Those Snow Bridges

Those Snow Bridges

Good Day Bravehearts

The world is welcoming you to this brave new day. A blanket of snow lies covering the earth and the sounds of silence are echoing in our ears. Silence, quiet, peace. The calm of the snow in the dead of winter, where all of the world lies in peaceful dreaming.
Hello! It’s playtime now!
The sidewalks are shoveled. The snow is piled high in deep drifts. The snow plows have worked steadily to clear the roads and traffic is still at a minimum. This awesome day is upon us. Grab your skis before it’s gone, this winter won’t last forever!
The gently falling snow, swirls in large flakes and keeps us shoveling. Up on the ski hill the flat light, keeps us cautious. Picking our way down the familiar runs, twisting and turning and flying like birds. The fabulous rush of the ease of this sport, downhill skiing is just plain fun. Such a nice day and there’s no one around but us.
The joy of a remote place, like a wilderness setting in Canada, is that we have all of the fun.
The rushing, open waters greeted us as we went snowshoeing last week. Snow bridges over open rivers, opening up caverns of cold, icy holes for us to fall into. Down we went, one by one, into the drink. Struggling now to pull ourselves out as our patient companions watch helplessly by. Encouraging words, laughter and abuse, battered and bruised, but onward and onward we brave stalwarts persisted. Up the creek, up the creek, to nowhere. It’s just another afternoon outing into the great outdoors! A chance that we can’t miss, for a warm spell is coming and we’ll loose all of this precious snow.
So although the creek is not at it’s frozen best, we go anyway. The warm winter has left us no, choice. It is wintertime and winter fun is here and we’re going out to play.
The groundhog saw his shadow, of course, he always does. Another bout of stormy weather, more snow, more skiing, more snowballs, snowmen and angels. More shoveling and icy drives, treacherous really, but we’re happy today, in our warm cozy homes. Happy for the winter, the snow and the sports.
Global warming is a curse to us. The warming trends are comfortable. Warm winter full of snow, The icy chill is abating and we can easily go out to play for hours without the threat of frostbite, to curb our healthy habits. The windchill that plunges us into the deep freeze is passing and with it the dangers of freezing skin. This is a good thing, but there are other results. Open water that should be frozen, freeze and thaw, freeze and thaw, pushing the frost further into the ground. This creates conditions of uncertainty with some of our favorite past times. Avalanche hazards, melting snow, thin ice, caution, beware.
This is the dead of winter, when the cold is at it’s chilliest, but those rivers aren’t frozen yet. Beware!
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
February 8, 2015

Those Grey Days

Those Grey Days

Good Day Bravehearts.

Welcome to this bleak, wintry, grey day.
Get out your snow shovels and start working. It’s the crack of dawn at 8 am and the weather is socked in for the long haul. Pull on your boots, your warm mittens, coat and hat and with shovel in hand,start your day off right,with a little vigorous exercise.
The cool wind blows damp flakes into your face. Your hair and eyelashes freeze. Your damp breath creates a fog around you and the shovel slides a few inches in the ever accumulating snow.
Paradise! This is what winter is all about.
While we lay dreaming in our snug, warm beds, the soft, wintry white stuff was falling gently outside. Swirling flakes of powder to hide the frozen ground. A winter wonderland of snow covered land to entice us outside to play. The shoveling continues and the path to the road is nearly complete. We’ll be doing this a few times today, as our spirits start to soar, with the possibilities that this climate presents. It will have to stop snowing soon and then we go out to play.
For us, the fabulous cold, is not a harsh, dreadful climate, but rather a change of life. A new joy of living. A chance for a new adventure. The snow presents a new challenge in sport and fun. For us, this is awesome. It’s not all that cold, and snow is fun. Joy! for what this season brings. Strap on your skates, your skis or snow shoes, pull on you boots and build a snowman, drag your sleigh or toboggan to the hill, pile up your defenses for a snow ball fight and smile. The cold, frosty, white north, is a superb play land. When this snowfall lets up, we’ll be raring to go, for we pride ourselves in the skills of these sports. What was once survival, is now a calling. Come on out of your houses and enjoy this day!
The raw elements burn our cheeks and the fresh, crisp, cold enhances our complexions. Rosy cheeks and rosy glow. Beneath layers of insulating fabric, our bodies remain warm against the chill and the adventure of the day starts to begin.
Now, as the flakes are piling up again and the seemingly endless task of digging ourselves out of the house resumes, the exercise bike and barbells lay in wait, as our strengthening task becomes the monotonous shovel, shovel. Will it end? Not until spring. And thankfully, spring is a way off, months of endless winter play away.
The barbells and weight rooms lay in wait for us as we gladly clear our path to the road. The temperature is a balmy -12. Warm enough to be outside for hours.
Now is the season for those much desired national past times. We put on our hats and coats with pleasure and slip into the peacetime of winter escapes, winter sport and winter fun.
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
January 7, 2015

