human rights

That Lucky Deep Freeze
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That Lucky Deep Freeze

Hail Brave hearts

The big chill is storming us.  Cold snow has arrived.  From the cozy interior of our homes, we think big.  Winter fun! This is one of the best times of the year!

A frozen river to occupy the afternoon.  Crisp winter weather at -10 is a welcome change to the blistery cold that makes this day possible.  The continued overnight lows below -20 keeps the ice cold and thick enough for our weight.  Caution though.  These rivers have rapids, the water is swift flowing and sometimes is too fast to freeze thoroughly.

Today’s adventure is along a river to a sought after view.  The wide expanse is fully frozen now and our group walk with ease along the covered water.  Ice is welcome now as we snowshoe this path.  An opportunity that will only present itself in the awesome winter.

We pick our way to the bottom of the river bank and walk with relative ease along the snow covered water.  All the while remarking on our good fortune to have this chance to explore an area that is never available to us.  The thickets of willow and stands of evergreen show us locations of ground and islands along this braided stretch of waterway.  Animal tracks appear in the snow and the tiny creatures hide from our view.   We are mainly walking on the gravel flats between the river channels, so we are more safe in our travels.  River travel can be perilous with areas of thin ice throughout.

There’s an interesting formation of hills and valleys all along the river bank.  Walking would be difficult in this area due to undulating land formations of steeply cut hills reaching to the river sides without much river bank to follow.  Our destination is a canyon, 7 km up river which is impossible to reach at other times of the year.  Our good fortune is the deep freeze.

This year our temperatures plunged to an awful -50 overnight during the Christmas holiday season.  Four days of icy blasts with daytime highs of -35 kept us busy with indoor games and indoor holiday cheer.  Now the result is a wintery wonderland with the fun of river travel. which is not always available to us.  Oddly and usually, the good comes with the bad.  Today is overcast and light snow is falling.  This is a surprise to us, since no one had noticed snow in the forecast.  It might be a localized squall.  However, this is good also, since we need the snow to keep us skiing, snowshoeing  and enjoying the fabulous fun of the season.  We also need the snow for our spring melt and moisture.

The snowfall is increasing and visibility is declining.  Open patches of river can be seen ahead.  We have to call off our plans for today, with only 1.5 kms remaining.  Oh well.  Luckily for us -30 is in the forecast for the next 3 days and we will have the good fortune of more deep freeze.  The open areas of this river should freeze again and we plan for another trip to this area next week.

Walking On A Frozen River | Red River | Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada | Walking Virtual Tour in 4K – YouTube

Meanwhile, the ski hill has received more snow.  It’s all good.  A change of scene and a change of game.  Winter has been wonderful to us.

Written by Dr. Louise Hayes

February 24, 2023

Gun Control
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Gun Control

Good Day Brave Heart

It’s seldom a bad day with so much to do.

Exit the warm contentment of the cozy, familiar structure to the bright snow-covered future that awaits you in the outdoors.  It’s a fantasy world of snow laden trees, martins leaping along the way and birds chattering to each other.  What do they say?  Only your own spirits will determine their message.  The sundog shines in a glorious ring around the sun, indicating a weather pattern on its way.  The brightness of this glory world is the psychedelic wonder of yesteryear.  It’s no wonder that they thought that LDS was safe.

Minds bend in the staggering difficulty of the task.    The unfathomable human experiment of the day.

Hunting and trapping, the need to survive, the human is a new predator in this place.  Now the competition for the food supply has increased and new hunters are on the land.  Hunters with families and small mouths to feed.  Tiny tots with growing pains, hunger pangs and shill cries.  Feed us! cloth us! save us! The howls stop when the hut vanishes in the snow and the hunt for animal tracks begin.

This new human brings a new kind of weapon to the wild world of big game hunting.  Gone is the bow and arrow, now it’s the rifle.  Guns.  Guns to protect us, guns to hunt with, guns to be dependent upon.  Guns for survival, guns for livelihood, guns for trade and barter.  Guns.   Only the need for ammunition is a drawback in the use of guns.  Stock the larder with as much provision for the winter as you can, and don’t forget the main one, your gun.

