Beautiful Trees. September 20th 2023

 

          I don't need to go on about how much I enjoy this very quick time of year.   It is simply beautiful.  We just got back from a trip through the Rocky mountains to Vancouver where we witnessed our niece marry into a family that looks every bit as wonderful as the one she brings to the table.  We stayed in Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver in a very nice hotel on the waterfront and enjoyed the west coast life style to the fullest.  While Vancouver has its problems,  it remains a fascinating city.  Where the mountains meet the sea.    We took a different route home through the Crow's Nest pass and stopped at a couple of my favourite vineyards,  visited some fruit stands, and enjoyed a most beautiful route through the numerous mountain ranges of southern British Columbia. 

       We spend an awful lot of time concentrating on economic woes, political and religious differences, crime and punishment, and generally being very unhappy with all that we have because....... well I am not exactly sure why.  But it does the head, heart, and body good sometimes to smell the sea,  the pines and cedars,  to see golden fields, count the moose and mountain sheep,  and soak in the views of the valleys and deep cold lakes.  We truly are blessed,  in spite of what either side in a growing polarized society wants you to believe.    There are times we need another set of eyes.

       I spent about half an hour visiting with another set of eyes  that were watching the streets of Vancouver while their owner drove the taxi we took back to our hotel from the downtown wedding.  A new Canadian.   New to the country for 18 months from India.  A handsome intelligent young man who at the age of 25 left his entire family and immigrated to Canada on his own. He works construction during the week and drives cab  for 11 hrs.  nights on the weekends.  He lives in a one room basement suite for which he pays $1,700.00 a month and still manages to send money home to his family.   Not a single word of frustration, nor a complaint came from the mouth of this new Canadian who will no doubt have a much better life in the near future.  

     To me,  this encounter with a hard working happy new Canadian affirmed what I have believed for many years.   New Canadians can see the opportunity we are afforded.   Opportunities,  we of the sixth or seventh generations seem to believe no longer exist.   The proverbial forrest we cannot see for the trees.  Tell you what:  That half hour I spent in the front seat of a taxi with that wonderful new Canadian was something my head and heart needed as much as the Rockies, the sea, the cedars, and the lakes.   

    Coming home from Vancouver, we visited a portion of the trans Canada Trail  by Christina Lake near the American boarder.  I walked with my American brother in law for a little better than an hour that morning.  Now we are both of the centre left persuasion, so nothing heated ever comes out of the visits I enjoy with a very good man.   We are both old dudes and a goodly part of our conversation was about our changing society and how we are constantly being caught up in what used to be acceptable becoming offensive.  In as much as that could be a long preamble causing most of you that "roll your eyes here we go" thing I seem to be responsible for,  I will just dive into our conclusions.

    Most of us old dudes lived a life where exposure to minorities... where cultural, religious,  and sexual orientation was not an issue.  We gave those who were different nick names, told jokes that suggested different was actually stupid, and secretly feared what wasn't...... well....us.   These days,  minorities of any category insist on deciding what nick names they will be called.   People will decide what they want to do with or will allow on THEIR property.  And they may change their mind.... numerous times.    Which means people like me who are usually a step behind in the game of life will stand corrected ...... repeatedly.  

     Standing corrected makes us feel stupid, which we're not.  Bigoted, which we're not.  Insensitive,  which we're not.    Hence the push back.   Push back that has fostered sympathy for political and religious zealots who deserve no such attention.  Minorities of all stripes are finally sticking up for themselves and in doing so dragging the white, the privileged,  the educated ignorant into the 21st century.  New found self identification and determination means large portions of our society are still trying on how they want their identity rolled out into a world that is free and accessible to everyone.    It may take them a time or two to land where they want,  so it is up to us to roll with the punches.  

     Our system, regardless of who is at the helm at what ever level,  is broken.   Our leaders live under public scrutiny where private family matters are often used as weapons.   Poison speech,  and spin is what we want to hear.   We celebrate the anti hero, and above all, we promote fear in what we don't know.   I don't know how we get back to what may have never been.  A land of well fed free and happy people. Perhaps we need to spend a little time in a cab, or on a bus, or in a cafe with a new Canadian working for half of what they need to live the life we all expect.  Maybe we need to see what's out there once we look past the trees.   The Beautiful Trees.