environment

The Mighty Ocean Calls Us
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The Mighty Ocean Calls Us

Hail Bravehearts!

The mighty ocean is our home and the seas and wind will call us. Billowing sails and mighty ships, the stalwart companions of daring and adventure, ride through storm and high seas to their destiny, the unknown. Brave spirits, the athletic adventurer of the world four hundred years ago. The extreme sportsman of yesteryear, pursuing the call to the wild life, of weeks and months, of toil and trouble, on the high seas. Education and skills and the spirit of champions, brought forth the sailor, from all walks of life.
The sea is now their home and they live with the water, the whales, the dolphins and birds. The circling seagulls capturing their fishes and taunting with their calls for food. Food! Everyone must be fed.
The rolling waves crest at dizzying heights and the sails rip and rattle with the wind. Rain and torrents hail upon them, but the ship and mast hold fast and the rolling ocean carries them off to the unknown.
The perils of the ocean were the call for this era. Come, oh brave hearts, to the horizon. Quell your fears and enter here, where myth and danger lurk in the deep blue sea.
Ocean and ship, water and boat, rivers and canoes. The waters call us as a highway to float upon, sail upon, paddle and motor. The ocean of prosperity and need.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRSTK9TyUYs&spfreload=10 ocean tranquility message.

Set your nets, for most of ocean faring was discovery and food. Catch the fish, fill the hold, feed the hungry. The ocean has fed us for thousands of years and the ocean feeds us still. A line cast into the water from shore, fishing is a hobby, a past time, an occupation and a necessity. Thousands of years of fishing. Thousands of years of being fed by the sea.
The nets cast into the water, pull out the fish in abundance. Time and again, hundreds of craft, cast their nets into the sea, expecting the mighty ocean to release its bounty to them. Feed us, mighty ocean, calls mankind and the ocean plays its tantalizing game. Come into the water, out to the deep water, come to play and fish and find sport. Your sturdy craft will roll high on the waves and the rhythmic lapping of water on your boat will lull you to peaceful slumber. Spend your time on the ocean, live your lives on the high seas. For your vessel is your home and the ocean will feed you and fishermen and heroes you will be.
The challenge is daunting, but courageous contenders they would be. The spirit, the life, the call of the ocean. A new home, a new world, stretches out to them and the horizon keeps drifting farther and farther away. Do they dare to be so courageous as to follow that line? Will it take them to new worlds or tip them off the planet? What lies in the horizon or beyond?
The sea, the fabulous sea, captivated their minds and holds it still, in tranquil dreamy waves and ocean play.
written by Dr Louise Hayes
October 27, 2014

A Great Escape
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A Great Escape

Good Day Bravehearts

The splendid great wild, with its remote and awesome places. Here, in a world class national park, a UNESCO world heritage site, we live and play and hike to our hearts content. The world of opportunity knocks and we respond with enthusiasm, for the endless adventure in hiking the great wild.
This week, we travel into a remote and little known mountain pass, high up in the alpine. where the curiosity of remote, wild adventure takes us. Ever cautious, we prepare for all weather, rain suites, first aid kits, water ,sunscreen, food, insect repellent, hat, gloves, binoculars and cameras, maps and gps.   It can be cold in the alpine, with changeable weather and here it can be blistering hot, or freezing rain, sometimes turning to hail or snow. We all pack bear spray.
It’s been a good year for bears. Many sightings of females with two and three cubs and the powerful grizzly bear has made her presence well known, with frequent sightings and photo chances of her and her healthy offspring. The alpine is a favorite place of the grizzly and we don’t want to startle one, so our group is large and loud. It’s better to be safe, with large numbers, so the resident predator hears us coming.

The climb is steep and the footing is uneven.  We spent three hours hiking to this remote place, high up into the alpine for a view of the glaciers on another mountain range.  The intermittent showers cooled us and the climb was not as difficult as it sometimes is.

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/jasper/index.aspx  Jasper National Park

Our fathers fought for this great land.  A magnificent mountain range in a far off place.  They fought for  freedom, for prosperity, for a better world and here, in a remote and little known mountain pass, we enjoy and praise the brilliance of that choice.  To protect the land, to save it for future generations, relatively untouched, preserved and intact.  A home for the wild and an escape for us.