Unlicensed weapons have as many as you want to.  No one is watching.

The stealthy aboriginal makes his way to your shelter.  Maybe you don’t have to hunt today.  Maybe all that you have to do is to trade him a good gun and a round of ammunition for a side of moose, a rack of elk and a hind quarter of deer.  Maybe he will give his own much needed furs, from that rabbit, for a gun.  The indigenous people need the fur more than the fur trader do, but wildlife is plentiful, and trade brings wealth to this family.  Wealth to one, survival to another, a deal is struck.  It seems like a win, win situation.  The stealthy aboriginal so experienced in the ways of this land, looking to improve his own lot in life.  A gun for his hunt, a gun for his prosperity and a gun to protect him from the devil.

The homesteader is saved.  No more psychedelic sunshine.  No more mind-bending winter exposure.  No more lethargic, seemingly drug filled indecisive wanderings.   He is saved.  Saved by the aboriginal bell of necessity.  The gun is more powerful than the bow and arrow.

A shot rings out on the still land.  The skilled new hunter has already conquered.  More will come looking for this kind of trade.  More will seek the European for guns.

Guns for survival, guns to protect us.  Guns.  A new way of life.

The Wild Canadian Year: Canada’s toughest season, with only the hardiest prevailing – Winter – YouTube

Written by Dr. Louise Hayes

 

 

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A Treasure Trove

Hail Brave hearts

This spit of land that you call home is now your sanctuary in the wild.  A place of whatever contentment you can make of it.  Be it a small shack or a home for a larger family, these dwellings in the bush were a paradise to those who had no other place to call home.

The ardent adventurer, tough, skilled, a mind set on survival.  A hunter, a trapper, a woodsman.  Trained in survival skills to surpass the perils of cold, drought, hunger, hardship and the persistent diseases.  The people of the outdoors, of the woods and plains, but newcomers just the same.  Some of whom lived alone in an isolated place, apart from society, willing to live their lives off the land, from hunting, trapping and fishing.   An interesting and unusual difference from the life of bustling Europe, where this kind of existence was unheard of.  The hunter and trapper were a new kind of man, far different from the civilized person who was left behind in the cities.

A call to adventure, the need to explore, the will to gamble all of your possible potential in a game of chance which was for some, too large to play.  A new world.   An unheard-of life.  Was this properly explained?  The fur trade was booming. Furs and the call for furs filled the air, the ears and the brain.  The cry of fortune, the call of fame, the money, the land the freedom.  Now, it’s survival.

A twist of fate and the money’s not there.  A mistake in the route and the land vanishes.  Great brave heart, find your way!  The life of a hunter and trapper is filled with danger.  A life of perilous uncertainty awaits those who are unprepared.   The harsh land in the cold of winter.  A necessary fur coat, fur pants and mitts.  Fur!  The sound of the word is money in your pocket or survival on your back.  The much needed and so much desired, fur!

An exciting world of harsh possibilities.  Friend or foe might find you out there.  As remote and hidden as your selected place might be, strangers still might enter your life. Strangers with a map like yours, looking for refuge as well.  A sanctuary in the storm of life.  A cabin with a fire and a food cache close by.  Comfortable and warm, with a hot coffee on the fire, bread in the oven and a pot of stew.  The mouthwatering delicacies of life on the land.

A pregnancy is a delicate part of life.  The struggling embryo fighting to survive.  The will of this precarious life, demanding attention, demanding an existence, demanding to survive.  Joy!  Joy for the parents, joy for the offspring, a new generation brings hope for a family.  Hope for creation, for community for that blessed gift of life and eternity.

Now, above all else, that decision to embark on this challenge, becomes the dream of procreation, of fulfillment of care.  The dare that was accepted is now in fruition.

Dare!  I dare you to go there!

Now the hands of the clock have turned.  The hour is upon us.  Live or die, oh child of mine.

