toil).

Michelle and Tim are canning pickles made from Tim’s cucumbers he grew in his garden. I read an article on how to make my own Kefir (fermented milk beverage good for making you digestive system work well) so I can be healthy.

I spoke with my Dad and he told me a few stories from his youth and I wrote then down. He is in a mood to reminisce and I will have to go and visit this week.

There is a frog in our pond and the Roses of Sharon are blooming.

This day is not special or exciting, it is not one for the books, but it adds to the overall saga of this family. It will reinforce the collection of stories that a family builds if we choose to pay attention. A life is a lot of mundane tasks, eating and sleeping, infused with brief blooms of action and beauty, glory and sadness.

Such is life at the gates of Utopia.

It Is Ours

Aluminum painted to look like birch bark. Panned by the critics as useless, not valid for the purpose it was designed. At first it will not budge as if stuck in the water by some new gravitational force, and then as I adjust my stroke and reposition my body it begins to move as I continue and adjust in small increments we become graceful together with the river. It is a dance of finesse that will be refined with each stroke of the paddle, with each new wind and current. Canoe, paddle, water, and man at once separate and yet one.


After the dance begins and the rhythm is established the river and its inhabitants show themselves to the mind now able to focus on more then just the paddle. A Trumpeter Swan stands guard of the hidden nest, willing to fight and sacrifice if necessary to save the next generation and its mate. The Kingfisher lives up to its name before my eyes. A large bass breaks the water after some insect on or above the surface. A snapping turtle not ever afraid but wary never the less submerges, a heron stands in silent, still breakfast vigil. These are the gifts of the river, small treasures exposed to the one who chooses to quietly send his paddle into the flow.

There are other things too; a train trestle waiting for the thundering load that it has been willing to bear for a good part of most of our lives. The distant sound of an eighteen wheeler as it slows itself for the curve. Families heading to town to buy things needed for the weekend on the highway nearby. I see the homes of those lucky enough to have the sense and the dollars to place themselves in daily beauty. This river is not in a wilderness or even remote, it is near and it is ours to enjoy.

The Thames and all its forks have gifts for us from Stratford to Woodstock, Ingersoll, and London and beyond. It is one of those good places it is ours and it is here. You need not go far to dance with canoe and paddle. Do not feel nature is beyond your reach, it is here and now.

When I paddle the Thames in Oxford, Perth and Middlesex I find that I am usually nearly alone. I am not complaining about the solitude but I wish others would come out and dance in this special place.

The Garden

I sit here in the garden

Surrounded by beauty

I am transported

A feeling of otherness

Away from petty thoughts

Small human wastefulness

The plants have the same motives

To live, to procreate, to die

To give some beauty

To give something back

We sometimes forget our motives

The garden never does.

Your Car or Plastic Crap??

People are slamming the car (me too) and saying that it is all evil and sick. I want to think again. I love my VW convertible. I bought it 3rd hand so no new car had to be built (lower impact on the world) It gets 42 miles per gallon on the HWY, not perfect but OK. I get a major vitamin D shot from the sun everyday.

So hey what about the carbon, what about the oil used?? Well to this I say give me my car and take away my disposable world. No more plastic disposable crap! When you buy something make sure it is meant to last for life or longer! No more fast food style products give me the freedom of wheels instead. Buy less stuff you don't need and drive your car. What if the money men take away our mobility (cars) but keep selling us cheap junk that goes away quick so that we have to buy more and more and more?

Now I believe that there should be rules for cars moving forward. Gas mileage needs to go up (my 42 miles per gallon should be seen as pathetic). 50% of all cars should be electric or hybrid. All new cars should be designed to be either reused after their guts give out our reasonably recycled. If you choose not to own a car you should get a tax break! If you drive a big clunker you should take a tax hit (I also have a minivan I would take a tax hit for that)!

So say yes to your car, do not give up your freedom, but you must then give up your garbage and throw away world.

Using less is the only true savior of our society.

A Quick Note About Food

Michelle and I will be celebrating 24 years of marriage on Monday. It has become our habit to hop in our little VW convertible and shun the highways and travel the lesser roads to some of Southern Ontario’s good places.

As lunch time approached we were in Stratford and there is an organic meat, cheese and bread shop there (a deli I suppose) that provides fresh healthy foods at a very high level of quality. Now our world is riddled with fast food outlets that can provide you with nourishment at a reasonable price and you can count on a consistent experience. Two adults could eat at one of these chain hamburger places for between $12 and $17 dollars. For that money you would get an edible but decidedly unhealthy and boring meal.

We walked around the shop and at the back of the store we meant the baker, a great guy who knew his bread, and was willing to discuss his process and ingredients and the experience he expected you would have if you bought his bread. We bought 3 different loaves at about $3.25 a piece (I would have paid more).

