summertime

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

 

by

The All Canadian Dream

Hail, almighty human

Cast your worries aside and lounge in peaceful comfort and restful relaxation, at the fine escape of your choosing. An awakening of senses, and the joy of prosperity, your family vacation property has it all. Awesome human, your lifetime challenge has been achieved. You linger over a fine view of vanishing waterfront on pristine, remote lakes. Ahh! the luxury, the joy of living, the peace and quiet of natures bountiful blessing. Awesome, good earth with its tranquil places of divine landscape and meditative stillness. The great wild holds you in its palm and you rest in the comfort of the creation of the great earth.
Warm summer breezes caress your skin and cool summer waters soothe the aching heat.
Summertime bliss, summertime, prosperity and summertime escape.
The chattering family moor the boat to the dock. Another round of watersports ended for today. The lesson of summers play, to swim, to fish,to drive a boat, paddle a canoe, water ski and play at water sports.
The cottage is the all Canadian summer time dream. An escape of infinite pleasure. Luxury, rustic setting, an achievement for only the wealthy to share. A cabin in the woods, where no other human dare to dwell. The toil and strain of business enterprise, of work and perseverance, of drive and ambition, of properly funded investments, and cleverly calculated risks. Now to achieve the all time Canadian dream. A cottage.
Hail, almighty human, you have it all. Side by side accommodation on vanishing lakefront. An exchange of place, from city to country, from neighbours to neighbours. To dangle your feet from a dock into the cool water and to call this simple act, paradise!
The rolling waves change your view, thunderstorms move in from miles away, the stars shine in the heavens above and what was once a remote getaway has become a semi-forested crowded retreat, with unending views of cottages and neighbours.
A speed boat interupts the quiet paddle of your canoe and the call of the loon echoes in distant memory. A Canadian tradition, a Canadian dream, the rights of passage to the moneyed world.
Hail brave hearts, look into your mind, waters for swimming and with varieties of fishes, but no access for you. The call of the loon, the racket of geese, the sounds of serenity and the remote wild, vanishing to the play and intrusion of motorized craft and overpopulated shorelines, filled with summer homes and islands filled with people. The escape into a different suburbia, from streetscape to waterscape, from overcrowded city into overcrowded country. Farther and farther, more and more remote, more development, more noise, less privacy, less tranquility, less peace. The awesome call to the wild, hurried by rush hour traffic, for miles and hours along speeding highways. Go north, along with all of the other hurrying humans, as they vacate the city for lakeshore retreat. To campfires and sing-a-longs, to parties and play. The crowded lakes of cottage country, entice those with the funds to escape.
To the wild! To the wild! Go north, to the wild! To fulfill the fabulous calling, of the needed wild paradise, and the still secure, all Canadian dream.
http://www.discovermuskoka.ca/

written by Dr. Louise Hayes
April 1, 2014