A Homesteaders Food Cache

HIDE YOUR FOOD. You Better Be Prepared. | Secret Homestead of Survival | MMNP Farm Series S1 E4 – YouTube

Written by Dr Louise Hayes

November 6, 20

 

 

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A Brave and Perilous Journey

Hail Brave hearts

In the era of yesteryear,  the land was young, and people from Europe sought passage to this place, seeking a new freedom, a quest for new life, a new self fulfillment, a new community, a new start in the world.  This was Canada, when it was young, a place for settlers to, call their home.  Strong people, adventurous, industrious, hard working and courageous, they flocked to this land for their rights to a new life.  Free of the constraints of power in Europe, the new colonialists forged ahead, seeking refuge, land, a place to farm and a place to call home.  This is us, in Canada.  Young, welcoming, offering a life to those who were willing to make the journey and to work for a life  like no other.

The wild calls, with it’s howling voice, its watches with it’s thousand eyes, it hears with it’s sharp ears and vanishes into the bush, only to emerge at night and howl some more.

The crack of a branch in the forest.  Who’s out there?  Only a wild cat?  Only a bear?  Who lurks in the bushes and stalks us?  In the quiet of the forest, when the wind rushes through the trees, the clamour of restless birds, announce the presence of the stranger.  In the wild of the waterways, the rushing water tumbles over rapids and waterfalls.  Dangerous rivers, dangerous portages, dangerous stormy lakes, all lead to the wealth of a land of promise.  The new land of plenty, if you dare to seek it.  Follow the treasure map to the X that marks the place.  Here you will find what you seek, if you survive the perilous journey to reach it.

How long will this journey take depends on you.  It depends on your skills, your health, your aptitudes, fortitude and negotiation., or perhaps, stealth and quiet.  It’s a dangerous game, but for the many who sought this refuge in the wild, the high stakes must have been worth effort.  The right to own land, to have a freedom.

1670s in Canada – Wikipedia

The journey across the Atlantic Ocean is just the beginning.  A 5403 kilometer start to an uncertain finish in old Quebec City.  Such a long and tiresome journey for the the hopeful stalwarts of the day.   Alas, this is not the X on this map.  Old Quebec is not the treasure for this group of immigrants, longing for a fresh new start in a wild and uncompromising land.  This refuge in the storm is not for them.  This fabulous  colony, so fortuitous, the weary, grateful travellers can cast their eyes on the potential that awaits them.  A city!  It’s possible.  It’s possible to tame this land.  It’s possible to farm here, and to enjoy the benefits of a tenuous freedom.

There are freedoms from some things, but the land and it’s inhabitants are still in charge.  Push on, oh brave hearts, push on.  Seek your fortune.  Find the treasure.  It’s promised to you, if you survive.  So brave hearts, if you should choose to accept this challenge, your good fortune and perhaps fame awaits you.  Good luck.

written by Dr Louise Hayes

April 11, 2022

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Those Divine Weeds

Hail Brave hearts

Still exploring, still living that awesome adventure, still looking forward to the next great day.  Still working those muscles, still struggling with pain.  Not so!  Your diet could save you.

On and on the canoe is paddled, on and on, those muscles work.  Through rapids, portages, endless days on the water, trap the fur, bring it home, make a fortune for that clever, illustrious businessman.  Be the vehicle to their desires.  Work your body, your mind, your spirit to the bone.  Leave your loved ones, travel with courage, bring home that cherished dime.

The difficult life of the courier de bois, the homesteaders that followed them and the settling of Canada.  The price that was paid in life and livelihood, as the courageous Canadians make their way into the great wild.  Survive you must.

The land takes it’s toil and exhausts us.  The strain and stress of this life is full of great challenges.  There are dreams of gold but hardship is plenty.  Tell us your secrets.  How did you survive?

In the great wild, there is plenty, if you know what to look for.  There was game to catch, fish in the streams, fruit, berries and edible plants along the way.  Some of this is medicinal and works to cure that obvious.  Vitamin C for scurvy, vitamin A for your eyes.  The long days of sunshine gleaming off the water, the eyesore from reflections from the water without sunglasses, the sunburn, the pain of it.

