Jasper National Park

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Run For It

Hail Brave Hearts

It’s fire season.

Smoke is in the air, fire is advancing igniting the wilderness with it’s hot, choking blaze.  The unreal madness is occurring.  Run!  Run! Run for your lives!  All of you, be it human or wild, domestic or livestock, run for it, before you perish.

The wilderness has exploded into flames.  Temperatures steadily at plus 30 degrees for days, have filled our summer with awesome hiking in spectacular terrain,  soothing dips in pristine lakes along trails less travelled, delectable eats and treats in a quaint town where chefs compete for the most tasteful, gourmet menus.  The smug thrill of a privilege of spending so much time, life and living in an iconic UNESCO site.  Now to perish under the blaze of a sickening fireball, tossing itself around, burning here and there, destroying the spectacular national park and the homes of so many of us, that cherish the ground we walk on.

Here is God, in this immensely magnificent place.  A place of unrivalled beauty.  A place where wilderness, meets town, for about a kilometer, then forest and mountain consumes the landscape again.  The townsite of Jasper is just a small scratch in the surface of a national park, with roaring rivers, thundering waterfalls, iconic peaks and historic places.  The names of old voyageurs, fur traders and adventurers, mountain climbers and community builders, fill books, archives, photo collections and our history.  Not just the history of this place, but the history of building a great nation, from woodlands, to village, from creeks to waterways.   Heritage rivers, scenic drives, national railways.  The heart of explorers for over a hundred years, beats in the trees, the paths we walk on, the lakes we throng to in summer and winter and the river, the heritage river, a lifeline of adventure, connectivity and trade.

Now we escape, from the land that we love, to another situation of desperation and need.  Gone are the community dinners, the discounts, the hugs on the street.  We hug each other in different locations now, not just as a greeting, but now in a desperation.  You’re still with me.  We’re still alive.  The community is gone, but the community of nurture and care still holds us, feeds us, clothes us and keeps us.  Displaced persons that we are, some of us homeless, all of us ousted,  looking for a generous, compassionate, kind community to accept us.

Lavishly, we are welcomed in Valemount, a mountain community close at hand in a neighbouring province, British Columbia.  Although the struggles of wildfire dominate this land as well, we know these people.  They are our neighbours, our workforce, our retirees, our family and our friends.  The partying starts.  Relief is close at hand.  Comfort and congeniality supports us.  We are saved.  Saved by the common sense of a small, quiet community much like ourselves, with so much in common with us, that we just fit.  We fit in with the hospitality, the adventure, the sport.  We fit in with the character of the people.  They are like us, and we are grateful for their companionship and beauty, for a place to stay, a meal to eat and a crowd for conversation with.  We survive as evacuees in warm houses, hot meals and kind friendships.  Hugs.

Jasper wildfire: Examining the damage and promises to rebuild (youtube.com)

On the other side of the boarder, in Alberta, the evacuees fare just as well.

As heart wrenching and dreadful as our world has become, we are saved.  Saved by kind, supportive communities, saved by government initiates, saved by disaster relief.

Now we wait in anticipation of the return to our home.  Be it standing, or destroyed, it’s still our home.  As a community, we rebuild.

We thank God that we’re alive and praise the community that we once had, the land that we once occupied, the people who we live with.  As far flung as we are, in different places and spaces in the country now, we are still a community.  A strong people, who will build again.

written by Dr.  Louise Hayes

August 5, 2024

Settlers in the West
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Settlers in the West

Hail Bravehearts

Come out of your houses, come out to play, search for your destiny, fill it this way.  Joy for our lives, filled with our passions, educate yourself in many ways, don’t settle for small rations. Here in the mountains was a new way of life, carved from the environment, full of love  and strife.  Back in the day, when the nation was growing, came a homesteading family with a history, worth knowing.  Migrate to the mountains, fill up this land, settle this area, prosperity is at hand.  Work and strive, build your home, grow where the deer and the caribou roam.  Mighty are we,we own this land, wrought from the skills and tools of our hands.  Building a house and shed for our needs, makes us the Moberly’s and we are Metis.

Look at this beauty, this fabulous land, nature has given us her golden hand.  Flowers and scenery, game galore, all right outside our open front door.  A fabulous view, so much desired, we planned to pass this along to our descendants to admire.  In the heart of Jasper, a national park, lies the trail to our cabin, in a meadow that’s marked.  Come to our land, follow the trail, to a Canadian adventure in homesteading tale.  Brilliant flowers now nod their heads,where a family with children once softly tread.

