resurrection fern

What Happens to Nature Happens to Each One of Us

· We are all an integral part of nature – what happens to nature happens to each and every one of us, young and old . I have been thinking about stewardship of nature. How the ecosystems are so vulnerable and need our protection. I see so many examples of this all around me even with in my own garden. I want to show you some of the plants and animals I have had the pleasure of meeting this past week to show you some of what we need to protect. Share these with your children because after us it will be up to them to continue this very important job. Nature is all around us for us to enjoy, you don't need to travel far and wide. Most of these encounters have been within an hour from my home and quite a few of them just outside my front or back door. It worries me when people write me and say they never see snails or other small creatures. I don't know if they just aren't looking hard enough or know where to look or if they have already left that ecosystem because of climate change or pollution. I find snails everywhere I go. Here is my nature slide show . Sit back and enjoy the ride.

In just over a week I saw a great many animals and plants all very close to my home. Did you see the baby bird ( a cardinal) that we rescued after it fell out of its nest. We really enjoyed watching mom and dad cardinals feeding the little one all weekend. One picture I didn't get was the little chipmunk that I managed to get out of Edgar's mouth . It was scared but otherwise intact and quickly scurried up the nearest tree. You can look after the wildlife in your own yard and come to it's assistance . You can also look for opportunities to volunteer with nature conservation groups in your area. My daughter wants to volunteer this weekend to act as a bodyguard for 3 little baby plovers at the beach just north of here. Their were only two nesting pairs and one family was wiped out by a hail storm a few weeks ago. The second family hatched after the storm and needs our protection. After seeing pictures of the little darlings who wouldn't want to volunteer.

I can't think of a better way to spend a summer weekend. The volunteers will also be allowed to camp near the beach if they want to spend the night. Have you had any encounters with wildlife this week?

My Thought are with you Beyonce

Beyonce , one of our three cats was hit by a car last week during the night. She is under observation at the local animal hospital. Her tail bone ( coccyx ) has fractured and dislocated from her back (sacrum) by a few centimeters. Her tail is paralyzed and will need to be amputated but worse than that is her bladder and bowels are not under her control because her nerve bundle ( cauda equina) has been damaged. She is my oldest daughters cat and was great company for her when she was away at university on Montreal. I would like to dedicate this post to beyonce and hope for recovery of her neurological function so she can come hope soon.

The Most Vulnerable Need Our Protection

You may not recognize this man but I had the great privilege of hearing his address to the graduating class of 2008 at Bishop's University this past weekend. I managed to find him after the event and shake his hand. It was one of those moments when you feel that you are in the presence of a very special, very important person in the world. His name is Stephen Lewis and he is the Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa appointed by the secretary general of the United Nations. He also started the Stephen Lewis Foundation whose moto is "easing the pain of HIV/AIDS in Africa". He spends most of his time in Africa and he most recently returned from Liberia and shared with us the heaviness in his heart from what he witnessed there. I urge you to read the speech on his foundations website because it is very similar to the address he gave us. The link is http://www.stephenlewisfoundation.org/news_item.cfm?news=2400. The message he delivered to the graduating class was that the most important issue for the world was gender equality . The most endangered, most vulnerable people in the world were adolescent girls. He gave a numerous examples of war and conflict being brought to an end but the sexual violence against women and especially young women continues and no one , not even the peace keepers are working to end this crime. In the Congo young women are being mutilated by rape with knives and other weapons and he talked about something I had never heard of "vaginal destruction". I cried when I heard him describe these things. There I was in the audience with my 15 year old daughter sitting by my side. I held her hand tightly. A few days have passed by and I was walking in the woods tonight with my husband. The forest floor was covered in trilliums in various sizes and colors like the people of the world and then we would find the very rare ( in our woods they are rare) , beautiful, delicate yellow lady's slippers or Cypripedium parviflorum .

These rare beauties need our protection . In the entire forest we walked in this evening we only found about 8 of these flowers in bloom. Those beautiful young women in Africa need our protection as well or they will never grow, bloom , reach their potential or live their dreams. They are like rare wildflowers in the forest that is Africa.

In the words of Stephen Lewis "
If all the peacekeepers were women, and the men of a country were under pervasive sexual assault, do you think the women would simply observe the carnage? Not a chance. And they wouldn’t need a Security Council Resolution to tell them what to do." Please pass this message around because there is strength in numbers and we can make a difference . Thank you.

There and Back

Seems like a while since I have done a weekend in pictures post so here goes. We drove to North Hatley, Quebec to attend my son's convocation from bishop's university. This is a very picturesque area of Canada very similar to its southern neighbor Vermont.

Happy Birthday Elsita !!!!!

