BLOG ACTION DAY

Before I go off on my thoughts and ramblings about how much I love the environment, I want to stress first what is important. Never more than now does Reduce, Reuse and Recycle carry more meaning. Please write those companies that you see who over package their goods or just plain boycott them and don’t buy it. Reuse what ever you can, when ever you can. Please recycle. If you think you don’t have the time then give what you don’t recycle to someone who will, the extra money may help them. I give much of my returnables to the homeless by leaving them on top of or beside the garbage cans instead of inside them, or I leave them in a clear bag outside near a trash and in no time they are gone. Sometimes I give them to my neighbours who need the extra cash. The smell at the recycle centre makes me ill, so I’d rather give them away to someone who would be more willing to do it, I give out approx $10 to $15 per month doing this. Turn on lights only when you need them, turn them off when you don’t. Fill a cup with water when you brush your teeth instead of running the tap. By eco friendly cleaning products. Take your unwanted items to charity, keep things out of the landfills for as long as possible. There are many places now that recycle computer parts, TV’s and other appliances. Put a brick in your toilet tank to reduce the amount of water you use just to flush and no need to flush every time. I grew up with a septic tank and I understand what it’s like to only flush when there is a number 2 in the bowl, no reason why it can’t be the same when using a sewer system in the city. Do what you can, when you can and you’ve done your part. One person can make a difference and when combined, we as a whole can make an enormous difference.

As a writer I wanted to not only get my story out there in a fun, exciting way, but also in a knowledgeable way, I want my readers to learn something. In my 1st novel I described and built an environmentally friendly home, an eco dwelling. In the second novel I am working on, not only are my characters stranded in the wilds of Northern BC but I will express the need for conservation, what effects the climate change has had on the environment and how to respect what we have left.

I have always had a very deep connection with the earth. I carry her rocks everywhere with me around my neck. I probably have several hundreds of pounds of rocks, crystals and gemstones combined in my home and on my patio. My largest rock is a large chunk of quartz that I made my husband carry down a mountain for me, it’s about the size of two footballs (40 lbs) and it guards my patio door to bounce away negative energy.

I keep the air fresh in my house by keeping many plants and it livens up the atmosphere.
Oct 14th 2007 Kids water park in an undamaged area of Stanley Park.

Against my better judgement and even after being told by those who know me most not to go to Stanley Park, I ventured out today and went anyway. It was a beautiful day today, one of the last sunny ones we may have before we have rain and clouds for the rest of the winter. I had been avoiding going to my favorite park since last December. There was a terrible windstorm that swept in from the Pacific ocean, trees were downed all around the coastal cities, but nowhere was the damage felt more than in Stanley Park.
The trees in this photo are gone.

Stanley Park is a city park in Vancouver. It is 10% larger than Manhattan’s Central Park and is well known as the largest urban park on the North American continent. I loved Stanley Park. She was home to some amazingly old trees. We just lost the oldest one a few days ago in high winds and it was between 800 and 1000 years old.
This is a picture with my husband Bob in the centre and my nephew Billy to the right in 2006. All of the trees behind them are gone now.

This is whats left of them after the damage.

The damage from last winters storm far outweighed what my mind was able to comprehend or imagine. I knew that the fact that I loved the park and that I connected with the park on an empathic level, that it would make me shed some tears for her losses. I was so wrong. My daughter warned me not to go. I didn’t just shed a few tears. I sobbed, I wailed, I keened, I grieved violently. I had waited 9 months, I had hoped most of it would be cleaned up by now. I expected to see some downed trees. What I saw on the western side of the park was absolute devastation. The only way to see the water from the top of Stanley park was to go to Prospect Point or down from the seawall, not now. I had never seen it from the road due to the thick lush green forests that towered all around, but I saw the ocean today, the forest was but sticks and splinters.
West side of Prospect Point and where Dodie and I used to smoke.

My first tear fell when we came around the bend approaching Prospect Point and I looked to the left and I saw the blue sky. The forest that stood there was gone. I had always connected that specific stand of trees as mine and Dodie’s (the daughter who warned me not to go) we had often snuck into the wooded area together to sneak away from the prying eyes of tourists to smoke a dube before we went hiking at the Hollow Tree. We had on one occasion been surrounded by racoons who thought we were there to feed them (I never feed wild animals) and we were all fried and freaked out and went running back to my Jeep. It’s all gone now, the trees, the animals and even the eagles who were roosting there. Not one tree is left standing in the specific patch of trees, it reminded me of the clear cuts I see when I go camping way out in the mountains. Going further around the bend I noticed that the whole slope was devastated. I began to sob then. My husband drove in silence, just shaking his head, even he couldn’t believe what he saw. This was one of the only times we did not park and go walk around the point and look over at the Lions Gate Bridge.
Me and the Hollow Tree Dec 2003 and The Hollow Tree 1891.

We kept going until we reached the Hollow Tree, even she did not escape damage, the top was gone once again. The Hollow Tree is a famous landmark 5.5 metres in diameter and the largest in diameter dead or alive in the whole park and the most photographed spot in the park. The main tree died long ago due to lightning strike, but its off shoots survived to grow and were themselves hundreds of years old. The tops are all gone now.
Bob and my nephew in the Hollow Tree 2006 and A picture from today.

But my main goal was within reach and the reason I braved to enter the park in the first place; my annual mushroom hunt. Yes the kind of mushroom that make you smile, and in my case make me incredibly horny too. I went to the same spot I’ve found them every year since my first year here in the city. I found them my first fall here six years ago and kept their exact whereabouts a family secret. A gift from the Mother, a gift of laughter, smiles and warm fuzzy feelings. I only pick enough for me, an odd treat to get me through the depressive days of winter when my moods crash, it’s the earths most natural antidepressant (ok hallucinogenic too,,, Ooo pretty colours). I eat three little ones now and then, and put on a not so fake smile. I froze what I brought home, enough for 6 small trips to Allyson’s wonderland in the dead of winter. Anyways...

All in all 40% of the trees where effected throughout the park and along the western edge 60% was lost with Prospect Point being the worst hit.
60% of the forests on the right hand side of both these photos are gone now.

I grieve as much for the rest of the earth and what is happening to her. Due to global warming BC is facing it’s worst outbreak of mountain pine beetle. The infestation has been devastation. I first saw the wide spread devastation on my travels to and from Alaska. It’s heart breaking to see so much death. It hasn’t been getting cold enough to kill them off enough to get them under control and the ministries practices of not allowing natural burns to take place, leaving the forests susceptible to disease. Not to mention what is happening on a global scale. I just can’t handle all of it, so I focus on the things closer to home.

I could probably go on for ages about this, but I find it too upsetting and frankly I’d rather spend more time writing about things I enjoy. So I will leave it up to the experts.

In closing I’d like to say that I have been a very fortunate person to have seen some of the most amazing sights, traveled in places few have gone and I’ve had the opportunity to spend time in some of Canada’s most beautiful spaces.
Yup That's Me!

I always respect the places I go. I often bring out more garbage than I take in and I NEVER leave even the smallest scrap of garbage behind. I leave every site either the same way I found it or in better condition. Please respect the places you go to for others to enjoy, get involved in cleaning up your communities and conserve where you can.
The view at the top of Burnaby Mountain 5 minutes from my home.