We are early in this years adventure.  The spring was late and the wild flowers are not yet as showy as they will be.  But also, we have left the great bear behind us, to forage in the valleys until the alpine will give them a meal.  They will be here soon.

Today, the pass is for us, with only the calls of the birds and the rushing water, the insects and the wind.

The far off glacier is the head waters of our rivers and the source of our daily water supply.   Protected high up in a mountain top, the glacier lies in its own protected domain.  Remote enough, that it is rarely visited and high enough that is remains intact.  The grand great wild, providing fresh drinking water for us and the planet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF05-slHnNk  Fukushima

These rare, protected places, great mountain ranges like the Rocky Mountain National Parks are home to the awesome wild, the glaciers and the beautiful flowers. The power of the earth lies in these special protected places, where only the fortunate few can roam.  Our drinking water, our air supply, our dark sky,  our much needed connection to the natural world.

Here is where we live and play and praise the foresight of brilliant people who saved this land for us to enjoy.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

 

It’s Only a Tree
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It’s Only a Tree

Good Day Bravehearts

The forests of our country are a milestone of preservation. Intact lands, intact lives, intact preservation. The delicate balance of satisfying the needs of competing interests while we grow and prosper, but still fulfill the needs of the great land. The earth cannot survive without the large expanse of lands and environmental protection has called us all to be watchful of the contamination and ruin of the earth. Another mountain of preservation destroyed, another hard fought victory to win. It only takes a few minutes to destroy, what has taken a milenium of earth years to build. A forest, brought down by over harvesting. The balance of the environment overturned. The delicate marshes and the songs of the birds, happily existing in the structure of an ecosystem, so uniquely contrived and so exquisitely orchestrated. The balance of life in the land of the great wild.
The fabulous wild, where the predators roam and quietly, stealthily stalk their prey. A harvest of the weak to strengthen the strong, and to cull the over abundance of grazing and browsing prey. The forest needs the predator, to save it’s new growth, and to take a stand for the preservation of large landscapes.
The balance is superb! The forest thrives and the lives of the living, fill their world with the earth songs of their making.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BickMFHAZR0 The Most Amazing Thing About Trees.

The joy of the wild as it sings the song of the earth to us, the great human. Save us! Only in saving the great wild, will the human be able to save themselves. The preservation of the forest, for our own clean air, for oxygen, for shade, and the protection of the soil. The trees are a necessity. Food, shade, warmth, air, environmental protection and decoration. The varieties are immense and all so different. Large and small with canopies for shade, or strength for wind protection. A tree, such a common plant, so needed and so fragile.
Our houses, from their wood. Furnishings, flooring, cabinetry, whole fields of study from the common tree. Carpentry, logging, forestry, massive business enterprise and international trade. Wealth from wood, paper from by product, our logging industry employs thousands.
Hail to the almighty human, for ingenuity and invention. Your awesome minds and clever imaginations save you there, but lack of foresight is the curse of the human.
Oh brilliant ones, you cannot stop your thinking. The wide expanse of knowledge becomes you and the perpetual motion of time turning to wealth propels you. No poverty there. A world without end. It has to be.
So, brave hearts, as the world turns and another day is upon us, the call from the wild is more urgent and compelling.
Come! calls the great land. Visit and explore. Come to the luxury, to the beauty, to the serenity of the wild! Come to the adventure, to explore and discover. The earth sings, oh great human, don’t be the last.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes
July 1, 2014

The Water Highway
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The Water Highway

Good day Bravehearts

Feel the rush of the wind as it sweeps across the land, bringing the scents of summer fragrance to fill your mind. The aromatherapy of the earth. Pine, juniper, spring meadows and wild grasses. The smell of the forest with mosses and flowers. The cool shade of trees and the rich, enticing landscape. Venture forth, oh brave ones, the wild calls you.
The dance and play of rushing streams, the life force of rivers, and the clean, superb, land, with it’s sport and leisure. The health of the nation lies in this landscape. So much to do, in sport, in leisure, in adventure and in education. Out into the great land, for health and fitness, for rest and for meditation.
The wild! Every day adventure for the uncommon lives of the people of this country.
The rushing rivers cast their spell. The voyage by raft will take you into the great unknown. A wild river, a rushing torrent, a wet and wild and chilly adventure. The current sweeps you into the middle, to rapids and whirlpools and eddies. The diving and swirling craft dips and heaves as the pounding water floods its sides and plunges it into holes and narrowly past rocks and waterfalls.
Fun!
The whitewater raft ride of todays enjoyment is a link to the waterways of yesteryear. David Thompson, with his raft piled high with furs, transported his earnings through the Canadian waterway highways. A nation of river exploration. A nation of wilderness exploration. A nation of markets and trade.

