Seasonal Insights - “The mountains shall bring peace to the people.”

This morning white snowflakes silently float as I stretch into downward dog. Winter continues as I bike down Cougar Creek, my face, hands and feet freezing. The bike track covered in mud.   Large slabs of ice float down the river show me spring is on the way.

Saturday, twenty of us masked, with only our puckered foreheads showing, stood at the edge of the undeveloped forest to protest TSMV development. A couple of First Nation’s people arrived to offer prayers on their ancestral lands stolen from them so long ago. My friend said she cried, while my trembling heart tingled.

 Later that day in a frosty funk, my arms crossed, biting my lips I walked around Silvertip golf course where the forest is being cut down to make way for huge properties for part-time owners.

I owe my life to Mother Earth. Today on my first bike ride of spring, I spontaneously burst into the Om Tara chant - Tara the Tibetan Goddess who dispels fear and grants bounty. The ancient Goddess understands destruction and regeneration. I look over the sun sparkled river to the grey tree trunks lying in a tangled pile. I am aware that She, I and all beings are intertwined. She provides me food, water, land to bike, hike and ski on.

 This pandemic year city dwellers have flocked to the mountains intuitively knowing nature is the source of health and vitality.

 At this time of Climate emergency, ecosystems are being destroyed faster than any other time on the planet. I must to speak out on her behalf;

·        - to protect the animals, forests and mountains that brought me to Canmore,

·        - to pass on this beautiful environment to my unborn grandchild,

·         -and to remind us all to collectively work toward a sustainable lifestyle that honours and protects the land, animals, soil and water.

This spring solstice day, the balance dark and of daylight reminds me dark times don’t last. The sun bursts out from the snow cloud to encourage the spring melt, and our community responsibility as stewards of the land and wildlife.  It will be a while before the summer breezes and wild roses bloom in the valley. Let’s predict it brings a rejection of the TSMV proposals. The recently renamed mountain Bald Eagle implores us to have a bold farsighted vision, the courage to take action and to leave a legacy for future generations.