Ancient are we, in a land we admire, full of perils and hardship and landscape that’s dire.  Mountains and crevices, rock falls and forest, fill our lives with the wild lands of birds chorus.  Settle these lands, farming, hunting and fishing, trading with explores is how we make our living. Earning our right to clear the land, is how we survived and thrived with our band.  A family are we, brothers and wives, making a living with strong family ties.

http://www.mountainmetis.com/pages/henry_john_moberly.html

The west was being opened with adventure and more as the trading posts flourished throughout our world.  Settle the nation, fill your hearts, with the bountiful prosperity that  trading starts.  A nation rich, with people so smart, that they discovered routes to join us together, not keep us apart.  From coast to coast a path was laid, and along the way, some homesteaders stayed.  Explore this world, discover this land, a nation is forming with peace at hand.

Markets and trade, influence our lives, building a homestead where families can thrive.  Open these routes, help find the path, the adventure is growing, it will stay and it lasts.  The west is fought for, it belongs to us, brilliant and daring, the exploration is a must.  Join the coasts, find a way, for this land to become a nation one day.

A place in history, is only a name, but cabins in the wilderness, is this families fame.  Interesting and ancient, when all went well, meeting travelers and explorers, is the story they tell.  Building connections, building ties, enter the landscape where this family once thrived.

Now a national park, intensely protected,whose worth to the world was UNESO`s projection. Visit us here in this world famous place, the mountains and wilderness of Canada`s grace.

Jasper National Park.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

July 13, 2017

The Great White Mountains
by

The Great White Mountains

Hail Bravehearts

It is with great pleasure that this winter is warm and snowy, and that it brings us sport.  Fabulous pleasure, a great day for a ski.  Downhill skiing is the easiest sport in the world.

The balmy mountain weather hovers above -10.  A warm, sunny February, brings us out of our snug homes, to smile and greet yet another sunny day.  Stay home this winter, no need to travel south.  As the snow birds fly away each year, to sunny summer climates, in the warm tropics, those hearty winter lovers, stay home, for the delightful winters time.  Peace to us all.  This is a great one.

The drive to find snow, this year, has made this an easy, more carefree year.  The pussy willows are out, a sapling in a warm spot has started to bud,  the snow melts on the sidewalks, energy bills plummet.  Global warming is a nuisance. It brings too much cold in the East and fabulous, warm, sunny skies in the West.

A day on the slopes, warm enough to stay out all day!  Our weekly snowshoe day has taken us on excursions to find that soft fluffy snow. We lather on sunscreen and snowshoe in our shirts.  Too warm for winter coats.  The birds sing to us as we pass and flocks gather in the trees.

It’s beautiful and warm and a day on the ski hill is just so easy.  No frostbite, no frozen cheeks, no frost beards, or icicle eyelashes.  No chalet skiing, from days too cold to stay outside.  No complaints of frozen toes and frozen fingers, too long in food lines and too long drinking hot chocolate.  The warm winter weather gives us a boost of excitement. We can play outside in the snow!

I push off from my spot at the top of the mountain and fly down my usual terrain.  Easy, easy, it’s just so exhilarating. After thirty years of this, skiing is easier than walking.  The mountain is so familiar, I know these runs well. Perfectly groomed, all the holes have been patched and we compliment the groomers on yet another year of snow moving, that makes the mountain more enjoyable and less dangerous.  No slipping over rocks and crashing down the hill.  No entanglements with saplings as they catch your skis.  No snow monsters or snow snakes, tripping you on your way.  No, this is just perfect.  It’s a perfect day for a ski.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilRI4zKoBPo  extreme skiing

Global warming has it’s drawbacks, we gloat to one another, as the snow is starting to fall.  Our winter wonderland of fluffy white stuff is now a drive away.  Smiles and nods as the weather is co-operative.  The roads are open. Tourists flock to us and fill our town.  Trapped.

I know that the joy of today, is the doom of tomorrow, as our glaciers are slipping away.  As yet another natural wonder crashes off the mountain, and our water supply is threatened. That harsh reality will rear it’s head again this summer.  But for now, push off that mountain and glide your way along those dreamy snow covered slopes.  Fill your mind with winter.  Winter fun and winter play and how much we still adore it.

Written by Dr. Louise Hayes

March 2, 2016