I am a big cheese fan and would eat it all the time if I could but the truth is I also enjoy being alive and huge cheese consumption does not lend itself to good health so I do not eat a lot of cheese anymore. We decided a little cheese for our lunch would be great so we purchased some apple wood smoked cheddar. Now this cheese packs a financial bite as well as a flavour bite and at $24 dollars a pound it might scare of most cheese eaters. Michelle and I bought 4 1/8 inch thick pieces and the price rolled in a $6.20 this cheese is so rich and delicious (four slices was almost too much)

We went to the cooler in the store and bought some of their fresh humus and it came in at $3.50.

Off to the park we went, moved a picnic table closer to the river and settled down to eat. We consumed the cheese, the equivalent of one loaf of bread (we sampled two of the three kinds we bought) dipping it in the humus.

The total bill at the store was $23 as I also bought some whole seed mustard. We ate our fill at lunch with 1 full loaf and 2 partial loaves of bread to take home.

So what is the point of this boring story? Well for about $16 we were able to eat very high quality fresh reasonably healthy food made by people who care about what they are doing, for the price of fast food. On the surface some of the prices in the store seem high but in moderate reasonable use you come out on top.

Fast food is obviously in the price range of the majority of Canadians, as I have heard the big chains do quite well. If fast food at $16 is in the price range then so is good food at the same price?? If we start to buy good food then more good food will appear for sale.

If you are going to tell me your kids won’t eat the food I described I would suggest to you that if you take the time to slowly move your kids from fast food and they will move, ours did.

Who is the next Hero?

Who is responsible for saving the world?

What hero will stand up, be brave, do the right thing?
 The mirror will give you the answer.

Validate the World

Gentle Goes the Paddle

Gentle goes the paddle

Fork of the Thames

Two young men

Older man feeling younger

Sun on our face

Being on the river,

in unity of action

Paddle sings the song of spring,

warm wood in cold water

Birds sing of the urgency of life,

as the river follows its path in silence

Honoured canoe

Gentle goes the paddle

Reborn together with the river

Refugee

I am a refugee in my own place. Walking through a wasteland of consumerism and squandering.

I Long for a place that is not far off, but out of our grasp, a place where humans have ambition but without greed, where one is judged by actions alone, a place where you feel part of a clan but feel no hate, a place where the limitations of our world are understood and embraced.

Standing strong on a soft foundation is not easy and that is the plight of other refugees like I. The walls of good belief are built on an ice flow of half truth and slander. How do you grow a tree in quicksand?

I see small islands of truth and I long to build bridges to these islands. I want the refugees to form a new nation and world, still Canada, still Earth but better. The ingredients of hope, ideals, knowledge, and communication are the cement for a new foundation.

Stand refugees and be counted, tell the keepers of the quicksand and ice flows to step aside.

Solar Technology

There is a solar collector available that will collect the suns energy faithfully with little or no maintenance for 100 years and during this time it will produce oxygen, purify water, and remove carbon from the atmosphere and lower heating and cooling bills. Some of these collectors can even synthesize food for human consumption.


This collector by the beauty of its design will make the owner feel good and at peace in their community.

When it is no longer capable of collecting the suns energy it will easily give it back in the form of heat and materials useful to man with very little processing.

Interested?

Society at Risk?

I stared directly at the sun through the fog, a huge yellow orb behind a shade of mist. The sun and its power and light were easily diffused by a simple mist.


I was struck that the power of truth can also be diffused by a mist of facts not fully revealed, or a myth posturing as fact. I wonder if we can even tell what the truth is when we can stare straight at it and yet it is hidden or dim?

Critical thinking is the key.

The world is rich with many things useful to the society of man, some of these things can be easily renewed such as annual crops, while others take some time such as trees, and still others such as oil cannot be renewed in any time that would be beneficial to man. As we use things like oil they are gone forever and will not return. The natural world outside of the society of man does not care about the loss of oil, in fact the world outside of man does not care about the pollution from oil. Nature will change as is demanded by the environment it is presented with; man is part of nature and will change or die as the state of the earth changes.

Our society is a construct of men and though men will ultimately be ruled by nature, the society we have built is outside the realm of nature and will be ignored. It is not nature that will suffer in the long run nor will man suffer beyond the collapse of his society. It is only the society built by men that will cease. It is only our society that stands to be saved by changing our use of resources. Polar bears may cease to exist but nature will fill that void with another master predator. Man my cease to exist but nature will also find a suitable replacement.

It is only our society that nature will not rebuild; we are the only keepers of our society and the only ones who benefit from it. If we choose to abuse the earth and use up all it provides then nature will change, but it will not die. Our view of nature and our love of the current set of creatures and plants is part of our society. Nature is always willing to adjust to catastrophe and it will again. Man may survive the adjustment or maybe not?

Our society is what we cherish; it has been built on vision and hard work. Canada and its institutions are sacred to us. We can choose to adjust our society so it may continue to exist or not.

You may or may not vote for a party like the Green Party, I do not always. Whatever you do though should be backed up by knowledge and an understanding of our world as it applies to us, the humans, and then express your needs to your member of Parliament.