http://www.cbc.ca/sevenwonders/ canoe

The waterways were the highways of trade. Plied for transportation, for convenience, for travel and for adventure. The past time of canoing and boating serves us well, as we venture deeper and deeper into the heart of the land.
Summer! The pristine blue lakes of summer fun. The cooling, quenching waters of joy! The days of lazy dreaming in beaches of sand and grass, the pearls of seashells washed ashore, the endless waves, lapping the shore. The joys of clean, cool water as is soothes the hot and tired body. Fresh water for swimming. Clean water, for a cool summer swim.
The water. A gateway into the heart of the land and a pathway to endless summer fun. Ply the waters with your sturdy craft, maneuver into the surging current. Your paddle dips to the rhythm of your partners beat and the drums of your heartbeat set the pace. Onward. Onward. The constant motion moving the craft. The skills of your paddling, pushing you on. The lakes, the rivers, the water trade routes. A past time of pleasure, where yesterday meets us. The voyage of discovery to new lands, new people, new trade and new wealth.

http://www.birchbarkcanoe.net/video-canoe.htm

A home of opportunity waiting for discovery.
The ancient art of boats and river travel, of discovery of land and people. We travel with our forefathers in a journey that never ends, to a destination that stretches on. We fill our days with summer fun, in a land of sweeping landscapes and the water. The water highway.
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
June 29, 2014

The Fishing Hole

Food. Fill your stomachs and ease the pangs of poverty. Cast your nets and fill your boats with the precious catch of the day.
For thousands of years the oceans have filled our plates with free food, a commodity of substance and wealth from the planet. The nets cast into the seas, to draw the needed food source from its home in the high water. The oceans provide and the human soars with the advantage of free food for the hungry. No starvation, no poverty. The seas give up their glorious catch and the evils of hunger subside.
An expectation of success fills our minds. The ocean has always provided for us, this is our right and our lifestyle. Our livelihood and our culture. Many nations survive from the oceans and the plunder of the deep waters reduces the catch to a fragment of what it once was. The crisis for the oceans rises and the plight of the wildlife within it, screams for the efforts of conservationist around the world. Oil spills, contamination, pollutants, over fishing. The perils of the oceans calls to us as the human mind reels in the wake of yet another catastrophe that leaves our planet dead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxacxShp3LY overfishing – the consequences.

The rights to fish the oceans have been undenied since mankind cast his nets and lines into the sea and returned triumphant with yet another tasty meal. So easy, so little effort, a hook, a line and bait and then to the fishing hole. Young and old remember their days, drifting in easy summer weather, with baited hook and happy smiles, as the waters reveal a dinner or two, to the patient fisherman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDAC33InIHs ending overfishing

