holiday

The Oystercatchers of Gwaii Haanas
by

The Oystercatchers of Gwaii Haanas

Hail Brave Hearts

The great wild is calling,  An adventures awaits.  Dutifully we don our apparel for yet another great holiday in Canada.  It’s summertime, and the sun shines gloriously on long days of warmth and outdoor activity. Canoes and kayaks entice us into the waters of lakes and rivers.  The iconic Canadian transportation system, lures us into the paths of our history.  Build your canoes, build your kayaks, follow in the steps of legendary people who navigated the waters this way.

The great wild calls us to develop the skills of history makers who charted the seas, mapped the coastlines and stamped the approval of the ownership of this land.  This is ours.

The great lands of the Haida, tucked away in the northern islands, north of Vancouver Island.  Isolated and rare, a gem of discovery.  This land is our land, protected by a great nation of peoples, the Haida people of Haida Gwaii and the Gwaii Haanas National Park.  It belongs to them and their stories fill the islands.

We arrive by plane, for the trip of a lifetime, into the land of the Haidas.  Remote and alive, the area fills with eagles.  The ocean is calm and the days are warm.  We’ve packed for a week long kayak adventure into Gwaii Haanas.  This area is a paradise of wilderness ocean adventure.

Seagulls meet us, reminding us that God is here.  In the call of the birds, we clearly hear Gods name.  Seals bask on the rocks and a river otter swims past.  An Oyster Catcher stops us.  His antics catch our attention as he jumps around on the rock in a aa unusual dance.  His five chicks huddle close together in the nest and his mate slumber close by.  He is a father and proudly shows off the nest.  A thirteen year old bird, whose making a noise that sounds like Barack.  We name him Barack then, pleased that he’s shown us his fine family

Black Oystercatcher Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Our luck with the weather holds for this trip.  There are seven of us on this  July excursion, with a guided kayaking and camping company.  The Pacific is mainly calm and peaceful towards us as humpback whales surface and feed in our sights.  One comes close to us.  It’s a pleasure.  The wildlife sightings are superb, with black bear, dolphins, orcas and sea lion to add to our list.  The bird life is unusual to us as well.  Ancient Murrelet,  seagulls, falcons, puffins, rhinoceros beaked birds and red footed pigeon guillemot to add to  our list.  It’s a list of some rare bird and animals  in an area filled with ocean life.

Then, there’s, the people.  We visit the Haida of the ancient totem poles.  to see for ourselves the carvings of great masters and to hear their stories.  A far flung people, out in islands in a remote Pacific location.  An area of impressive beauty molding a nation of seafaring people, who live from the sea.  The builders of ocean going canoes paddling the great seas.  A people of unique culture, surviving in an area of wildlife wealth.  The ocean provides.

This was a dream holiday in our great land.  So much to be proud of, so much to enjoy.  The land and the people, the ocean and the wildlife.  A place of unusual prosperity.

parks.canada.ca › pn-np › bcGwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, National Marine …

The sun shines brightly on Haida Gwaii and the warm summer breeze encourages outdoor adventure.  This was a wonderful, unique  holiday in Canada’s superb wilderness backyard.  We congratulate ourselves for this choice of adventure.    We’ll be back

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

August 27, 2023

by

Dawson City

Good Day Brave Hearts

The celebration begins.  June 21 is a special day for the Indigenous People of Canada.  The longest day of the year marks the first day of summer and is celebrated by all of us, in one way or another.

From that mountain top hike to enjoy  the view, to the joy of  just  being outside in the sunshine for a long summers day, the summer solstice is a celebration of light, sun, earth and summertime.  It’s a day to be outside.  A day that is given to us to enjoy the light.  Enjoy the sun, the sunshine and  celebrate the beginning of summer.

The warm summer sun washes us and frees us of the chill of winter.  Our clothing is light and we shed the winter coat of down, fur, or layers that protect us all winter long.  We can swim in the warm lakes and bask in the warm sun.  Sun worshippers are we.

Add to the joy of just another summer solstice, the longest day of the year is also a celebration of Indigenous Peoples, who also long to enjoy the warm summer sunshine, to feel the warm summer breeze and to cast off the cold, winter’s night that is always too long.  The sun is rising and in some parts of our world it will not set at all.  With thanks, we celebrate this new light show.  Gone are the Northern Lights, now it’s only the sun, for twenty four hours a day.  We are nearly at the Arctic Circle.

