Earth

Ah! The Spa.
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Ah! The Spa.

Hail, you awesome human!

In 1883, wealth and riches captured their imagination. The luxury of the land, for them, the discovery, the awesome, awe-inspiring find. No more harsh work, no more scheduled hours, no more dictators and slave drivers. No more sunrise risings and sun set endings. The long and tiresome day has come to an end, and wealth now lies before their eyes. The glittering prize of dollars, cast in the heated pool of water, was immense wealth to these lucky, entrepreneurs. The back breaking toil of constant work, ends with this discovery.
Shall it be a hotel, a resort, a day spa? The hot pools of the Banff hot springs was a discovery like no other. Close at hand, and surrounded in beauty, the hot pools rested in the mountains, somewhat close to Calgary. A perfect place for tourists and yes, they would come. All the way out to the mountains of Alberta, to soak in the mineral rich waters of the hot springs. Health and wellness would follow as the mineral content of the pools was investigated for healing and curative powers. A superb discovery, a marvelous, accidental find. To explore, on a day trip and discover the very point of tourist marketing in that part of the mountains. A claim was laid, a plan discussed, the excitement grew and grew. Rich! They were rich! It’s all mine, they exhalted! Then, it was disputed.
Others came forward to lay claim to the riches and the joy and merry making became a dispute. The squabble was so loud it reached the heights of legislative power in the country. Hot springs in the mountains! Gold!
Curiously, the powers that be, stepped in to investigate the claim. Yes, it was real. The claim was laid, the co-ordinates were correct and the find was legal. Still, there was a dispute, so how to resolve it so that everyone would win.
For all Canadians, you say. Maybe more, for all of the world to enjoy. That part is obvious, but how to win the claim. They wouldn’t part with it.
To the legislator it went, and into the hands of the Canadian people fell the rights to the first hot springs discovered in the Canadian Rockies. For all of us to enjoy. Of course there would be an admission charge, but no one would be able to claim exclusive rights. The rights to this land, belong to the people of Canada, and hence, the first national park in Canada was formed in Banff, Alberta, in 1885.

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/ab/caveandbasin/index.aspx cave and basin hot springs, Banff National Park.

Banff National Park is a milestone in Canadian history. Superbly beautiful, now a UNESCO site, this mountain national park is one of four mountain national parks in Canada. Glorious Banff, with it’s superb climbing, mountain huts, spectacular views, tourist destinations, hiking, mountain biking, rivers, boating and white water rafting. This gem marked the beginning of wilderness preservation, environmental conservation, wildlife protection , and it is still, a pure tourist delight. A fine example of the awesome splendor of the vast and wonderful nation of Canada.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDan4o8T04s Banff National Park, The Canadian Rockies, Tracker Productions.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes
May 16, 2014

It’s Spring
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It’s Spring

Good morning, you awesome human.

Behold this awesome day,filled with sunshine and warmth. The earth greets us with fresh sprouts of life and the greening of the planet. Awesome planet, the spring flowers shine in the daylight and show off their radiant colour.
Easy past times of searching the hillsides for new blooms. That precious crocus with it’s showy head, nodding it’s hello to the warm, spring sunshine. Elk grazing by the roadside, their shaggy manes and shedding bodies, changing their coats to cooler, summer wear.
The greening grass and budding willows, chirping birds with nesting instincts. The rolling seasons of timeless change, to be counted upon, to be welcomed.
Spring again! The aging planet, turns it’s view to the sun and again, the warmth of the bright star, fills the earth with the magic of life. Again, the revolution of time, the passing of winter, the shedding of the covers of snow and ice. Out of hibernation comes the bears, the earth and water melt and the ponds begin to sing.
Happy are we! cries out the new life. We live again!
Relief comes to us with the cold winter’s passing. Long days of healthy sunshine. Heat in the air and the hard, cold ground, turns soft and green.
The joy of spring, it’s beauty calling, welcoming the precious life that winter hides. The smiling animals with their handsome offspring, happy humans shedding winter coats for lighter, summer wear.
The Earth sighs, it’s creation emerging. The power of life, still in its hands.
Spring! So perfect and so real. Counting the numbers of returning birds, listening to their joyful call. Life! They sing! To live! To stretch their wings and fly again, and nest and breed and hatch and raise their brood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O85o-W9rZJs nesting birds.