Somewhere in the wilds of Canada is medicine for all of this.  Salves, ointments, tinctures, treatments for cuts, bruises, scrapes and burns.  Somewhere there are treatments for pain, vision loss, inflamed joints, sore muscles, pulls and sprains.  Somewhere there is treatment for disease and mental impairment.  Our healing is abundant and our forefathers prove it.  Somewhere in the great wild nutrition is abundant and the natural world gives us relief from aches and pain, from disease and keeps us well.  Somewhere in the wild, there is food that will save us, if you know what to look for.

 

Lambs Quarters:

Why was Lamb’s quarters used as an herbal remedy?
The plant was used traditionally as an herbal remedy for eczema, rheumatic pains, gout, colic, insect stings and bites. Also a decoction made from the herb was used to treat tooth decay. The sap extracted from the plant stems was used to reduce freckles and treat sunburns.

Lamb’s Quarters Uses in Cooking and Benefits as a …

http://www.herbal-supplement-resource.com/lambs-quarters-he…
See all results for this question
Why is it important to eat lambsquarter leaves?
Lambsquarter is an important source of food that can be considered a key staple, while at the same time it is also an extremely valuable medicine. When the leaves are chewed into a green paste and applied to the body, it makes a great poultice for insect bites, minor scrapes, injuries, inflammation, and sunburn.
  • https://www.joyfulbelly.com/Ayurveda/ingredient/Lambs-Quarters/267

    Lamb’s quarters contains more protein, calcium, and vitamins B1 and B2 than cabbage or spinach, making it a wild edible fit for Pop-Eye, our favorite green vegetable hero. It is also rich in iron, phosphorus, and vitamins B1, B2, C, and A. Lamb’s Quarters warms your mouth, is slightly salty, sour, and mildly spicy.

  • Lambs Quarter – Wild & Edible www.thegypsythread.org

    https://www.thegypsythread.org/lambs-quarter-wild-edible

    2021-07-27 · Internal uses range from treating diarrhea, relieving stomach aches, and for scurvy (due to the high Vitamin C content.) Lamb’s quarter tea is also known for decreasing inflammation and increasing circulation. Lamb’s quarter poultices are said to relieve itching, swelling, and relieve burn pain.

    Yarrow

    In short, Yarrow has the following medicinal uses:

    • wound treatment
    • stops bleeding
    • digestive herb
    • diuretic
    • anti-inflammatory
    • anti-spasmodic
    • anti-catarrhal (removes excess mucous from the body)
    • diaphoretic (reduces fever)
    • lowers blood pressure
    • stimulates blood flow in the pelvic area (especially the uterus)
    • antimicrobial
    • used for hemorrhage
    • used for treatment in pneumonia
    • used for treatment in rheumatic pain

    Purple Aster

    • Principally used in the cure of rheumatism in the form of infusion or tincture; recommended, however, in hysteria, chorea, epilepsy, spasms, irregular menstruation, etc., internally; and used both externally and internally in many cutaneous diseases, the eruption occasioned by the poison rhus, and in the bites of venomous snakes.

      Wild Asters medicinal uses | V I Farms

      Are there any medicinal uses for wild asters?
      Wild Asters medicinal uses. The warm infusion may be used freely in colds, rheumatism, nervous debility, headache, pains in the stomach, dizziness, and menstrual irregularities. This, together with A. cordifolius, has been compared in value with valerian. Aster aestivus …is recommended as an antispasmodic and alterative.

    •  Aster aestivus…is recommended as an antispasmodic and alterative. Principally used in the cure of rheumatism in the form of infusion or tincture; recommended, however, in hysteria, chorea, epilepsy, spasms, irregular menstruation, etc., internally; and used both externally and internally in many cutaneous diseases, the eruption occasioned by the poison rhus, and in the bites of venomous snakes

    • Aster Plant Uses – Learn About The Edibility Of Aster Flowers

      https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/asters/edibility…

      2020-08-30 · The flowers and leaves can be eaten fresh or dried when eating aster plants. The Native American people harvested wild aster for a multitude of uses. The roots of the plant were used in soups and young leaves were cooked lightly and used as greens.

       

    • Daisies

    The Medicinal Herb Daisy The herb may be used for loss of appetite as it has stimulating effect on the digestion system and it has been used as a treatment for many ailments of the digestive tract, such as gastritis, diarrhea, liver and gallbladder complaints and mild constipation.

