national parks

by

The Wild Heroes

Hail Bravehearts

Can you hear it?  Can you see them?  The chorus is rising, the melody harmonious, the trumpets are blaring and the song is persistent.  The sound draws our curiosity and the clack and crack of the percussion, fills the fall air.

The song is a challenge, a call to a duel, a call of a champion who dominates the land.  Rushes of fierce aggression, power and might.  The will to be victorious, the need to win.  At the peak  of their health, at the peak of their musculature, at the peak of their minds.  No more the docile and calm, the placid and unassuming.  No more the mild and passive.

Now the days have changed and with it comes the call to fight.  The call of great champions, the days of autumn, when the  songs of battle pierce the air and the trumpets blare their demanding rights.  Come out of hiding, oh mighty foe, the challenge must be met and the fight must commence.

The song is a love song, it calls for a mate.  Bellowing and blaring the dominant voice of a great leader calls to it’s circle of proud supporters, to gather around.  Come close and be protected calls the great voice and the interested, the curious, the dutiful, come forward to be protected and to join in the circle of togetherness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJd7L2aDHC0  it’s elk mating season

The family gather around to join with their great leader.  His voice echoes throughout the land and he can be heard by his rivals.  Others, his foes with massive girth and muscular strong bodies, come forward to challenge the champion and the duel for supremacy and superiority rights commences.

The bystanders watch with interest as the champions face off.  Their wide weapons, honed to perfection.  The sharpened daggers of bone, the weapons of nature, tines of pointed danger.  The aggressors face off for the duel of their lives.  Courtship and mating is the name and fighting for this privilege  is the game.  Only the strongest, of superior genetics will win this fight for life itself.  The rights to reproduce, to be the grand champion, to be the life force of nature that will sire next years fawns.  A game of immense proportions, of immense importance, for the victor is the wild almighty one, who’s genetics will carry the herd forward into another year of healthy prosperity.  For these ones, their prosperity is their numbers and the grand victor of these matches is the prize of nature.

The grand prize of nature, stands up to be counted and calls his wild call of majesty and triumph.  To a duel!  Out of the forest comes another bold and athletic counterpart to attack with ferocity for the dominance of this season.  To win!  To be the pride of nature’s glory. To be the victor of this remarkable privilege.  The fabulous,  the mighty, the hero of the herd!  It is now.  A time to live and a time to fight.  The season of the great wild champions, is  now!

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

September 2, 2015

Proper Awesome
by

Proper Awesome

Good Day all you almighty ones!

The glorious days of summer are upon us.  Global warming is changing our world.

In an area where 30 degrees is a sometime thing, we have reached record highs in May.  The result?  A new kind of splendor.  It might be dire, but for the holidaying visitor, the new kind of splendor is an awesome grand new experience for us.

http://www.parkscanada.ca

The snow is still clinging to the mountains in places, the high glaciers, still holding their place on the peaks of those far off places, the rivers, still streaming from those sources and the avalanches still crashing down.  The quiet of the day in a remote location, broken by the sound of avalanches crashing and rumbling down a mountain side.

Spring has come early  here, with the wildflowers showing their elegant blooms, the birthing mothers showing off their delightful offspring, the warm, lush landscape brimming with vegetation and the northern lights playing and dancing in the sky.

Here is the remote wild.  A far off place where nature sings and calls to us. Venture oh wise ones, hear our call, come to visit and to know us , come to see how we live and come to understand the awesome need of the great wild.  Come, oh wise ones and bring your children, come to play in the great outdoors.

The warm, soothing waters of soft glacial fed lakes, the pristine clarity of the water and the warm, bathtub temperatures to sooth the aching stress of highways, traffic, pollution and busyness.  A warm dip in a warm lake of glacial fed water, blue and shimmering and still.

The wild orchids show a fine display in the shaded forest.  The birds sing and call to the glory of the day.  The animals watch with curiosity, then hide in the forest.  The awesome summer, with it’s warm and brilliant days is upon us.

These splendid, special places, where the Earth shows its finery, its majesty and it’s awe, have special meaning for us.  Ecological integrity, bio-diversity, unique areas of cultural and environmental significance.  Places where time stands still, where you can still see the view that the fur traders saw.  You can still navigate the rivers and portage the land.  You can camp near historic camping spots and fill your cup from water, today’s first water, melted glacial water,  the water that will enter our rivers and flow to the oceans.