Happy spring! A joyous time of gratitude. The creative earth will send its energy into the seeds and we will rejoice in a harvest.
The balance of life, the evolution of the seasons, from seeds to plantings to the garden giving us food. So commonplace, but still, so astounding. A garden, fresh produce. Food.
Healthy food, organic food. Brought to your table by your own time and care. Nutritious food, from careful planting, careful tending and careful picking. The wholesome goodness of natural product, fresh and uncontaminated.
So commonplace, but healthy food is still a pressing concern. As our population rises and our natural space diminishes, the time honoured garden rises in stature. The much needed land for food sustainability, dwindles under the pressure of housing needs. Garden plots, container gardening, edible shrubs and fruit bearing trees. Behold, the garden, you awesome human. Dig into the ground and plant your magic. Not to toil and sweat, but to nurture and care. To add to productivity, to increase the yield and to sustain yourselves in healthy produce.
To your good health!

Written by Dr. Louise Hayes
April 27, 2014

I Walk for Water
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I Walk for Water

Good morning Brave hearts.

The clean water, delivered to your home, provided by an intricate system of plumbing and waterworks. A modern invention of convenience and good health, that changed the lives of the developed world and brought relief from harsh living conditions. A feat of engineering, a marvel of advancement. Clean water brought into your homes and clean plumbing as well.
This fabulous technological improvement in our lives has saved thousands of people from water born disease. The convenience itself keeps us cleaner and healthier. More water to drink, for washing dishes, laundry, the shower and your home. This modern improvement has changed our lives. No more buckets of sparingly dispersed drinking water, of trips to the outhouse in the freezing cold. Modern plumbing, brought to our homes, keeps us cleaner and healthier.
The earth sighs from the weight of pollution. Dirty water is a killer to the earth as well. The clean, sparkling rivers and streams, the network of lakes and ponds, are life sustaining necessities of the planet. Clean water! The marvelous sight of waterfalls and tumbling rivers, of beaches for play and lakes for swimming. Playful past times of sport and leisure, through the abundant waterways of our country. The network of rivers for exploration, navigation and trade. Clean water, a necessity of life!
A primary component of the human body is water. Proper hydration keeps us alive. A dehydrated body functions poorly and dehydration can put the body into peril. Clean water, drinking water. A precious commodity of life giving sustance, water cannot be taken for granted.
All over the world, nations work to keep their waterways clean.
Sluggish, brown, dirty water is a peril to the planet and to our lives as well. Water pollution is a dreaded enemy, toxins and waste are killers. The mighty oceans die from oil spills and the rain hails down polluted drops.
Today, is just one day to remember to enjoy a glass of clean water for your health, to promote the benefits of the life giving force. This glass of water, now enjoyed at leisure, with no thought of the work and cost of this marvel in advancement. Filtration systems, wells, lagoons and piping, bringing fresh water and cleaning the contaminants. The average African woman walks six kilometers a day for water.
Today, I walk for water. A simple gesture on behalf of the planet and ourselves. A fundraiser for clean water. Water pollution is an all round killer that we have to constantly address.
With your support today, another water source could be saved. Please give generously. Your donations count.
http://www.iwalkforwater.ca/ Aveda, I walk for water campaign.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes
April 22, 2014

The New Planet
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The New Planet

Hail Brave hearts!