    Wild daisy is a plant. The parts that grow above the ground are used to make medicinal tea. People take wild daisy tea for coughs, bronchitis, disorders of the liver and kidneys, and swelling ( inflammation ). They also use it as a drying agent (astringent) and as a ” blood purifier.”

    The young flower heads or buds can be added to salads, soups or sandwiches; or the flower heads used to decorate salad dishes. The leaves can be eaten raw despite their bitter aftertaste, but are better mixed in salads or cooked and might be used as a potherb. The buds can be preserved in vinegar and used in cooking as a substitute for capers.

    Nutritional profile

    It is both an anti-inflammatory herb and a vulnerary (improves circulation) herb. Drink daisy tea for the plant’s health-giving and restorative properties. A modern study of wild edibles used during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992–95) showed that daisies contain 34 mg of vitamin C per 100 g.

    Common Thistle

    The roots have been used as a poultice and a decoction of the plant used as a poultice on sore jaws. A hot infusion of the whole plant has been used as a herbal steam for treating rheumatic joints. A decoction of the whole plant has been used both internally and externally to treat bleeding piles.

    Save yourself, with the delicious, nutritious weeds of the wild!  Our great ancestors had nothing else to eat.  The knowledge  of the food value and medicinal value of these weeds offered to us by the aboriginal people of Canada, saved us then and could help us now.  Eat, drink and be well.

    written by Dr. Louise Hayes

    August 22, 2021

     

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Medicine the Marvelous

Hail Brave Hearts

To the magnificent almighty man, whose mind and aptitude cures us in times of dire despair.  Heal us, oh masters of medicine, of cures, of health.  Heal us of a disease so rampant it’s world wide.

UNESCO abounds in Earthly wonder, either planetary marvels or the brilliance of human education.  Technology and engineering bring us great feats of structure worthy of awesome praise.  Their skills and the magnificent of creative works last for eons on the planet.  These marvels tell of the might of the mind of human existence throughout history.  Fabulous human with magnificent monuments to exult the glory of Gods and kings.  Masters of architecture and engineering to carve palaces, roads and habitations from rock and to erect statues and buildings to last forever.  Praises to the minds of mathematicians and builders who construct fantastic premises and fortresses, many of which are impossible to replicate today.  Fabulous human, who carves a history of wonder and splendor into the fabric of the Earth.

These are the exalted ones, the famed.  Their lives lived for the everlasting brilliance of their age.  People who ensured that their societies would live forever in the miraculous wonder of their feats of engineering.  People who devoted their existence to art, governance, construction, even agriculture, are all praised for their contribution to the legacy of brilliant mankind on this earth. These are the masterminds of creative wonder, who are remembered forever.

But now, in our times of trouble, we look into the minds of the healers, for a solution to our despair.  In our time of dire need, when plagues erase communities, when viruses raise the death toll to the thousands, when disease runs rampant throughout society, now we look to medicine to be the praised almighty ones who have the cure.

 

“Importance of immunization

Immunization is one of the most important public health measures used to protect the health of Albertans. It is one of the most successful and cost-effective public health interventions.

Immunization helps your body to build immunity, or resistance, against certain diseases before you are exposed to those diseases. Vaccines are used for immunization.

Vaccines are very important to public health and their use has significantly contributed to the prevention and control of infectious diseases.”

 

Virus and flu needs to be controlled.  Our good fortune lies in the persistence to find a cure. Vaccines are commonplace, to resolve the spread of deadly disease.  Be safe, be healthy, take the vaccine.  Common childhood illnesses vanish with the presence of a dosage of a vaccine which prevents the dangerous disease form infecting the body.  A small prick of a needle, for a lifetime of cure.  Thousands of hours of research for this small dose of wellness, that will save you for the rest of your life.  Praises to the healers who are so overlooked, as we admire the temples of the great, the  magnificent marvels of construction to feast our eyes upon.