What of Japan and Loss?

The enormous tragedy in Japan reverberates around the world. The loss of life is profound. The loss of comfort and safety is devastating. We can only imagine what each morning brings to these people now as the anchors of the life they were leading only a few days ago are gone.


What lessons can we learn from this tragedy? What can we take and use from this senseless devastation? Well the obvious is love. Love our family and friends today, for tomorrow they may be gone. Love not only the individuals but the pattern of the very place you live. For Many of these people who survive in Japan the very root of their sense of place is gone. We must appreciate not only the people close to us but the very social structure we exist within. For some of these citizens in Japan their entire social structure is uprooted and must be rebuilt from scratch. Love, maintain and build your sense of place it is very important.


What of the things we possess? The world of objects considered precious only a few days ago for many and now gone for the affected Japanese people. Further the loss of these things is now trivial compared to the loss of the entire roots of family, friends and community. What of our things, what can we now learn of the transient nature of wealth and possession? Are we not putting way to much energy into the collection of items that will someday seem trivial? Should we turn away from the waste of low quality trivial purchases in favour of those things that might have actual value now and in the future?


Today some in Japan are hungry and thirsty. Some will remain that way for many days, some who are trapped in the rubble or lost at sea will die hungry and thirsty. Will these people at moments remember the food they might have wasted or the water they just poured away? What about us, is there going to come a day when we will sit and remember the wealth of food we now enjoy and remember how much we threw away?

Some people of Japan in the long run will come to miss the great landmarks of their communities that are now gone. We here sometime seem bent on destroying these landmarks. We must come to revere our heritage builds and structures for they are the links to our character and community personality.


There has been a lot said about nuclear power in Canada and it cleanliness. It is being reported that nuclear is a reasonable alternative to coal. Even Greenpeace has come out in support of nuclear power as a lesser evil. After the events in Japan is it really? Are we really prepared to continue risking our lives for electricity? I hear a lot about wind generators giving some people a headache or causing ADHD and stress. Is it not possible that these people were already feeling these things and the windmills are the scapegoats? I think the only answer to coal fired electricity plants is a huge reduction in usage and as much renewable energy as possible. Japan is in deep trouble due to the volatile nature of nuclear power.

We have been pompous enough to believe that our society is strong and unmovable. We sit on our hands without protecting those things we see as important. Japan is a country like us, not a third world backwater without strong infrastructure; they are likely stronger that we are, yet they have been laid low by natural causes, we can be laid low by our own greed and waste. We rationalize our actions because it is easy to do so without yet feeling the consequences. If we do not adjust our actions to a sustainable level, we will lose our resources and crush our society and culture. What happened in Japan overnight will happen to us and our children in time.

The truth is we do not have to give up the world as we know it. We only need to change some of the things we do. We need to set our priorities. We need to come to learn what is important and cherish it. We do not need to tear down our society only tweak it to a sustainable level.


I think we have some time but not much.

Saving ourselves from ourselves is possible, where the people of Japan could not save themselves from the power of this earthquake and Tsunami.

Leaders

Is it up to the government to lead the way or is it up to us? Do we vote stand back and expect fair treatment or do we call the shots and the government writes the laws that make it happen? Corporations and special interest groups know that they must lead and the government must react, we the citizens need to do the same. We can lead by our actions, by taking part in events that matter to the community, by being compassionate. We can lead by our words be vocal about the things that matter. We can lead by supporting groups that are already pushing for a better Canada such as the Council of Canadians.

Canada is a great place to live and we need to be grateful for, and vigilant in protecting this great peaceful Dominion.

You and I are one small voice in the wilderness of Canadian politics but as we shout together we will be heard.

What is your Canada?

Are we free?

As Egypt fights for a free society and there is blood on the streets, I ask what about our free society?

We can take a look down to our south and see the USA struggle with it's freedom. Homeland Security, torture, a lack of full support for New Orleans years after Katrina? Is the USA still free?

What about Canada, we are comfortable and healthy but are we still free? Can we assume that warmth, full bellies and lots of money equals freedom?

If you were a trusted and well known voice could you speak out? Is protest still allowed? What did we see at the G20 in Toronto citizens abused and controlled by our police or lawbreakers being justly dealt with?

Is the citizen still represented by our elected officials and if not then who?

In the future do we want to have to fight for the democracy we already have?

What do You think?

My Rights

• Excitement and fun without harming the natural world humans are a part of.

• A life where media, art, literature and music inspire me

• Clean water

• Clean air

• quality shelter

• natural things in my everyday life

• quality products at good prices, not junk at cheap prices

• to work hard for fair compensation

• good public places to meet and discuss issues and ideas with other citizens

• to know that my future and the future of my children is bright and prosperous not dark and depleted

• low impact technology

• good food produced without stress on the land, animals or farmers involved in the process

• to live in a world where economic growth is only a by-product of a civil and just world

• A world where I know my life is not harming others.

What else? Let me know.