A tribute to spring blooms

I have been a bit slack on posting my pics of the week, so lucky you, I am gonna post two this week. If I am not careful I will soon be out of good pics to post or I'll accidently post a pic a second time. Or at least I'll pretend it was an accident :) You'd never know. Ha ha.

These pics are to celebrate the arrival of all the spring flowers. I took a stroll along a nearby creek here and found these last summer. In a little while we should be seeing these again. Since I am not a botanist I am not sure what the proper names of these wonderful plants are. I do know however, that they are a great addition to the landscape around the rivers as they added some vibrant eye catching color. Maybe some one can identify them for me. Enjoy the pics and hope to see you in the woods or on the water.

Well I seem to be in a bit of a mood to rant this morning so this could get a bit winded. I am not even sure exactly what it is I am upset about. I just have this feeling of uneasiness in my gut. This feeling usually appears after I have a discussion about self-sufficiency, gas rates, mining, and big industry. Why is it that big industry continues to win the political battles in the war on envrionmental degradation? Why does our government continue to roll over to big industry just for the sake of a dollar or two when in reality they could be making tens of dollars if they were to take a firmer stance?

We have moved to a global economy and this has meant a greater environmental impact and a greater gap between middle and upper class society. Is this healthy for anyone? Really someone tell me? Why do we have to buy a 2x4 from another country when we have hundreds of mills that make them in our own? Why is it cheaper for us to buy that 2x4 from somewhere else? Can someone explain this market to me? What impact is this having on the environment? A company cuts a log 2km from my door, ships it to a mill 200km away, the mill packages it and sends it to a HomeDepot 2000km away. I go to a building supply store 5 km up the road and buy 2x4s that were cut down 5000km away. WTF???? I just don't get it.

People really need to start educating themselves on environmental, social, and econoimic issues and letting their appropriate government officials know their opinions. We have to start putting the environmental and social aspects, before the economic ones.

Well that is my rant...I need a trip to the wilderness where I can just ignore all the issues. Then again that is not a good solution either. Ignorance is not bliss, but sometimes it is a nice vacation.

Life Changes

It is funny how quickly your life can change, or maybe flow is a more appropriate term. One day you are having a rough go of it and you wonder if you'll ever make it the next sees blue skies and evening fires and things are great. In a few days time life is hellish again and you're scared to answer the phone. The last telemarketer that called probably reported you to the CIA as a potential terrorist just because he caught you on a bad day.

Recently my life has been great and it has been fun. My relationship with my family is continually growing while I continue to develop myself as a community leader, but I can't help but have this nagging feeling that the higher I reach the further I will fall. I keep myself grounded by getting out to the wilderness and tasting simple things again. This reminds me that no matter how far I fall, I will be able to survive and start my climb again. I have learned through my simplistic approach while exploring the wilderness, that life in the social world can be just as simple, and just as rewarding as long as I don't overthink things. Sometimes it is just as good to survive as thrive, or at least I think it is.

Here is my weekly pic, its a bit late but I've been busy surviving, and through that effort actually thriving.

See you in the woods.

2nd look

I am one of those people who needs to step away from things from time to time to get some clarity on it. I am sure that alot of us are that way, even if we don't know it. I can be writing a report and then come to a block, I step away for an hour or so and then I can hammer the rest of the report off and even touch up places I didn't like the first or second time through. Want another example? How about when you walk beside a rushing river with a fishing pole in your hand; you're fishing downstream and you think your hitting all the holes with atleast one cast and then you turn and look upstream and there it is a back eddy formed by a large boulder with a log jammed on it. You had casted to the upstream side of it but failed to hit the downstream side and so you lay out some line and let it slide gently against the breeze and as it hits the surface the rainbow trout you've been chasing all morning takes the hook.

There, for most who might read this blog, that should sum up the "second look" idea I have been contemplating lately. I have been real busy with work, and life in general so I haven't had time to take that second look. Then I realized something. The longer it is before looks, the more you notice differently. So what is the point of this rambling, well it had been a while since I looked over some pics that I took while backpacking the Fundy Coast and I realized that some of them are better than I thought, while some of them are more mediocre than I thought. Here is one (for my pic of the week) that I thought at first was only mediocre and now that I look at it, well....maybe it is still only mediocre, but it evokes something in me. Bringing me to my second point. Outlook depends so much on mood and mindset. Keep a positive mind set and things tend to look better and now that I am older (and supposedly more mature) I can more readily understand that.

The pic for this week is along the shore on one of the many streams that empties into the Bay of Fundy. I wouldn't normally consider this one of the best areas along the trail but this pic makes it look great. Then again, if I take a second view on it the whole trail is great.

Keep smiling and get out there. See you in the woods or on the water.