At earthly levels we beg to stop the pain, the ravages of disease, the poverty that overwhelms us as our bodies cripple, and our minds depart.  When we are well and healthy, medicine vanishes to nutrition, proper diet, the food supply, exercise and general health and well being.  The focus is on being well, being in charge of your life, your vitality, your success.

When we are ill, the focus is on healing.  Now all around us, is the potential for disaster.  A disease so deadly it’s called a pandemic.  Our natural defenses may not be enough.  The transmission levels are high, the death toll rises, a vaccine is needed, demanded, called for.  A year in the making and still so slowly, the vaccine is being dolled out carefully.  But it’s there.  Finally the dose of cure, the medicinal marvel to overcome your weaknesses is here.  At last, at long last, we will be saved.

https://covid-19.ontario.ca/covid-19-vaccines-ontario

Written by Dr. Louise Hayes

January 26, 2021

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Do Well for Yourself

Hail Brave Hearts

Serenity and calm, peace and quiet.  Spend your life indoors.  The virus is still raging, but slowly it’s being controlled.  Our yearnings for  social interaction and social gatherings is high.  Our yearnings for affection and partying, for team playing and dinner parties is strong.  When will we live again?  The new normal is quiet, as we seek to bring joy into our lives through the small bubble of our existence.  Our social circle is small to non existent.

The achievements of this quiet, isolated existence varies for many.  New avenues for learning present themselves online as we enjoy more opportunities for online education. and courses to take.   Virtual tours of far away places, concerts to enjoy, athletic challenges to participate in.  Reinvent yourselves in a time of crisis, where the silence could be golden.  If the daily routine involves self motivation towards self improvement, then perhaps this is a time of reflection and self assessment.  From the cocoon to the butterfly so to speak.

We are nearly a year into this lockdown crisis state with hopes that it will have been a transformational period for most of us.  Although 2020 has been a difficult year, the potential for change in oneself could present itself in a more positive way.  Yes, it is true that our social lives change and yes it is true, that international travel is restricted.  Yes, it is true that we can’t travel to far off lands and sometimes we can’t even cross provincial borders, but is this a hardship?  How much do we value our own lands and our own backyards?  It is with great pleasure that Canada presents itself to the world, so its should be, for us to discover ourselves.  Activity abounds, even it if’s online.  A new way of living has forced itself upon us.  A new way to live and hopefully to enjoy life.

As difficult as 2020 has been, it’s provided an unusual opportunity.   The opportunity of time for many of us.  Time that would have been utilized in habitual routine, has been reinvested into other areas.  For some, intellectual interests, for others, athletic pursuits.  Time is a commodity to be spent as wisely as possible.  Time is a gift that passes whether we utilize it properly or not.  Time is a constant.  We will grow old no matter how we spend our time.  We will see years pass, whether they are fulfilled or not.  Dreams will be envisioned, dreams will be fulfilled or dreams will die.  They say, “Only time will tell.”  Put your dreams into motion, work hard on this goal.  Be flexible.    There is time to dream and a time to dare.  2020 seemed to be that kind of year.  A year of self reflection, where only you and your own mind could solve your daily issues.  You and you alone with all of this time to spend.

Dreams: Causes, types, meaning, what they are, and more (medicalnewstoday.com)

Spend the endless hours of your day.  Spend it wisely, oh great ones.  The pandemic could still be a way to success, if all of this time is put to good use and spent on a valued pursuit.  The pandemic could be an unusual success, your home, a retreat.  This time could be your salvation.  Learn to know yourself.  This crisis will pass.  May you emerge from your own cocoon  as a butterfly.

Written by Dr. Louise Hayes

January 23, 2021

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Happy Birthday to Us

Good Day Brave hearts

A Happy Canada Day to you.

Today we celebrate the birthday of this great country. A village from the forest. A dream of national identity. A work of unity of life and lifestyle in a land so vast and diverse. The land, the people, the projects, all individually styled for an outcome of diversity and praises for all of it. The great land with its majestic mountains, it’s sweeping prairie, it’s thousands of lakes, it’s forests, it’s tundra, it’s landscapes so unique and awesome. The great land, filled with great people, great places, great adventure and great belonging.