This glorious day of the risen lord brings peace and hope to a weary world.
The earth moans under the weight of 7 billion humans. All of the rest of its creation needs room to grow. Room for trees and plants and landscapes, room for animals and birds and insects. The awesome creative powers of the planet need to be expressed. Like the fine aptitude of an artist, needing to paint a brilliant canvas, the earth needs to cover it’s surfaces with beauty and colour and life. Awesome great planet with life giving forces. The beautiful great planet surrounds us with nature. Each and every delicate balance, a life sustaining act. The trees, recycling the carbon dioxide of our breaths and returning fresh, clean oxygen into the air. The trees, our life support system for clean air. 7 billion breathing humans, destroying forests, up routing plants, filling in ponds, covering the earth with pavement, building, building, building.
Hail, you awesome human! The earth struggles to support you, struggles to feed and nurture you, struggles to provide air for you, clean water and good food. The self destructive human, unthinking in it’s quest for income, housing and land, destroys the very thing that provides the most. Hail, to the almighty human, who protects the only thing that we have in the universe, the mighty great planet earth.
So much taken for granted, so much destroyed for no reason, so much loss of habitat and loss of life, human, wildlife, plant life. From the tops of the mountains to the depth of the oceans, the environmental destruction is severe.
In myth, the world of the gods lies in the heavens, in science fiction aliens inhabit other planets. In reality, will that save us here. The awesome mind of science tells us that there is a possibility of life on other planets. The constant search of the heavens and the universe for life sustaining planets, challenges us to think outside of this small, rotating sphere of life and look to the possibilities of new life among the stars. Our imagination takes us in leaps of wonder and anticipation. Could it be real? Could we live somewhere else? What would it be like?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/earth-sized-planet-found-in-star-s-habitable-zone-1.2613794 The new planet.

Now,at last, there is a possibility. An earth like planet, found only 500 light years away. We could escape this rotting, dying, war torn, diseased, overpopulated earth and escape into our spaceships and be gone! Gone to the heavens, gone to the perils of the universe, into the last great frontier of human experience. We’ve done it all here. The dying planet entertains us no more.
Off to the greatest challenge of our lives! Off to discover the universe and inhabit the new world. Like our ancestors before us, the age of discovery is upon us. Like Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, Francis Drake and the Apollo Astronauts, we can pack our bags and venture forth again. Into the great unknown, to prove that the universe is not flat, but we can navigate it and we will not fall off.
Hail, to you almighty human! Flee the dying planet and explore the universe. You only have 500 light years to go.
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
April 20, 2014

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A Day for World Wildlife

Hail brave hearts
Peace amongst you on this day of celebration. A day for the earth to sing its songs of gladness and to fill our hearts with joy.
This is a day for us to take action against the plunder of the environment, against the devastation of habitat loss and against the vanishing land and the precious wild lives that it contains. The earth sings its songs of gladness for all of the lives it creates, for all of the creatures that inhabit this globe and live in the balance of the natural world. A predator, a prey, a tree or a flower, all are victims of habitat loss and environmental destruction. They are victims of pollution, of over development, of starvation and poaching. The wide variety of life forms becomes more and more limited as sensitive species perish from over harvesting, starvation, habitat loss and over development. They call out their names as they vanish into the archives. Lists of animals and plant life, gone forever into the unknown world of perished species.

http://sounds.bl.uk/Environment

Endangered wild life, rare species, animals struggling to survive in a world already so overpopulated with people that the sparse land can house no more.
Dead land, desert, rock, dead lakes, pollution, plastics, fuel, contaminants. Too much for the wild life of the world to bear. No where to find clean water to drink, no where to find fresh grass to eat. Insecticides, pesticides, poison. Contaminated food, contaminated soil, contaminated water. Forest fires, shale, rock and clearing. No where to find shelter, no where to birth this offspring. No where to live.
The sound of the earth mover rumbles in the distance. Run from the machinery of habitat destruction, fire and smoke, it sears our eyes and burns our lungs. The forest is gone, the thickets are cleared, our bellies are swollen from pregnancy, but where to go to birth this calf. What to eat, as the grasses die, where to lie down as there is no shade.
The tiny ones can run no more. Their new legs so awkward, struggle to move. Their tiny hearts and panting breath, they cannot take another step. Their weary bodies, from too much exertion, lie down and rest to sleep some more. Where to find that needed shelter, shrubs and thickets to curl up in. Hours old, the tiny ones can only rest. Run? They can’t run. Hide? Where can they hide. The warm thickets that protect their small bodies die of harvesting and disease and the babies have no where to go.
Tiny offspring, who struggle to survive, your lives are hard enough. The natural balance of predator and prey, fills your lives with fear and hardship. But now, where to birth that new offspring, where to protect that tiny life?
The starving mother lies in stillness as her body consumes that tiny embreo. No food for this offspring, it won’t be born.
One day to celebrate the salvation of the planet. A day for world wildlife and environmental protection. Hear us almighty human, as we raise our voices, for the call of the wild.
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
March 3, 2014

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The Wolves of Yellowstone

Good morning Brave hearts!

