Castles in the sand

I returned from a week away in Toronto a couple of days ago to witness the crews efficiently taking down, delimbing, and neatly stacking the trees around Brown's Lake entrance to the Gatineau Park. Must say, it didn't look much like a park. I noticed someone had hung my handpainted sign: "Save ther Pines - Redesign" over the road closure sign which certainly trumped my piddly, naive sign. I wasn't so concerned because I knew this highway could not be stopped or redesigned, I just thought someone should say something as the cause celebre 300 year old pine lays broken and smashed on the ground. A sacrifice to the highway gods of progress? How many trees or farmland were lost for the constructing of the 401 highway to Toronto, how many lives saved and how much money generated for our economy. These metrics of change are not comparable of course, but I for one, am glad that those brave hardy souls took the time and effort to make this vigil here on sacred ground. Maybe it won't make a difference to this highway or it's timetable for construction, but I'll never forget those beautiful people a couple of weeks ago, who one by one, took the eagle feather in their bare hands and spoke from their heart to what was real and dear to them.  This story is not over, in fact, for those souls who put their asses on the line to make this statement, it's only the beginning. May their journey make a difference and may the rest resist indifference and cynicism as our natural world erodes like castles made of sand.

The letter of the day:


There is nothing 'state of the art' about the A5 highway design. In fact, there is nothing 'state of the art' about any highway design or about our addiction to fossil fuels, and our voracious sense of entitlement.
Super highways have always, and continue to create great chasms in our connection to communities and the natural world. They are notorious for bypassing and killing small towns and spitting us all out into huge hubs of alienation (concrete jungles usually built on prime agricultural land). I'm sure if our government put brilliant engineering minds to the task of connecting communities, enabling transportation and respecting natural ecosystems and resources (ie. drinking water etc.etc.etc.), we could come up with something way better.
This recent wave of pro highway, anti-protester sentiments is as blatantly destructive as the 'lord of the rings' style clearcutting we get to witness in our backyard. Protest the protesters and cut out your own tongue! Careful, you may want to use it one day when you decide to voice convictions to an overwhelming power structure. Let's be sure our right to do that remains in place, and that we teach each other how to do it effectively.