Fishing the deep has been an easy joy for us. The lakes and oceans produce an amazing number of fish and other water inhabitants. Crustaceans and eels, fish and whale, shellfish and turtles. The water is fun and filled with life. For a day at the beach and a day on the water nurture us with sun and summer care. The carefree days of endless sunshine, the powerful waves as they crest and splash and entice us into the water for summer play. The life and the living that the oceans bring us, not only back from the brink of starvation, but to a new purpose in sport, leisure, games and holidaying. The oceans and lakes give us undeniable joy.
Bountiful great waters, our cups overflow with gladness, for the discovery of the mysteries of the deep. Ocean songs and ocean conquest, ships and adventure, the great seas call to all of us as sailors and fishermen and the marvel of our days on the decks of sailboats, casting our lines and unfurling the sails, gives us freedom and the thrill of adventure.
Four hundred years ago, at the dawn of European time in Canada, came an expedition to the coast of Canada, to fish the great waters of the grand banks of Newfoundland.  The fishing was superb!  Cast your nets and take home a catch of fishes to save the starving peasants back home.  Cast your nets and be saved.  The catch is your income, your food source, your work and your daily bread. The fishing was superb and from this came the endless voyages of fishermen bound for a harvest of ocean gold.  Food!  Made from the planet, where no one shall starve. 
7 billion. 
To traverse the great Atlantic ocean in search of a food source out fished in Europe, was the means to an end of hunger and poverty.  400  years ago the population of Europe was substantially smaller, but the need to traverse the ocean for food was already a pressing concern.  Feed the hungry.  The ocean is called upon to provide.  Fishes for the ever climbing hungry of the world.  Food.
Still the demand is upon the ocean, to fill the needs of the hungry as our population climbs and soars. Still, the ocean, with it’s free and bountiful harvest of fish. Still the human calls to the planet, feed us!
Written by Dr. Louise Hayes
June 21, 2014

Breathe
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Breathe

Good morning, you awesome human

Breathe! Do you feel it? The breath you take, filling your lungs with life giving oxygen. No small miracle to dismiss or ignore, the life giving oxygen passes through your airways into your lungs and saves you once more. Breathe! The powerful breath of life giving force that sustains you.
They say that there is less oxygen in the world today. That the force of the natural world has declined and that the air that we breathe is no longer as fresh and nutritious as it once was. Air, with nutrient rich oxygen that fills our bodies and blood stream with it’s vital life force. Air, that rejuvenates our brains and fills the mind with nutrient rich oxygen. Air, so commonplace, so taken for granted, so needed and precious. Air, a simple natural substance that we die for.
In the world, the deforestration of the forest has hacked its way to less wildlife habitat, less jungle and forest, less vegetation and less air. Air pollution contaminates the air we breathe and causes disease.
The great planet, with its intricate web of life, looses it’s diversity as species cry in mortal danger from habitat loss and planetary destruction.
The polluted waterways suffocate the aquatic species that call it their home. The raging torrents of rain, fill the lakes and contaminate the soil with polluted droplets of water. The rich bio-diversity of the planet declines and the numbers of species fall to dismally low levels. The awesome, creative planet is plundered, and it’s richness of life forms perish, in the assault of human over population. 7 billion. 7 billion, and rising.

http://www.wizetime.com/trees-it-takes-22-trees-to-produce-enough-oxygen-for-you-to-breath/

The great forests that swept the massive landscape are harvested and vanish in the wake of plunder. Plunder for wood, for clearing the land, for penetrating the tangle of un passable vegetation. The forest lies at the brink of its own starvation. Fewer trees, less vegetation, the wild flowers nod their brilliant heads and their abundance declines with over picking and habitat loss. Fewer flowers, less fragrance, less colour and life in the forest. Another trampled flower, too delicate to withstand the weight of an intruder. Trampled, crushed, gone.
The brilliant earth, cast it’s creativity as far as the eye can see. Streams and mountains, forest and plains, the painstaking effort to fill the planet with life and wonder.

http://www.arborday.org/trees/benefits.cfm what is a tree worth?

Awesome planet, of wonder and life, your forests thrive with the wealth of the living. Trees for oxygen, animals to protect the wild places, flowers for the beauty of the earth. So powerful! The creative energy of the earth is the life force that saves us. Awesome planet, so wonderful to behold.
Still, the needs of the human are high. More hunger, more habitation, more pollution, more space for us. The forest can’t sustain the needs of the human. Too many bodies, too many stomachs to fill, too many lungs for air.
What is a tree worth, in dollars and sense? For the amount of air that we breath in a lifetime? So commonplace, not a penny to charge and worth more than all of the money that your bank accounts can provide.
Air. Clean, unpolluted air is provided to you, by the great planet, free of charge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1M894GH4q4 movie The Right to Breathe.

Air, oh awesome human. Fresh, clean air. It’s to die for.

written by Dr Louise Hayes
June 13, 2014

The Call of the Land
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The Call of the Land

Good morning, you awesome human.