Elsita turns 37 today. It isn't a secret because she has already posted this on her blog. I don't recall the exact day I discovered elsita and her amazing artwork on etsy ( thank you etsy!) but it was less than one year ago. That lead me to her blog where I fell in love with all her art and instantly felt a connection to her writing. I left a comment and we have been friends ever since. I encouraged her to post her pictures on flickr and she encouraged me to start a blog. She and I have commented on every blog post each of us makes ever since that time. We have different methods of posting. I post a comment every day usually during a short break in my office schedule. It always makes me smile and energizes me. Elsita tends to leave 5 or 6 comments at once , usually late at night LA time. In the morning I wake up very early, make coffee and turn on the kitchen imac. I love finding a bunch of elsita comments. What a great start to my day. Everything elsita touches turns to gold. She can do just about anything . The only craft she doesn't know how to do yet is knitting and I hope to change that when we meet sometime this year. So what do you give the girl who can make anything ? I love making dolls in the waldorf style. I have made them for all my children and some very close family members but never for anyone else until this past week. I made a doll for elsita. This doll hasn't got a name yet because I want elsita to name him with one of her sweet cuban names. He loves to spend his time wandering in the woods, talking to the animals , insects and trees. He loves wild flowers and ferns and he always has his little knapsack with him to gather little gifts that the forest offers him on his travels. He brings them home to share with his mother who loves them so much . This little doll and his mushroom companion are on its way to california to give elsita a huge birthday hug .

The High Cost of Health Care

This is the closest thing I could find suitable for an April Fool's Day post. Every one whines about the high cost of health care and how the system is unsustainable so I thought you might be interested in the cost of a visit to the doctor in 1866 taken from a bulletin published by the physicians in my area over 100 years ago. Of special note is that there were quite a few of them back then and although I am not sure of the population of the area at that time it doesn't appear that there was a doctor shortage. I hope you can read the details but if not medical advice in the office , with or without medicine cost .50 to $1.50 and house calls in the village and into the countryside within 1 mile was $1.00. Unusual detention was 50 cents an hour after the first hour during the day and 75 cents at night. I wondered what constituted unusual. You could get an amputation or removal of a large tumour for 15 dollars. How large is large? If you only had 10 dollars can you get 2/3's of the tumour removed? You can have a baby delivered for 5 dollars. Do twins cost 10 dollars? The price double if they have to use instruments or if "seriously complicated" whatever that means. Have a great first day of April and the rule in our house is you only have until 12 noon to play tricks /jokes on anyone. Have any plans?

Strength and Gentleness on International Women's Day

This is a portrait of Alice and I am making her my poster woman for today, International Women's Day. She symbolizes to me what makes us women. Her strength, inner and outer beauty, gentleness and joie de vivre will be her legacy.

I wouldn't be the woman I am today if not for her holding me gently in her hands.

She treasures her family and decorates her residence with works of art that they have made spanning many decades.

Happy International Women's Day mom.

hear me whine about winehouse

I usually don't care the least for popular opinion or award shows but since my blog friendship with elsita I have become more aware of these cultural events. I don't understand how amy winehouse comes away with 5 grammies and leslie feist gets none. Feist and I go way back. Well at least a few years back when I first heard her sing and play guitar at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. I had never heard of her even though she lives in Toronto, about 30 minutes south of where I live. I was received a tip from a friendly manitoban working at starbucks in Winnipeg who heard I was on the way to the festival for the day and told me if I didn't see anything else I had to catch the Feist set. She was amazing to hear and I purchased her first cd for my daughter back home. She and I have very similar tastes in music and she loved it instantly. She had the pleasure of hearing her live the next summer at another folk festival in Guelph , Ontario and then her and her dad went when she played in Toronto last year. She is so talented but she is also naturally beautiful , down to earth and wholesome. She has never been expelled from school, arrested , abused drugs or alcohol or cut herself up as far as I know . She has been to rehab but it was voice rehab from voice overuse stemming from her days in a punk rock band and then broken social scene. She had a serious vocal cord injury and almost had to quit singing but then found a different way to express her musical talents . Well all I want to say is Feist we love you and I am sure you will win at the Juno awards ( the Canadian equivalent to the Grammies) and to amy winehouse please get some help and stay in rehab, yes , yes , yes.....

The World lost a great Canadian last week

Just a quick post to pay tribute to the greatest jazz pianist of all time and a great Canadian, OSCAR PETERSON (1925-2007). He died recently in his home just west of Toronto at the age of 82. A tribute was held on Saturday in Toronto with many amazing jazz musicians playing his music. His youngest daughter Celine , aged 16 ( yes that isn't a typo ) gave a heart warming tribute to her wonderful father. He started playing the piano at the age of 5 ( remember my first post with the quote from ashley g about what you are doing when your 5.....) taught by his sister Daisy. He even continued to play and give concerts after he suffered a stroke in 1993 that left him paralyzed on his left side. My husband was honored to meet him in a hotel elevator in Montreal after the stroke when he was in a wheelchair. He will never forget that encounter. If you could only listen to one of his recording I would recommend you listen to the title track of the Oscar Peterson Trio's recording Night Train .