Here, in the great wild, is the birthplace of many.  The birth of the rivers, the lakes, the watershed.  The birth of the wild animals, the great forests, the mountains themselves.  Here is the new beginning for you.  A step into the land of the wild.  A cultural place, a privileged place, a place of sanctuary and life.  A place where the history of the people presents itself in preservation, in endless land, in an unusual meadow.  A place to learn about our protected places, the events that built them to their glory and distinguished them from other, lesser known areas.  Here we sing and laugh and play in the heart of this beauty.  Our special land, our special life, our immensely special love.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

July 3, 2015

Environmentally Adapted
by

Environmentally Adapted

Hello Bravehearts

Now you rise to a day of adventure.  Now you rise to the call of your destiny.  The spirit wakes and your soul sings and the praises of this day, fill you will life.  Praises!  For your life to be worthwhile and joyous, sing with praises for each new day.  In this moment of wakefulness, as the day dawns and the newness of the morning greets us, the world opens it’s doors and lets your eyes see.  The dawn of another day.

The birth of the Earth comes with each spring and this year the world is warmer and the spring is green and lush.  The lakes are warm and inviting.  Swimming and playing in the clean, clear  water is a welcome retreat from the hot, summer sun.  The sun shines brightly late into the day and our daylight lasts past 11 pm.  This is joy to us, the greening of the fabulous planet, the late evening sun and the warm,inviting, outdoors.  We thrive in the outdoors.   In the yellow morning sunshine and the green, lush plantings.  The Earth, so welcoming and quiet in the morning, we can hear out hearts beat and the sounds of the morning risers as they  sing!

Sing!  all of you glorious risers, sing!  The world is filled with the call of your blessings and the love songs of joy as the world sings in gladness for the gift of living.  Sing!  The songs of the wild fill the air as the mating pairs rejoice in the beauty of their efforts.  Life! Love! Creation! Sing! The joy of being, of living, of being alive!  Sing, to each other, to the great planet and sing with joy.  To live is to be and to be is to have life.  Sing for the joy of living as the world’s small creatures do.  Sing with the joy of being alive.

How awesome are we to be the caretakers of the Earth.  To be superior and in charge, to be grand and intelligent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkzDKaq2M_U  The endangered spirit bear

Here in a quiet corner of the Earth, on a lovely piece of land, lives the endangered spirit bear.  An uncommon piece of the beauty and serenity of the forests of British Columbia.  Here, in the great wilds of Canada, we have a piece of evolution, of animal adaptation to a select region of forest.

Preservation is key.  A selected animal in a selected habitat for the joy and beauty of this place.  Unique and rare the white spirit bear lives in a old growth, coastal forest that screams for protection.   The cries of “save us!” ring in our ears as the great white bear lives it’s entire existence in a small area of BC.  A small, needy population of bear, asking for just a small favor.  Oh you wise and intelligent ones, hear us as we call to you.  Protect us.

Save us so that we can sing our song and live our lives in the old, mossy forest. Save us for what we are, the rare and unusual, the environmentally adapted, the unique and special.  Save us so that we can dot your landscape with something different and something rare.  Save us, oh great masters.  Our hearts call to you from the great wild.  Let us sing!

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

June 15, 2015

The Awakening
by

The Awakening

Good day all of you Brilliant ones!

Here is today, a day of awesome splendor.  A day when the world shows off it’s beauty and thrives in the warmth of brilliant sunshine.  Here is today, a day for you.

The Earth is warm and sends it’s healing power to you.  A healthy life of intelligent pursuits, carrying you forward towards your goals.

The rejuvination of  springtime, when all of the world awakens to the early morning sunshine and the warm, streaming sunshine pulls you from your restful slumber, into the dawning of the new day.  Warm and inviting, the world awakens and the call of the wild sings to the planet.  Songs of joy, of cheerful living, songs of love to nest and nurture, songs of gathering to keep themselves together.  Sing for the joy of being, of happy pleasure, of grateful life.  The dark cloak of nighttime vanishes with the dawn and today the Earth reveals yet another of its wonders.  Another new flower pulls up its showy head and waves to the world, and nods in graceful elegance.  I have bloomed.  Here I am!  It is me!  I have bloomed.  And with this showy, colorful, fragrant blossom,  we are saved.  Saved from extinction, saved from being a mark in history, saved from devastating loss.  Here I am!  It is me!  We are saved.