This beautiful little town of Dawson City is a gem in the Yukon.  A bright and prosperous mining town, still selling nuggets of gold and revelling in the gold rush days.  It’s a place of history, of champions, of people who made a living in a harsh reality that was the gold rush.   It was not an easy place to be.  The history of this divine place is of hardship, strife, difficulty and doom  It’s also a history of fantastic fortune, of fun and folly and of clever enterprise.  It’s a brilliant story, way up in the north.  A booming small town, still gold rush rich, it oozes the gold rush days.  Fine buildings in immaculate condition, brightly painted and artistically designed.  This was a place of privilege and so it goes.  There’s still gold in those hills.

Exploring Dawson City in the Yukon (The heart of the Klondike Gold Rush)! – YouTube

The other rich, is the people.  A fine and determined group of settlers who wouldn’t leave this place, and a fine and determined group of Indigenous people who already belonged to it.  They belong to the land, it is theirs, it belongs to us.  The age old right of occupancy, of who fits in and where.  The right of the Indigenous clans to keep what’s theirs, the right of the settlers to occupy for prosperity.  It’s what needs are.  There is gold here, we stay.

The celebration is of fine minds, of people who care for this awesome and inspiring place.  It’s a celebration of music, of stories, of plays, fun and food.  It’s a day long celebration of praise for the people.  It’s a day of necessity.  Take the day, enjoy the music, indulge in the goodness of this day.  A day for praise, for harmony, for joy.  It instills the self worth that is necessary. We are one, we are whole, we are a people.

Joy to us, for this great day of celebration.  It’s a fine day, for fine people.  Happy are we, for the joy that it gives us. Happy are we for the celebration.  Happy are we for the summer solstice and for Indigenous Peoples Day.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

June 26, 2023

 

Staycation
by

Staycation

Hail Brave Hearts

In our time of isolation and loneliness, the great adventure alludes us.  Where will our dreams take us on our earthly mission of journey and exploration.  Hail Brave Hearts, the adventure is here.

We seek the joy of holidays and vacation time, the sun and sand, the culture and cuisine, the history and the marvels of modern man.  We journey frequently to lands abroad, to seek the fulfillment of international travel.  We find enormous pleasure in speaking other languages, engaging in their conversation, frolicking in the fun of their tourist attractions.  We miss this immensely.  Cancelled flights, cancelled holidays, cancelled time away from all of the stress and routine.  Time for a change.  Time to break free of it all and escape to the holiday dream world of other lands.  We saved for this, planned for this.  This is our refuge and our right.  For those of us with home ownership in foreign lands, this pandemic is an outrageous atrocity, forcibly confining us to our homeland.

Here at home we stay.  Here at home we play!

As usual, the welcome winter spreads her cloak of magnificent snow all around the ground.  As usual, we pull on our best winter attire and most fun sporting gear and head for the great outdoors.  The winter has been mild and magnificent.  So much snow!  So many ice rinks and lakes to skate on, so many back country trails to glide along, so many downhill ski resorts to ski on, so much hockey to play.

The winter birds chirp and cheer us along as we smoothly sail through the forest.  The wildlife stare.  Our frustration with our confinement and solitude evaporates into the warm sunshine.  Fresh air and snow, warm winter breezes, sunscreen and winter fun.  Life is good.  It can’t get any better than this.  A back country ski lodge at the end of pleasant winter’s ski day.  Canadian gourmet to rave about.  Excellent snow conditions, fabulous scenery, family, friends, companions.  The twinkling starry night in the heavens above.  This is what Canada offers.  It’s thrilling!  So much so, that this kind of wilderness experience is sought after by many.  It’s a unique privilege, to cast your worries away and venture into a remote location, accessed by only those few who know about  it. One of those secrets that keep us healthy and happy and searching for more.  This kind of holiday is as good as it gets.  Canadian culture at it’s finest.

Now we head home, for more opportunity, leisure and fun.  Our sporting days in the great Canadian wild are never over.  We will never be done.  Just one more day, in this fabulous vacation land, to ski our day away.

Yet another perfect day.  The snow is soft and the ski runs are long.  The scenery is the majestic Rocky Mountains.  The views are incredible.  Due to pandemic bliss, the ski hill is full of people, but not as busy as it would otherwise be.  The lift lines are short.  There’s seating in the chalet.  There’s room at the Inn.

https://www.skibanff.com/play/events-calendar

Spending our time and money in our homeland, has been a good business practise for us.  Help stimulate the economy,  keep your neighbors employed,  enjoy the adventure of your own country.  It’s been a pleasure.  So much so, that I wonder if we’ll miss these no fuss days, without a line up anywhere, no traffic on the highway, endless vacant trails.  ,The bliss of having it all to ourselves.  This too shall end.

Hurray for the vaccine!

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

March 17, 2021

by

Happy Birthday to Us

Good Day Brave hearts

A Happy Canada Day to you.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

Canada Day, 2020