Winter Play

Winter Play

Good day Bravehearts!

We rise to a day of fresh falling snow. The wonder of our lives changes with this new season of fabulous fun and adventurous winter. A fine day of fresh tracks at the skihill, of snowshoes and ice skates and warm winter snuggly clothes. Winter is an awesome time of hot chocolate by the fire, of tobogganing, sledding, of building snowmen, of snow shoveling, snow ball fights, ice hockey and winter play.
Gone are the grey days of late, cold fall weather, the end of the mating season and the end of the harvest. The last of this years produce is put down and the seasons canning and storage are complete. Now the snow is falling and winter fun is here!

Rise, oh bravehearts to a glorious day of warm winter fun. Zero is a fabulous temperature, even minus 1. The warm, winter weather of freshly falling snow and the quiet of the snowfall, the crunch of our footsteps on the sidewalk, the clean, white blanket and the fresh, clean air. Gone is the brown of late autumn and the trees curl up for a long winters sleep. The grass is covered with clean, protective snow and the vegetation lies in slumber, beneath it’s warm white canopy. Rest for the weary. For the constant blooming, the constant growing, the constant photosynthesis, the constant producing, leaves the world, at a time like this, and sends it into peaceful slumber, as the winter sets in and whispers to us. Come out to play in the snow!
The snow!
Soft white swirling flakes of snow, each one different, no two snowflakes exactly alike. Each one unique and there are millions and millions of them. A cascade of play, falling to earth, bringing sport and fun. Don your hats and mitts, your scarves and toques, your warm winter coats and warm winter pants. Pull on the long underwear and the extra layer of clothing. Be warm and cozy in the chilly minus temperatures, and play!
This season could last a long time.
The logs are already cut for your fire, the fireplace awaits, it’s crackling flames and the kettle is boiling and calling you, to make another hot cuppa. Chocolate! and tea and warm winters brew. A season of cold remedies and flu shots and days off to recover. The occasional broken bones from falls on the ice, but still, the joys of the season are plenty and duty calls us. Be happy! Winter is here!
Lash on your skates and grab your stick. The very best of Canada and our favourite past times, are winter sports and play. That clearing on the ice, brings about a game. Our national sport, hockey is here. From the time that you are little, until you grow old, the passion of the ice rink or that shoveled spot on the lake, are the call of winter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4–iEOftLZ4&spfreload=10 the beauty of hockey, the greatest game on the planet.

Our mission, to have fun. Our all Canadian dream, to win. This is the time for sport and play. Come on, Canada, get on with the game.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes
November 26, 2014

It Calls Us

It Calls Us

Hail to the almighty human!

The awesome planet sings the praises of its being. The life springs forth from the rich earth and the world sings with the songs of spring. A paradise of co-habitation, plant, human, animal, contained in a small space of grand proportions. Life, live and joy in this great part of the earth, where all things live in the beauty of the great landscape. The majesty of the magnificent mountains, the lush, green forest, the sparkling waters and the clean, mountain air. This is the land of the almighty human, where athletes soar in competition and sport. A playground of adventure where the trails lead to precious views of unrivaled beauty, and the mountains dare the climbers to try them.
“Come!” calls the great planet. “Come to the joy of your being!