The adventure begins, again! Lofty souls with high aspirations, lofty minds with virtuous goals. The spirit awakens to the joy of the day. A beautiful day, filled with the radiant beauty of the Earth.
Oh powerful orb of life in the universe. The creation of another day is the awakening of the dawn of life. Persistent animals and persistent plant life, thriving on a planet so amazing. The persistent planet, creating life, throwing more and more of its creation onto it’s surface. Live all creatures, sighs the great planet. Each and every one of you has it’s place on this great Earth.
The interconnection of ecosystems as they thrive in abundance, comes from the delicate balance of survival. The fittest are strong at each level of the food chain and the lush and nourishing environment survives.
A success story emerges, from a land of protected wilderness. The cry of the wolf as it sings its song to the Earth. It’s song of thanks and survival in a land of previous desolation to this wild animal. A land of previous culling and constant hunting and extermination. A land where the wild were no longer understood and the call of the wolf died in eerie silence. Gone from the land, gone from their lives and gone from the great wild.
Now the majestic beast has returned, reintroduced to a hostile and foreboding land of merciless hunting. Now protected instead of despised, the healthy hunter has regained the wild.
Hail, almighty human, for the understanding of the will of the great planet, for death no more to the mighty hunter, for research and experiments and environmental protection. The call of the wolf as it sings to you on this day. We are saved!
The experiment in Yellowstone National Park in the United States tells a tale of wildlife and landscape interconnection that hails of the virtues of this predator. The thriving, healthy population of the wolves has changed the land in Yellowstone and increased the beauty of the Earth in this park. The healthy predator, culling the week, preventing overpopulation of its prey, preventing over browsing of shrubs and trees and allowing the growth of saplings and regeneration of the forest.
An interesting experiment in wildlife interconnectivity. Why did the great Earth create the wolf? To sustain it’s environments, brave hearts, to send the predator into the wild, to protect the great landscape. To protect the forest and the other wild animals. The interconnection of life in the wild.
Hail, almighty human, for the wisdom of this fine and brilliant experiment. For the protection of the wild and the great beauty of the Earth. For the lives of the great hunters sing in joy and praises. We live! Our pups will be born this spring and we no longer starve!
Praises almighty human, you save us!


the wolves of Yellowstone – How Wolves change rivers

written by Dr. Louise Hayes
February 17, 2014

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A dedicated place

Good day to you, Brave hearts

This day brings you the glorious, the fabulous, the fascinating, the wonder, the joy of creation: what beauty is. To aspire to the cause of your finest aptitudes, look around you, oh great ones. The joy of the never ending planet, with its marvels and toils, brings you fresh inspiration and wonder with each day. Yours is the mind that can perceive it, can develop it, can explore it. Since the dawn of time, man has been greeted with the pleasures of the great planet and all of its wonders.
“For the beauty of the Earth, for the beauty of the skies, for the love which from our birth, over and around us lies.” hymnary song
http://www.songandpraise.org/for-the-beauty-of-the-earth-hymn.htm
You, so fortunate as to be the creation of a human.
Still, the great planet casts each and every one of us into the land of our home. The Earth places us here and we dwell in the land of it’s creation. The migration of mankind lead them to the land of their destiny. A brilliant land, an abundant land and a challenging land. Here, almighty human, is the door opened for you, to stir the imaginings of your brilliant mind.
The land filled with succulent fruits, wary predators, catchable beasts. The land, with its awesome wonder, the landscape, the star filled skies, the warm and glowing sun. All of your needs are met, with the intelligent pursuit of the land.
The fascinating beauty unfolds as each aptitude is tested and strengthened, not yours to merely survive, but to live the grand and glorious adventure, that all the world provides. Hail to you, brave hearts, for the awesome beauty of the world, compels you to venture, to discover, to explore, to challenge and to take risks. For beauty can sometimes drive you and your aptitude to yield it’s highest purpose.
The land, with its ever changing fascination. It beckons us to seek health benefits, to feed us, to nurture us, to cloth and to shelter us. The great planet, with its endless creativity, gives each and every place it’s own special purpose. Each and every human race is the caretaker of their special place.
What drives you, almighty ones? Open your eyes to the wonder of this world. To the fascinating gifts of daring and adventure, of inspiration and creativity, to the endless pursuit of beauty and grace. A home, so filled with love and generosity, of perfect adoration and endless care. A home that saves and protects us, shelter from the billowing storm, warmth and security. A place made special, by the pursuit of a mind dedicated to the pursuit of aptitudes of décor, of culinary delights, of homemade remedies and helpful partnering.
You, almighty ones, are chosen. Chosen to dwell in lands of adversity, of difficult climate, of constant change. That land, that barren oasis, is filled with possibilities for the persistent mind. The earth puts you there, almighty human, like it plants its trees and sends its wildlife. Nurture and care, oh caretaker of the planet, you are needed where you survive and live and dream and love.