Fill your cup, with the endless opportunity of Canada! The opportunity for exploration is immense, with so much enjoy. We are the second largest country in the world and have so much to see and to discover. The valuable history of sharing and caring for each other. The widespread plains of homesteaders striving to build a country from sea to shining sea. The great north, so wild and free.

This is our Canada. A vast and brilliant home to us. A place of nurturing our spirits, of learning, of wisdom. This is the country that we made ourselves, from our skills, our intelligence, our passions, and our sense of community. We built this. We chose this. We collectively decided that this is the Canada that we want, that we love and that is our home. We made this place special to us, ourselves.

This fabulous world of the wilderness and the great wild, is home for us. We save it because we adore it. It speaks to us, to adventure, to explore, to challenge ourselves to be smart, educated, strong and daring. This great land calls us to retain ancestral roots which tie us to a past time of athletic adventure, community and ingenuity. It calls us to the present, of eco tourism, the food supply, the great cities. It calls us to our future, to retain it all, to be proud, to learn from each other and to share our knowledge with each other. It calls us. Each and every Canadian, to do our duty of care for this great nation. This great country that we call our home.

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

It is with great pleasure that we celebrate this birthday. 133 years of a community of people spread out over a vast countryside of unique places to live in and to visit. The differences in cultures, in heritage, in ties that bind us. We are not all the same, but we are. We are all different, but we are one. We are all diverse, but we are the same. This is how we choose to be. Individual, healthy, strong, with a courage to be culturally diverse and still be united. To live together in multicultural unity. This is our goal and one of our freedoms. Respect for each other and for the intellect that brings us peace and opportunity under a flag that flies so freely.

Happy Birthday Canada. May our dreams remain alive. May our hopes be fulfilled. May our way of life survive us. May we be filled with the glory of this great nation. Happy Birthday, Canada. May you live forever!

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

Canada Day, 2020

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Are We Cursed?

Hail Brave hearts

It’s quiet.  The days are long and the sounds are different.  Less traffic, less chatter, fewer people.  The night is quiet.  No street noise late at night.  More rest and relaxation, more time for self reflection and self interest.  An unusual change in reality.  The business of our lives has vanished, to be replaced with long days of self isolation and social distancing.  Communication skills and life skills have changed.  We vanish into the isolation of family.

Business winds down and phone lines are still.  The rush of commercialism has changed from endless shopping to buying masks.  Social skills have become social distancing.  The latest craze is hand sanitizer. We will learn to be clean, cleaner than we’ve ever been, by simply washing our hands.  Don’t touch your face. Wear a mask.

This new dilemma is an outstanding challenge of perseverance.  We win this.

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

We win this for ourselves and for the lifestyles that we covet.  We win this for our families whose affection we cherish.  We win this, as if we are fighting a war.  It’s a virus, but it’s a substantial foe.  An odd set of circumstances bring us to this awful place, our lust to see new worlds.  The insatiable curiosity of other lands, other peoples, other worlds to travel to.  A holiday, a honeymoon, a business trip, a cultural exchange, all tourism, and the fine mechanism of money.

Bring me riches, bring me gold, bring me markets, bring me wealth.  Be it imperialistic plunder, or grass roots peasantry, bring me humans by the score.  The tourist dollars go round and round, round and round, round and round, all through the town.

An unprecedented disaster occurs which brings a dreadful halt to our wealth building module.  No tourists, no money.  No money, no gain.  So much of our time and energy has been absorbed in tourism, that now, the problem arises, how do we return the wheels of fortune?  What is our plan B?  With this economic strategy falling, what brilliance will replace it?  What dollars and sense will catapult us to economic recovery?

Slowly we return to the normal world of prosperity.  Build it, oh financial geniuses, build it with magic and wizardry.   Paint the pallet black, so that the recovery is complete, oh you awesome doctors of mathematics.

Meanwhile, what we can enjoy from this pandemic, since it befalls us, is the quiet solitude of our new found wealth.  Time.  Time to be home with recipes to try, with exercise class, online courses, email, documentaries, online business, social media. Time to indulge in a hobby, a new lifestyle, a project.  Time to change and to be new.  Time to rejuvenate and to emerge from the cocoon  as a butterfly.