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/banff/index.aspx the nation’s first National Park, Banff National Park, established in 1885

Test your strength oh brave hearts! Stretch your legs in the vast wilderness of parkland that entices you. Listen to the call of the wild, as it sweetly sings in your ears.
The birds call their courtship melody as we pass by their homes. Busy and intent, they build their private homes to protect the precious, demanding lives of their offspring. Soon there will be babies. Soon the roadsides will be bustling with delighted tourists, as they meet the wild and their wild new born. The brave bear with its tiny young, the sheep and goats with their nimble kids, and the deer and elk with their calves. Soon the wild will give birth, and the land will change to a robust new beginning.
The quiet of winter is past and for the next few months a new generation of life unfolds.
“Come to the wild!” calls the great planet. “Here the world of the daring adventure begins!”
Since the dawn of our beginning, the wild of the earth calls to us. The mighty oceans demand a crossing. The pinnacles of mountain tops, demand to be reached. The forest lures us to views, and challenges the senses with unknown obstacles.
“Reach for this height!” calls the mighty glacier, where the well waters of our rivers are born. Now, in the spring, when the world is divine, when the congenial planet warms us with warm, spring breezes and the deep chill of winter is past, now we venture forth into the land that was too precarious in the winter.
This is the land of the almighty human. The land, brought to us by the daring fur trader, the skilled negotiator and the kind and compassionate human who saves it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5NW3h6_VYw the bluest lakes on earth, by David Huting

The land whispers to us as we pass under the branches of the greening trees. Hail brave hearts, protect these great lands, for you and only you, can save it. The adventure of your lives has always been in the great forests, the great landscape and the great wild of this nation. The great peace is among us, the great negotiation of land and people, of adventure and fun, of wealth and beauty. Remember the past, oh brave hearts, the negotiation saves us still.
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
May 13, 2014

The Ride to end MS

Praises to the almighty human!

Strength and fortitude and daring! The almighty human rises to a call of his own making. Shining spirit, shining tower of strength, rising to a height of daring and human competitiveness, known really only to themselves.
The devastating ravages of disease and failure, of a weakened body, so frail and hurting. Rise to the glory, almighty human! Shine in the glory of a feat of daring, of life sustaining, of work and endurance, for a goal of compassion. Hail to you, oh great spirit, for the quest of your achievement. To rise above it all, to conquer the foe, to beat the devil and to smile that victorious win.
A milestone of human endurance, another thousand kilometers of road. Snow and harsh wind, icy rain and unbearable heat, the weather is a task master of doom and hardship. Regardless of all humanity and preparation, the weather is the merciless master of it all.
Praises, almighty human, dauntless of it all. No sickness or obstacle can defeat the bold and daring. Another storm, another kilometer, another technical breakdown. Onward and onward to pursue the goal of victory and awesome challenge, for as yet an inconquerable beast. Still no cure for this dangerous illness, the Muscular Sclerosis Society needs help.
http://endms93.com/yellowhead-highway-16-the-next-adventure/about/ Greg Van Tighem, riding his fat bike from Masset BC to Winnipeg, Manitoba, March and April 2014.

The fragile bodies of weakened beings, a diagnosis still without a cure. The sinking masses of humanity, falling into the plight of incurable illness. A dangerous endevour, a risky undertaking, a drive for a cure of a devastating illness.

http://www.youtube.com/user/endms93 Greg Van Tighem on the road for a cure of Muscular Sclerosis. The endms93 bike ride from Arizona, USA to Jasper, Alberta along highway 93, 2013.