http://nunavut.adventures.com/nunavut_parks.html

Care for the great planet, as it calls out your name, human, save us.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes
January 22, 2014

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The Winter

Good Day Brilliant Mankind

Sighs the great planet. Come out to my wonderland of fresh fallen snow, of blue skies, of sunny warm weather, of winter freshness and winter play. The temperature drops to a mild -zeros and the warm blanket of snow, covers the earth. Tread lightly, oh great ones. Beneath you lies, in sleeping peace, the life of the hibernating wild.
The quiet pond, full of animals, frogs dug into the mud for winter protection and snakes, curled in sleep awaiting the thaw. The dead of winter, of biting wind, of chilling storms, of ice and snow, of planetary sleep in dreamy warmth beneath the soft cover of insulating snow.
But why the winter, with it’s housebound cold, with icy wind and chilling temperatures, with snowy sidewalks and treacherous ice, with slippery streets and flues and colds. Why the winter with sudden storms, with blizzards and frozen fingers. Constantly scrapping the car, the driveway, the sidewalk. The snow filled streets for dangerous driving and the cold! The penetrating cold.
Just dress for it and remember, be prepared.
Praises mankind, sighs the great planet, to winter fun and winter’s play. It is with great pleasure that I present the winter.
Come out, come out to play, oh great human and enjoy the winter’s treasure.
A skate on frozen lakes, with glass like ice beneath your feet. The darting fish trapped in the unfrozen waters below, play tag with you as you skate in pursuit. But where did they go, so fast and exciting, a game of chase so easily won. A different perspective of life in the lake, looking down at the reeds beneath the ice, beneath your feet.
The life in winter, on a beautiful, brilliant day, is filled with sporting possibility. The quiet forest, now changed with its, deep, soft blanket of beautiful snow. The chirping birds, so plump and cheery, greet us as we pass in silence. Listen to the winter, with quiet snowfall, perhaps a chance for an encounter with animals, the privilege of a walk into the great wild.
Here us, oh great human, sighs the great planet, winter is a wonderland of play and sports activity. While those of us who need the rest, nob off to needed sleep and needed quiet, beneath the warm and insulating snow, the rest will play on the surface and fill our days with the great Canadian winter.
The dog team rushes speedily, with happy dogs barking and pulling, the days of thrilling, driving adventure to pass the time in traditional pursuits. A skate on a sun baked lake, with suntan lotion lathered to your skin, sunglasses, sunscreen, just like the summer, but without the bugs.
For here in the north is where the fun is. Generations of cultural pursuits, of winter daring and winter bravery, of Courier de Bois and the fur trade, of the Inuit and the igloo, of polar bears and the whale hunt, of dog sledding and skiing, snowshoeing and trapping.
Here, almighty human, is the meditative stillness of winter.

small river in winter by Kleimer Bach
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
January 15, 2014

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Barren ground Caribou

Hail brilliant mankind

Cast your eyes upon the wilds of the great land. The wilderness stretches out before you and you are saved. The new land, freshly washed of glacier ice and snow reveals the tundra and the life within. Brave hunters, your lives await you there. Up, way up, above the treeline into the Arctic.
Cast your eyes upon the land and view the newness of the Earth. Your lives await you here, almighty human, the brave explorer, the clever hunter. The wild beasts roam and in your view is the vast herd you’ve been searching for.
Caribou!
Here in the far north is a large migrating herd of caribou. The home of the barren ground caribou as they move across the northern plains of the North West Territories. A way of life for nomadic peoples as they follow the herds for food and clothing. A lifeline, a support, a tradition. Beware, almighty human, the world changes.