The great wild opened its wide arms and enticed the adventurer into it’s heart. Bravehearts, whispers the land, come into my home and I will fill your mind and heart with the dreams that only the brave can dare to dream. Awesome human, adventure here and I will share the bounty of the earth with you.
The mountains, so stunning and grand,so powerful and majestic, so filled with danger and joy. Each step into the great wild, leads to a path of earthly splendor. The joy of new life as the brave entered the land, the joy of the power of the thrill of discovery, the joy of being brave! Still in our hearts, the joy of being brave, entices us to new life, new love, new land, new beginning. A lifetime travelling in the footsteps of courageous frontiersmen, who sought the wild with energy and passion. Come! calls the great land and the energy and passion of another great day, drives us onward to new delight.

http://trailerchicgirls.com/2014/03/13/liam-and-jake/

The land is so immense, so protected, so divine and so wild. The dreams of a new country, with a history of courageous conquest, another mile to paddle, another mountain peak to climb. Onward and onward the journey to nationhood lied in the strength and mind of the indomitable man. The brilliant human, with foresight and determination. A nation of our own. For us, bravehearts.
The land called the adventurer from across the seas. Listen, almighty ones, I have treasures to share. Come they did, with the power and determination of the brave. The land, filled with caring humans, wild beasts, continuous waterways, forested landscapes and song. The song of the wild as it sings to your hearts. It sings with joy and passion and fills your mind with the peace of it’s creation. Joy calls the great land. I am here to bring you the great joy that a life, lived well will bring you. The powerful landscape, the awesome wild creatures, the adventure, forever in your minds will live in your hearts forever.
Protect me, calls the great land, and I will save you.
The small beginning of a small national park, set in motion a dream of protected places and protected lives. A national dream in a nation founded on the passion, the energy, the determination of people so robust that the adventure of the land, called them deeper and deeper into the wild and breathtaking, brilliant beauty of the land. Come, called the land, and out of the misted shroud of clouded ocean, came the first of thousands of Europeans, called by the land.

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/nl/meadows/index.aspx

written by Dr. Louise Hayes
June 11, 2014

Turquoise and Jewels

Good morning brave hearts.

The adventure of opening the great wild to tourism was a profound feat of national significance.  What lay at the heart of the lofty mountains was a prize of dollars and sense.  The magnificent wild opened an opportunity for the Canadians to explore the great land, with it’s unending beauty and prizes of health and fitness benefitting the soul, the body and the mind.  Unrivalled magnificence of stellar views, of grand landscapes with carpets of flowers, magnificent wild beasts, forest and birds and mile upon mile upon mile of exploration, adventure and discovery.  Another superb mountain pass, a glimpse into the unending mountain chain, life and travel, peace and rejuvenation.  The heart melts at the great beauty of the awesome great Earth, and the soul sings in praises of the almighty planet.
Joy!  Joy in the discovery of yet another crystal clear lake, the colour of emeralds and turquoise.  Jewels of the earth splashed onto the landscape with colour so rare and brilliant.  Waterfalls and great glaciers, rugged, uncompromising land.  The brave came forward for the thrill and excitement of discovery, to challenge their skills in the fabulous pursuit of mountain adventure.  To climb the highest peak, to paddle the turbulent waters, to conquer the rapids and to proclaim their triumphant success. The challenge was so exciting and the adventure was so grand, that a call was heard at the  highest office of the land.  “More!”  cries the spirit, as it soars with the eagles at the top of the mountain.  A unnamed peak, so cleverly climbed and an expedition that can see for miles.  “There’s more!  We want more!”
The persistent horseman had travelled into the frontier, exploring and cutting trails for business and curiosity.  Setting up camps  and marking routes,  their travels becoming documented feats of early exploration,  where  no man had gone before.  They were the first to travel into the heart of the mountains and with their discovery came reports of more and more and more.  Land for preservation, land for protection, land for tourism and business and wealth.  Properly protected, the land becomes a haven of international acclaim.  Mountain climbers and thrill seekers, artists and adventurers all swarm to the mountains to lay claim to their rights. To be the first to capture that title, to paint that view, to write that log and to name that peak.  The race was on!  To be the first, and with that title, to capture their place in the history of the nation.  To be the praises of that song, to be the heroes of the day, to be the champion of that title.  To carry gold in their pockets and bragging rights, forever!
The pastime of a pursuit of a new national dream, captured their imaginations, their hearts, their minds and their destiny. In 1886, awesome Yoho with it’s fossil find, and fabulous Glacier National Parks, in British Columbia were formed. In 1887 the boundaries of Banff National Park were expanded.