The pledge drive for $93,000.00 has still not been met, yet the campaigne drive for the cure is still ongoing. Another kilometer of road, another grateful pledge, the master of wheel and fortune persists in charity and hope, to quash the life debilitating monster that sickens the soul. Crush the body with evil illness, ruin the health with pain and agony. A struggle to overcome the sinking sadness of loss and despair. Another kilometer to ride for the cure, to bring hope and possibility to those in pain. Another kilometer of painful riding, of unknown road and lonely travel. A conquest of trust and preparedness, of single travel, without support. Day after day the road winds its weary path to follow. The body accepts the command of the mind. Rise in the morning, fulfill this challenge. The mind demands and the body obeys. Mind over body, mind over illness, mind over matter.
Whatever befalls us, on the great road to living, be it in sickness or in health, the road winds onward for us to follow.
Awesome human, masters of destiny, find comfort and support in your brethren there. Today is a day for the great joy of living.
Rise to your calling, almighty human. Follow your road.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes
April 15, 2014

To the Almighty Human

To the Almighty Human

good morning Brave hearts!
Welcome to the thrilling adventure of this day. Precious day, whose time unfolds in minutes and hours of pressing passing. Only a minute, only an hour. How to spend this precious day. In random idleness, in deliberate pursuits, in work, in play, in love in adventure. To sleep in, to rise early, to fulfill a passion, to merely dream. To focus on an objective, to rise to glory, to stumble, to fall, to resurrect oneself. The day presents the gift of giving, a fine and glorious day.
Dedicated time, just for you, to be used wisely, or to be languished away, to hone skills or to waste. The choice of this day is a call to your strength, to your fine aptitudes, to your brilliant quest. Each day, used wisely, properly fulfilled is a lifetime of achievement, a lifetime of personal bests, a lifetime of raising the bar and setting a goal, just out of reach, but reach for it you will. The constant pursuit of achievement, of success, in just minutes, or hours of a day.
Choose your paths wisely, oh great ones. Of the multitudes of experiences to choose for you living, choose wisely, oh brave hearts. One more skill to add to your collection of self fulfillment, one more skill for your personal accomplishments, one more skill to add to your directory, one more skill for a lifetime of success. It comes to you with this day.
This lucky day, brought to you by the rising sun. The universe calls your name, oh human and you rise to this day with the acceptance of your dutiful calling. Another day, in war or peace?
Tread softly on the great planet, oh brave hearts. Your destiny is fulfilled with each passing day. The minutes and the hours count for a life of worthwhile living. A life of success and adventure. Cone out into the playground of the world, oh great ones and fulfill the calling of your mind.
Here us! oh great human, calls the thriving planet. We are your salvation, your joy, your quest in life, you personal experiences and your challenge. What will be your adventure for this day?
Choose us! calls the great landscape. Come out to the adventure of your life. As is the past of your great ancestors, the wilderness called your name and the mighty responded. The ancient lives of our forefathers fought the rapids, dared the glaciers, carved paths of destiny through the snow. The lives of chilling adventure, of thrilling achievement, of success of the mind and body, of a pursuit of skills and enterprise.
To follow a path of such daunting challenge, to whereabouts unknown. To test their skills, their strength, their courage, their negotiations, their humanity, their common sense. Where does your life take you? To courage and sensibility, or to war and shame. To fight for the great freedom of the joy of living, or to fail and flounder in despair.
Hail, brave hearts, praises to the great negotiation. As the sun rises on this day, it will be a glorious day. Another skill sharpened, another test passed, another success. To remember your ancestors, who rose to each day, to fulfill the quest of the mighty man. A nation explored, a peoples who were generous and the conquest of personal challenge and personal might.
To your achievements, oh brave hearts.

http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/nwc/history/08.htm

written by Dr. Louise Hayes
Feb 24, 2014

Training

Good day, Brave hearts!
The wondrous world awakens you and this day of glory calls you. Hail, you skilled and mighty human.
Feel your strong, toughened body. Each muscle responds to the call. The body, so firmly controlled, obedient to that masterful mind, that intense will, that demanding purpose. The body, who no longer wails, rest, pain and injury! The body, silenced and controlled. The body, who’s insistent complaints of fatigue, pain, cold, hunger and heat are now quashed to the demand of the superior mind. Mind over matter is mind over body. Supremely controlled, the body performs dutifully to the demanding mind. Lean and perfect, this body, the only vessel of the mind and the soul, will perform.
Now, the masterful mind, visualizes the result. It sees it’s body execute that turn, complete that course, hit the target. The masterful mind outperforms the body. The specific focus to a goal of achievement. The narrow view, where the world is shut out and the only perception of the senses is the play.