Click to access 2011-2015_Barren-ground_Caribou_Management_Strategy.pdf

The barren ground caribou is in decline. It’s once magnificent numbers in the hundreds of thousands of animals is now declining and the great herds are vanishing. A way of life vanishes with them. Gone is the migrating hunter, who’s dependency upon the caribou sustained them in food and clothing. Gone is the sport hunter and with the loss of the wild herds eco- tourism vanishes as well.
Hail bravehearts to the call of the wild.
The exploitation of the far north is a blight upon us. Overharvesting of a national treasure affects our cultural identity. As an environmentalist and a conservationist, the predation of the wild is a long standing concern. Hardship for the people, hardship for the wildlife and loss of culture, a food source, a tourist delight and a way of life.
The sustainability of the land appears consistent. The food source for the animals themselves seems stable. Overhunting is identified as a factor in the rapid decline and the dwindling numbers of caribou are a threat to the sustainability of the wild.
Eager hunters, your bellies are full and hunting of the magnificent wild is no more.
The lands set aside for wildlife habitat is immense in Canada, but still, the plunder increases. The far north, the tundra, uncultivated, unproductive land, whose resource value is low, but for the wildlife that resides there, it sustains them. Specially adapted animals, whose lives have supported the indigenous peoples of northern Canada for centuries. To loose the herds of the wild is to loose our national, cultural identity. The migration of the early peoples, the fur trade, the choice to inhabit the north. The integrity of the wild is essential to us.
Hail mankind. The world is yours, to protect or discard, choose wisely.
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
November 20,2013

The Yukon
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The Yukon

Good day you awesome human

As the glaciers receded and the snow melted, the animal life moved southward into the continent. With the travel of the wildlife, the human followed. A new world was being carved from the snow caps. New life to discover, new trails to follow, a new path to a new world.
Come almighty human, into the heart of the continent.
The dutiful call to adventure thrust early man deep into the heart of the far north.
Those who loved the fabulous north live there still. In the remote Arctic Circle with its earthly gifts and awesome star struck wonder. Those who ventured forward encountered more snowfall in this chilly climate. But the usual scene of forest, lakes, rivers, wildlife and vegetation kept them alive.
An adventure!
An adventure for early man and an adventure still you awesome human. Into the land of the midnight sun, of perpetual darkness, of northern lights. A land of remote distance and close fellowship, of hardship and earthly delights, of sporting enthusiasts and cultural integrity. Of domiciles of snow and the endless land to stretch and play in.
Here in the vast forests, the lakes, rivers and snow, live and play the early settlers of this nation and their welcomed guests.
Bold bravehearts, the world calls to you. Come almighty human to the heart of the country. Come to the beginning!

http://travelyukon.com/

To climb the highest mountains, to view the colourful meadows, the rich blues of lakes and the dazzling 24 hours of sunlight. Here is the home of thousands of years of human history, of the birth of culture that is Canadian. The evolution of man brings with it dance, song, artwork, cuisine and joy. A human of energy and skill. The talents needed for survival.
We assume the climate is harsh, perhaps unjustifiably. Life is as life is made. Joy to you, mighty brave hearts. To push the limits of life worth living to the darkest corner of our nation.
The Yukon territory has set aside a vast amount of land to National and Provincial parkland, wildlife reserve, heritage rivers and First Nations land settlements. It boasts thousands of kilometers of pristine wilderness for the sports and nature enthusiast to enjoy.

http://www.env.gov.yk.ca/camping-parks/federal-protected-areas.php

With such a small population and so much country to enjoy, the remote far north is a breathtaking wilderness of forest and mountain.
As their counterparts travelled the unknown trail to track the wild animals and spread themselves across the continent, the aboriginals of the Yukon stayed.
Stay for the awesome splendor of the great land, the wild life to be viewed, the sports to be enjoyed. Still to be seen from the eyes of the adventurer as mainly untouched, undeveloped and unspoilt. The great land, the far north.
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
November 14,2013