Valerie G. Barnes Connell Jordan
Northern Advocate
I look out my window this sunny morning free from smoke, heat and thunderstorm alerts and am thankful.
I look out at such beauty that I am moved by it all.
In the last couple of days I’ve driven through town, as I usually do, but, I’ve seen people enjoying the beach, the sunshine and all the elements.
A few days before my view was entirely different. I could not see the lake for smoke. We had our windows closed because of an air quality alert and life was challenging.
On the one hand, the smokey morning, made me appreciate the sunny day when I can open the windows and feel a breeze.
On the other hand, it makes me wonder…
Our Earth is naturally such a beautiful place. Whether it’s looking out on Lac La Ronge, or on a lovely prairie morning, in the mountains, in the Arctic, all places I’ve lived or, at least, been during my lifetime. Or, other parts of the world I only see in films or photos in magazines.
Wherever we go, there’s such natural beauty.
We share this Earth home with so many creatures, four-leggeds, winged ones, and all that crawl, to name a few.
I’ve come to understand that we live here together and, I believe, are meant to share with each other.
Patriarchy has taught us, some things are sacred and others are evil. We have a sense of taking control, taking power over other aspects of life. Somehow getting the idea that people are better than the other life species in this world.
I think everything is here to teach us something.
The smoke is a teacher. I don’t have the same quality of life when there’s too much smoke.
The smoke has many unhealthy particles in it that are harmful to our health and the health of the very planet itself.
Like this morning, so many times, I am moved by the beauty around me and I wonder … why do we put the environment at such risk.
Jasper has been a special place to me, as it is for so many Canadians. On a particular camping trip with a friend, we camped at Jasper, travelled on a logging road north in the area, and was moved by the beauty. It was my first such trip so was significant in my life.
In recent years, my husband and I have travelled to British Columbia and back. I developed some vertigo in the mountains, which was new to me and scary. He drove and we were so anxious to get to Jasper, where we the terrain changed. We were coming out of the mountains onto the Prairie and the vertigo left. It was like such a breath of fresh air.
We would stop there and either eat or do something for a short time and then continue on our way back to Saskatchewan.
We were saddened to hear of the destruction in Jasper, and our hearts go out to those who have lost homes, business or anything in those fires.
It also makes me think. These fires, storms and other environmental events are teachers for us.
Is it time to sit back a bit, take stalk of what is happening and make some different decisions on how we treat this home where we live?
It’s common knowledge that if human beings were removed from this planet, the planet would heal itself.
There are people, and I thank them, who are working so hard, to raise awareness of the threats to the environment. To encourage us to take a deeper look and make some different decisions, because we are not doing a good job now of taking care of our environment.
Next time we see children playing at the beach, or a new baby just coming into this world with their life ahead of them … my question, “What kind of world do I want for this child, any child?”
I know we need – change of thinking, acting, decision making, on all levels to bring out environment into a healthier state. It’s a change in what we value most.
And the changes need to come very quickly. Care of the environment and each other needs to come first.