https://www.google.ca/#q=canadian+olympic+team+2014

The superior mind, that focused aptitude of skill and courage. Shut out the chaos of the world, concentrate on the objective of this goal. This is the challenge of the day. To visualize the outcome and to control the persistent nagging of the body. To see the result and to demand performance to it. To see the finish, one step at a time, to enact and recreate the desired results. Repeat the performance and follow through. Over and over, until the body understands the training and properly learns the sequence. The focus of the mind, so superior, so specified. An aptitude at it’s highest, driven to excellence. The exhaustive play, the painful concentration, the focus, the focus, don’t loose the focus. A battle won, or a battle lost in the simple shift of focus, loss of clarity or loss of concentration. A distraction, a diversion, a deliberate ruse to disrupt, annoy, upset or abuse, however simple, but perfectly planned to divert attention and set the player off their mark.
It’s commonplace.
Find your finest aptitude great human and focus your fine and brilliant mind on it’s goal. No failure there. A strong and focused mind, a trained and willing body, a spirit to overcome the obstacle. Come brave hearts, to the joy of success, to the thrill of achievement and to the duty to yourselves to live your lives well. Strengthen your bodies, strengthen your minds, increase your spirit, plan your destiny, focus on your goal. Awaken your spirit to the fulfillment of dreams and to the quest for more life, more living.
Call your colleagues around you, develop your support group, find your like-minded, encouraging allies.
This is your life!
Hail, bravehearts! To lives well lived, to destinies achieved and to a call to the order of the brilliant mind.
Hail brave hearts, to your success!
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
February 12, 2014

The Olympics

Good morning brave hearts.
Another beautiful day to warm your hearts and brighten your spirits.
In this lofty time of games and sport, we look to the awesome might of the champion. Skills and perseverance, an aptitude at it’s finest, carefully controlled, carefully focused, nurtured, cultivated, practiced and finely tuned. Mankind at his highest peak, the role of the champion.

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The feats of daring, the pursuit of excellence, the flexing and strength of hours and hours of laborious training, all to answer the call, the one call of courage and daring, the call of the almighty human, the champion.
The days stretch out before us as we watch in thrilling wonder at the power and versatility of the human mind and body. We watch in captivated admiration for a tested skill, so brilliantly executed, such fine minds, such fine bodies, such extreme sport.
That strong, perfect muscle,so conditioned, so obedient. A gift of rare connectivity from mind to body. That perfect control, that instant demand, that power, that courage, that skill.
The body flows with the sharpened wakefulness of a conscience of it’s own. The brilliant mind thinks it and the body enacts it. The oneness, the syncrenosity, the immediate response.
Feel the power as your body soars, it’s mission, to accomplish the demands of the mind. The higher the aptitude, the stronger the will, the more successful the performance. No cowards there. Only the strong, almighty human, with control, persistence, wakefulness and focus.
Your eyes see the play, your brain enacts the result, your body obeys as it’s conditioned to do.
The training of the body is a long and ardorous journey, filled with pitfalls of injury, sore muscles, pain and exhaustion. The weary body, fighting the demanding mind. The weary body crying for rest. The weary body screaming pain and injury. No more!
Oh, but the strong and demanding mind remains focused to it’s goal, to the one lofty end that is in sight for this simple human body with a spirit and brain that outmatches it. The body is controlled, it performs accordingly. Training! To train the body to accept the demands of the mind.
Oh, lofty almighty human, in these days of reckoning, who has persevered and trained their body to succeed. Who has demanded of their body, more than the body can give.
Inspire us, oh great ones. Your time has come. For athletic ability is part of the human condition and part of the human spirit. To soar with the eagles, to reach the summit, to swim with the dolphins to conquer it all.
Here, where the indomitable spirit of the human, conquers all, saves us and immortalizes us. Now to play, as only the strongest contestants can play. To play for sport, to play for competition, to play for fun and to play for glory.
Almighty human, we applaud thee, we reward thee and we thank thee. For again,the spirit of the indomitable human is the focus of the day.
Hail bravehearts, you serve us well. Your brilliant minds and impeccable bodies thrill us.
Hail brave hearts, for us, today and always, you are the almighty man.
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
Feb. 8, 2014