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/bc/yoho/index.aspx Yoho National Park, British Columbia

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/bc/glacier/index.aspx Glacier National Park, British Columbia

With the formation of these two new national parks, Canada was now pursuing a legacy of national wealth in the preservation of the great outdoors.  A conscience developing in the Canadian people, to marvel at the magnificence of the great land of Canada, to be the proud owners of special, protected places.  A step into the lives of the early explorers is to witness a life of thriving good health and fitness.  The dauntless being who returned victorious from that triumphant mountain expedition, reaches to us from the thriving brilliance of yesteryear.  The earth saves us, oh human, and our history still claims us.  The system of national parks is for environmental protection and for the health and vitality of the people.  The great land calls us and from our beginnings we search and protect those significant areas that demand preservation.
For us, in Canada, the great wild has always been the fortune of our existence. Fortunate us, to have the great land and it’s outstanding wild places and wild creatures, to call us to health, fortitude, adventure and freedom.  Yes, said the awesome great powers of the day.  We will give you these grand landscapes of freedom, forever, for you to enjoy, oh Canadians.  In health, in wellness, in joy.  The new national dream was secured.
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
May 27, 2014

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More National Dreams

Good morning you awesome human.

So the world turns in it’s mysterious ways and the rights to wealth are bestowed upon those who were lucky. Their qualifications in tourism, at a moment in time, when the world was young and waiting to be discovered. The railway across the country had been completed, and the west was a destination for eager world travelers, who needed new experiences and challenges. The awesome beauty of the mountains and the legacy of adventure that they contain, enticed the inspired traveler to a destination of joy. Rugged adventure, pristine environments, wildlife and mountain climbing, splendid views of previously unseen, grand landscapes. Unknown waters and lakes, valleys and mountains. Unnamed plants and flowers, to be drawn and catalogued. The mountains enticed the privileged, the educated, the adventurer, the fortune hunter and the tourist. All so eagerly swarming to the newly formed national park.
Banff was an island of tourist fortune. A small, 26 square kilometer haven of environmental integrity. The Cave and Basin hot springs, a discovery of international acclaim, lay at the heart of what became a thriving tourist meca of natural wealth and resource.
The players in this wondrous venture, earned their rights to business enterprise and fortune. To this day, the legacy of these people, carve a niche in the thriving Alberta landscape. Here, in the far west is a land of stunning contrast. Superb vistas at high mountain altitudes. Rolling foothills to endless prairie. Wildlands and badlands, pond to desert, dinosaurs to buffalo jump, the great Alberta land has it all.

http://travelalberta.com/Places%20to%20Go.aspx Travel Alberta

The pioneers of the day, brought with them, horsemanship. Cowboys and outfitters, explorers and ranchers, the relentless invasion of the great wild, brought wealth and delight. More dreams, more daring, more farming and tourism. The pioneer of the time dared to demand the promise of hard work and success, of grand ventures and great achievement. To dare the dream of thriving in a new land, with new promise of great success. The venture into a national park system for Canada, was new to the young country. Only ten years old and Canada was carving her niche in environmental conservation policy. A legacy that would become a grand oasis of national parks, historical sites and marine conservation areas, setting aside vast tracts of land in this brave new world.
From small beginnings, come great achievements and the accomplishment of the national park system is still an ongoing and ever expanding development of national heritage. From the wonder of that tiny animal, born in the great wild, to the wonder of an awesome view from the top of a high mountain peak, the land and it’s fantasy draw us to it.
Dreams of adventure, of exploration, of athletic pursuits, of videos and photographs, of roadside wonder and scenic drives. Who saw that mountain top and claimed first prize? Only you. For each of us that ventures in to the national dream of national parks views that superb landscape from the eyes of the early pioneer. Untouched, still unspoiled, the precious dream lives on.

http://www.banfflakelouise.com

written by Dr. Louise Hayes
May 25, 2014

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