The recovery strategy is markets, be it foreign or domestic, but business has always been the money wheel.  There are always other strategies.  The strategy of self help and learning, of exploration within Canada, of athletics and education.  A different wealth is offered.  A wealth of time, of restriction, of poverty.  The wealth that demands that people stay home, enjoy their own place, discover their own good fortune of the new, the unusual, the uniqueness of their own land.  This is a new age of discovery, of being the tourist in your own homeland.  This is the restriction of no money, when we can’t afford international travel.  Save us!  Save us from the devil that calls this a sin.  Save us from the mind that abhors it.  The self indulgent traveler who knows their own homeland, like the maps, the parks, the novels that are written for it.  Sing to us, oh great traveler, who recognizes those place names  and can check them off their bucket list.  The growing names of unknown places, waiting for a visit.

Joy to us, for the pleasure of this compromise.  No international travel, stay home and enjoy your place.   Joy to us, for this restriction of our poverty.  It is with great pride, that we present to ourselves, our own great nation.

Our travels become close at hand, perhaps only within the province.  Lucky are we, for this gigantic misfortune.  We have it to ourselves.  All of this beauty and magnificence, that we show off to the world, is just for us right now.

It’s for us, you awesome human.  This oasis in the universe is for us.

Written by Dr. Louise Hayes

June 7, 2020

 

 

 

by

Missionaries

 

Hail Brave Hearts

This is your duty, this is your strength, this is your chosen life, the destiny of your path, the choice that you made.  Follow it with courage and determination.  Follow it with all of your heart, with your soul, with your passion, your intellect and your being.  Not all paths are easy, not all times will be grand, not all  will understand and not all will help, but persevere regardless.  Your story must be told.  Told by you.

Bravely travel into the unknown, seek the refuge of the place, contact the people and share their lives.  This mission has been accomplished before and will continue.

Venture into the lives of early Canada, the history of this great land.  A sharing of cultures, of exchange, of markets, of language and peace.  This is the fortitude of the people, the strength of their character, the bond that ties.  A familiarity must be established, with honest communication and negotiation.   These are the people, this is their land, their customs and their beliefs.  A common bond must be found.

Now is the time of the Jesuit.  Holy fathers of the faith, looking to convert the aboriginal people to follow the path of righteous and salvation.  Hail almighty ones.  It is your duty to persevere during these difficult times.  Sometimes it’s easy, but frequently the work is difficult and ardurous.  Not all of the people have an interest in these fine words.  Not everyone views the world from this perspective and not everyone will listen.  Of the thousands of people to preach to, the message is received slowly.  One by one, over many years, the aboriginals start to convert.  The faith must be accepted.  People must understand each other and the world must be saved.  Peace among us, oh fine nation.  Peace among us, to the glory of God.

But it is with great joy that we travel these unknown, rugged and fabulously beautiful lands.  It is with great joy that we meet these curious and eager people.  It is with great joy that we pursue our mission to convert these people to Christianity and to help them to serve the Lord.  The Jesuits are here as a dedicated group of missionaries, intent on fulfilling the directions of their education.  These are the soldiers of God, intent on bringing the scripture to the aboriginal people of Canada.  All united in the same faith, all members of the same church.  It is with great joy that they fulfill their mission, their aptitude and their duty.  It is with one call that they come forward, with the demand from their leader, that all peoples come to Christ.

Difficulties are met with gladness, for the challenge of the body is usurped by the spirit within. The spiritual awakening of the joy of bringing the faith to a people who are unknown to the world, but known by God. Come to the parish, learn and worship. The Call to the worlds peoples to unite! Unite as brothers and sisters of the faith. Be Christians! Make Jesus your Lord. Unite in the joy of the love of Jesus. Join us, we prey! Join us in gladness and in praises. Jesus went to the cross for you and rises again. Believe in the scripture and have faith. Be saved by the divine. Pray and be saved. Jesus is Lord.

The endless work to meet people, connect, converse and to find a common bond. The mission to bring the people under one church, with only one God

Be saved, all you mighty ones. Join together, worship together and be saved.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

April 12, 2020