downhill skiing

downhill skiing

Good day, you awesome human

Global warming greets us today, on this pleasant, cool winter morning. High snowfall and warmer winter temperatures bring us the delight of long days of winter play. Sunny skies, warm jackets, cool air, snow. It all adds up to a plus in winter sports activities.
Hail bravehearts, strap your skis on. This is a day for snow!

The long dreary winter is one of our finest hours. It brings so much winter pleasure. The slopes, the winter scenery, the winter festivities and the winter fun. No more the cold, icy frost of bitter harsh winds. No more the ice running through your veins. No more the heart stopping blasts of lung chilling air that slow us to a stiff, plodding, gait. For us, this winters past time is the joy of this day.
Downhill skiing as a recreational sport is a relief from the long winter stress of cold days and indoor living. A fresh new snowfall on well groomed slopes entice us to the great outdoors for fresh air, exercise and fun. What would we be, in the great white north, without our awesome snow?
The snow provides more than just stuff for us to play in. It provides a blanket of warmth for winter animals to sleep under. Hibernating bears, scurrying mice and sleeping plants, lie protected under the soft, warm cover that protects them from the winters chill of freezing air and penetrating wind.
A quiet day of deafening calm as the forest dulls the sounds of noises. No wind disturbing our sheltered run. We are alone on this massive mountain. A mid week escape from weekend frenzy. So very few to witness our feats of daring, our new found paths through untracked forest. A mountain so often visited, so frequently accessed, yet still the same old thrill of fresh new snow, of powdery gusts, of flying and gliding. The ease of the sport of downhill skiing, the motion of practiced turns, the roller coaster ride of bowl shaped hills and the pummeling of moguls.
The easy freedom of a day on the mountain, skiing wherever your skills will take you. The ride of a lifetime on two sticks with two poles. The soft whisper of the lift as it passes overhead. A day that was made to make time stand still, when hour after hour is not long enough.
The breathtaking views, the thigh burning exertion, the endless flight over rolling terrain. A gift of play and winter smiles, a joy of the weather, of our harsh climate. The north. With our sub zero temperatures, our high snowfall, our ice covered lakes. Dress for it, we say. Then strap on your skis for in winter we play and play and play.
written by Dr Louise Hayes
January 7, 2014

Snowball battle

When all that life is, is just to survive, what do you do for PLAY!

Good day to you all you bravehearts

The great Canadian winter is upon us. The great Earth has changed her coat and warms herself beneath a layer of fresh, soft snow. The winter foliage darkens to the deep, dark greens of winter sleep and the air chills to a fresh -C.
Flocks of overwintering birds swirl around the sky and the restful quiet is upon us. A different world awakens us each day. The morning sounds turn to warming engines and the scraping of snow shovels on the sidewalk. Winter brings it’s new delights and winter play is one of our finest hours.
Sport, you awesome human is the name of the day. The abundance of winter activity is the joy of northern living. No shut ins here. The deep freeze of a cold winters day is only a change of clothing, only another layer, a hard fought for Canadian tradition.
Sport presents itself in all of it’s grand variety.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRcw8Rurpt0 = snowball fight

As the snow drifts across the path and shovelling piles a mountain beside the walkway, imagination takes hold. A fort, a castle, a moat, a wall. A fortress to defend and the fight is on.
A snowball thrown at a lucky culprit who now has to enter the fight. Accept the challenge of winter fun and join the game! Winter is a fine time of play and sport and snow ball fights occur. A once childish game of play has become organised winter sport, with several regions competing to be the nations snowball champions.

http://www.jasper.travel/snowbattle

It’s just another game to play in a nation of rich winter sporting traditions.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes
November 23, 2013