Again and again, the showy blooms rise to meet this glorious day.  Again and again their colorful attire sparkles the landscape with dots of beauty.  Reds, yellows, blue and white, the showy dainties cast their spell on the landscape and fill it with the colors of the rainbow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwI2u23LRx4&spfreload=10  secret garden, first day of spring, by Andreea Petchu

Hail to the great planet,calls these precious  dainties of life.  Brilliant and bold they rise to the morning sun and wave and dance to the playful tunes of warm breezes.   The life that fills the planet with color, scent and beauty.  Flowers in a spring meadow, surprising with their brilliance.  Cold resistant and sturdy these fragile, adaptive plants fill the forest, the meadow, the plains, the mountain with an array of color, variety, design and interest that cheer the soul of horticulturalists, botanist and curious amatures.  The world swells with the awakening of spring and the wonderful plant life that we fortunately find.

A tiny, brilliant dot of a violet, tucked away along a path, blue clematis, paintbrush, strawberry and primrose, the competition for finery is unmatched in these species.  Lovely day and lovely findings.  The wild has awakened with the dawn of this day and splashes its paintbrush of color all across its land.

Lucky for us, this day, as we stroll along a mountain path and breathe the clean, pure air of mountain sunshine and rejoice.  Today the world shows off her glorious inventions and the variety and beauty of her landscapes saves us once more.  A day of simple, grand design as the planet entices us from our beds and our secure homes.  Come into my garden, calls the great, good Earth and smile at the day that welcomes you.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

June 4, 2015

Dream of Peace
by

Dream of Peace

Good Day, you Awesome Human!

Splendid day. Warm and snowy. The birds are singing gaily from their roosts. The elk lie in the meadows, relatively calm, after a long autumn of elk battles and rutting. The peaceful does with wombs full of the promise of another successful spring of calving. The big horn sheep, also resting, caring for the silent burden of their soon to be offspring.
The great wild! The drama of the wild as it plays out its role, in the never ending cycle of creation. Born to this place, the wild entices us, with its riches of spectacular views, muscle strengthening climbs, varieties of lifeforms and the gift of providing us with natural wonder to explore.
A peek into this place, of grand beauty and grand design, which fills out hearts and souls with wonder. Oh mighty planet, to give us this gift, from a highway, cut through the mountains. Those of us who have time, will exert ourselves more and climb to a pinnacle on a well traveled trail, for a look at what lies on the other side. A steep bit of climbing, a scramble, an effort, but where it takes us is to the grand view of the wild. A view of what lies on the other side of that mountain range. More forests and rivers, cascading waterfalls, animal tracks, mountains and valleys to explore. We are the hungry. We thirst for more and more. Show us your splendor, oh great planet earth, as we strive to reach your mountain tops and intrude into the land of your wildlife, to photograph those elusive species, and brag.
The world turns for us, on these snow covered days, as we strap on snowshoes and venture out to play. A daunting world of snow and ice, but for us to trudge through, a winter’s delight. Animal tracks. There’s plenty of life in this snow covered domain, but no one shows their faces today. Instead, it’s us, joining the tracks in the snow, plodding and chatting and breaking trail. These small few hours of exertion, to remind us of by gone days and years of exploration, as the well traveled adventurer set off to discover this new land. Tracks of snowshoes in the forests, tracks along the winding creek. An easy day of healthful activity, to fill our lungs with pure, clean air, to strengthen our bodies and refresh our minds.
The luck of an easy day of refreshing activity. The joy of adventure into the quiet winters solitude. A brush with nature as she plays out her part. The wild calls us and the wild whispers. Save us, oh mighty ones. Don’t plunder here. Spare us from the weapons of mass destruction and a world of madness and we will give you the peace of a quiet winter’s day, with snow on the mountains and the crisp, crunchy snow beneath your feet.
Let this stand of the earth be your playground, oh great ones, and may you forever venture into the wild and breathe.
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
January 19, 2015

The Real Santa Claus
by

The Real Santa Claus

Hail Bravehearts

The holiday season is upon us, filled with love, light, peace and happiness.
Joy to the world, even nature sings!
Some lucky people witnessed the unusual event of a caribou sighting at Marmot Basin Ski Area, Jasper National Park on December 17, 2014. Eight handsome caribou, made a grand appearance on the ski run. These are eight of only 41 left in the Park.
The significance? Come Dasher, come Dancer, come Comet, come Vixen, come Prancer, come Cupid, come Donner, come Blitzen, and the rarest of them all, the Mountain Caribou.
My photo shows a female caribou and her calf on a snow patch, taken from the top of the Mt Edith Cavel Meadows, in July 2014. We needed binoculars to see them.

http://www.thejasperlocal.com/caribou-make-rare-appearance-as-closures-loom.html Caribou sighting at Marmot Basin, Jasper,Alberta, December 17, 2014

The Christmas season is heralded by a merry old gent in red who brings us gifts of Christmas joy. No poverty during this warm season of friendship, worship and brotherly love. The real Santa Claus is not an elf, but a real person, so revered for his abilities to enact miracles. A marvelous human being with powers so great that he could raise the dead and bring gifts of gold to the needy.

Miracles! The holiday season is filled with joy and fellowship. A miracle of humanity and community sharing, of peace and goodwill. The merry old gent, who fills your stocking, is a saint of immense proportions for humanity. His story is told and his contributions deserve our continued respect. Jolly old St. Nicholas who helped to ease the needs of the poor in his day, is remembered still as Santa Claus.

http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/who-is-st-nicholas/ Who is St. Nicholas, the real Santa Claus.

Merry Christmas to all of you. Happy holiday season.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes
December 24, 2014

What is Reality?
by

What is Reality?

Hail Bravehearts

To this glorious day! To rise to health and happiness, to support and care. A strong society of compassionate people with courage and intelligence. Properly educated, properly nourished, diverse and interested. The time to seek out difficulties, to pursue the challenges of need and growth. The leadership of negotiation, of salvation, of prominence and effectiveness. A nation of riches in diversity, cultural and environmental. To seek all of the spectrum of humanity and life and to protect us and to save it all.
A unique nation, with multi-cultural lives, flourishing under a banner of freedom and support. Hail, you almighty human for the nation building of strong, humane ties, to the roots of our past, of history, of glory, of a wholesome victory. To win, for the worlds peoples, a place of international peace.
The wars that kill us, kill the planet. We destroy, not only ourselves, but the beautiful great earth, that dies as we die. Awesome planet, your needs are small, only to ask that we tread softly and light the flames of war no more. Think differently, oh brave ones, your lives will prosper without so many, and the greed of the needy, who ask for your land, will subside with the control of your populations.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29788754 population control, does it work?

The revolving issue of food for the hungry, quell starvation, open a food bank and feed the world. More land for farming, more land for housing, more land for more of us to share.
Awesome planet, with your fabulous diversity, trees and flowers, birds, reptiles, insects, animals and fish. The beautiful wonder of the creation of earth. Biodiversity, wondrous sites, mountains and pristine lakes. All intertwined and connected to form a fabulous great earth with so much life and living. Show off your awesome wonder, oh great planet, the flowers nod their brilliant heads and greet us with colour and variety. The bees for pollination, dying by the thousands. Food for the hungry? So many issues to address. The constant assault against the environment. Tear down the forest, destroy that ecosystem, fill in the marsh.
The planet groans under the weight of so many. Where will its precious life forms survive? Another dead lake, another contaminated river, the oceans a garbage dump of waste and over production. Too many factories, too much consumption, too much production. All creating waste and refuse. A society of consumerism and an ever increasing marketplace, showing off its abundance of riches and wealth, but still the ever demanding cries from the hungry, feed us!
The infrastructure of the city wallows in decay. Tear it down and rebuild, higher and higher into the sky, to house more and more people. Increase population density, increase urban sprawl, live in larger and larger abodes. One person per unit, takes up a lot of space.

http://www.infowars.com/from-7-billion-people-to-500-million-people-%E2%80%93-the-sick-population-control-agenda-of-the-global-elite/

Hear us, oh great planet, as we call to you for more. Just increase your size, oh planet earth. We need more room, become larger, so that we can spread out more and save us oh planet, save us all.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes
November 21, 2014

A Great Escape
by

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
by

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
by

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