The Citizen, 2001-11-07, Page 5Arthur
Black
THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2001. PAGE 5.
Other Views
All I can say is fire away'
Well, the forest 'fire season is•finally
winding down. The fall rains are for
the most part, snuffing out
whatever's still smoldering and before long
most of Canada's vast boreal forests will be
snuggled under a flameproof blanket of white
stuff.
Forest firefighters will finally be able to take
off their boots and relax for a spell.
No doubt they'll spend some time shaking
their heads over the kind of fire season
they've just been through. It wasn't the worst
On record, but it did throw up a brand new
enemy, particularly for the pilots of water-
bombers.
Boaters.
And I'm not talking about a couple of old
duffers out flycasting from a dory in the middle
of a lake. I'm talking about the newest water
sport: boaters who drag race with the water-
bombers.
It sounds insane, but it's true.Water-bomber
pilots are reporting increasing numbers of
boaters who come, like cluster flies, every time
a bomber descends to scoop water from a lake.
It's a game that's unbelievably stupid and
potentially disastrous. When a water-bomber
makes a run to pick up water, it skims the lake
surface at speeds upwards of 120 kms. per
The Canon household has celebrated a
first — playing host to foreign
newlyweds.
This event, I must admit, came as something
of a surprise but my wife freely admits that,
after being married to me for over 40 years she
is used to surprises of all kinds, foreign as well
as domestic.
At any rate my e-mail one day contained the
information from Rene, a young friend of mine
in the Czech Republic, that he was getting
married and he and his bride would like to
come to Canada on their honeymoon. Most
specifically they would like to visit us and, if at
all possible, use our home as a base while they
went off on various side-trips.
Since I had met both the groom and his
fiancee while working in the Czech Republic,
and thought highly of both of them, I was
delighted to play host.
One of my first acts was to write a letter of
recommendation to the Canadian Embassy in
Prague since even a honeymoon in Canada by
a Czech couple requires a visa. To be
considered for one, you have to have an
appropriate letter from a Canadian. It didn't
used to be that way but a flood of
gypsy "refugees" in the late 1990s changed all
that.
Rene informed me that he could rent a car
through a Czech travel agency at the price of
$480 a week; this seemed to me to be
excessive.
It was! I made inquiries-here and was able to
get him an suitable car for just a little over half
that price. Having worked in the Czech
Republic, I can vouch for the fact that salaries
there are not even close to Canadian ones and a
saving of about $200 a week on a car would
certainly be welcome.
I also told Rene I would meet him and his
bride at Toronto airport. With all the
construction currently going on there, can you
imagine arriving in Canada jet-lagged after a
long trip from Prague, trying to pick up a
rented car and then finding the way out. You
might end up in Thunder Bay instead of
London. From our correspondence, it was
- obvions.that Rene did not have a good grasp of
the distances involved here. He mentioned a
day trip to Chicago and was surprised to learn
that it would take at least eight hours each way.
This "day" trip was cancelled and a shorter one
substituted.
Finally I went down to Toronto to meet their
plane. On the way back to London they kept
hour. The pilot must have at least a kilometre
of open, unobstructed water.
"Once we make a commitment and start
scooping, we can't avoid anything," says Neil
Ayers, a pilot with the Ontario Ministry of
Natural Resources.
"It's like driving a Mack truck down a
highway. That airplane is going in one
direction, and that's straight ahead."
Don't even think about what happens
several hundred tons of water-laden bomber T-
bones a fibreglass CrisCraft at 120 kph.
You'd think anyone with the mental capacity
to pull a starter cord could figure out that drag
racing water-bombers is about as smart as
juggling live grenades. But you'd be wrong.
Several pilots this year have reported "coming
within a few metres" of smashing into the
fools.
If it was just a case of obliterating the idiot
Raymond
Canon
The
International
Scene
remarking about the great distances between
localities, but then I'm used to that when
Europeans visit Canada.
They also noticed how cheap gas was
compared to their prices. That too came as no
surprise. I explained that people travel greater
distances here so perhaps gasoline bills for a
family are about the same as they are in
Europe.
This being the first trip to Canada for either
THE EDITOR,
And in the beginning was the word of God
and the experience of God. Shortly thereafter,
and for thousands of years to come, battles
have been fought, cultures have been destroyed
and millions have been killed as the word of
God was spread throughout the world.
The loving face of God must weep, (or do the
Godly equivalent of weeping!), every time a
life is lost or a battle is fought in God's name.
In modern times the many and vastly varied
interpretations of the word of God, both within
and between the major religions of the world,
have fuelled much hatred, killing and
destruction. On the other hand, the direct, non-
verbal experience of God, as experienced by
children and mystics, has led to unity and
oneness with God and all of creation.
The tragedy of Sept. 11 is further proof that
the word of God has failed to bring peace into
the world. These recent horrific events are
rooted in a global, religious mindfulness and
convictions that one religion is superior and
incompatible with others. For the most part,
clerics of all persuasions have failed to succeed
in teaching their followers that religious sacred
story and ritual are about 'pathways to God and
not about the essence of God. We have
taken literally that which was given to us as
metaphor. We have mistaken the road map for
the territory.
The essence of Goff is rooted in spirituality
and not religiosity. This truth has always been
boater, I'd write it off as a demonstration of
Darwinism in action, but there's every chance
the pilot might get killed as well.
Events like this remind us that not everyone
who takes their recreation in the wilderness
does so with the consciousness of Grey Owl or
Ernest Thompson Seton.
But there is such a thing as Divine Revenge.
I'm reminded of the story I heard about a
confrontation between a northern Ontario park
official and a couple of hunters from Toronto.
The official came across these two in the bush,
sitting around a blazing campfire. At the height
of the forest fire season.
He explained that all fires were banned. The
hunters shrugged, threw a pail of water on the
fire, and waited for him to leave.
The next day the MNR guy came back,
attracted by a plume of smoke. He asked them
once more to douse the fire.
Three times he had to visit the campsite;
each time there was a fire burning.
Exasperated, he called up his supervisor.
"Leave it with me," said the boss. "I'll make
sure the fire's out".
And not too much lhter, the hunters looked
up from their campfire to see a fully-laden
water bomber just over the treetops.
And coming right at them.
Rene or his bride Lea, it took them a while to
get used to the place. I noticed that the longer
they stayed here, the less interested they were
in going to the States; instead their planned trip
to Chicago, they finished up with a three-day
visit to the Kingsville area.
That was icing on the cake They were on the
receiving end of a great deal of friendliness and
hospitality and all they could talk about during
their last hours here was how wonderful
Canada was.
They have continued to be great ambassadors
for Canada since their return home and I think
that it would not take much for them to
immigrate here.
I, for one, would be delighted. They are hard
working in their profession; any contribution
they would make to our country would be
definitely positive.
Those are the kind of people Canada can use.
acknowledged by mystics of all religions. To
the extent that we as a global people are
spiritual, we can live in harmony. To the extent
that we are addicted to and blinded by one set
of religious beliefs, we are destined to facilitate
ongoing death and destruction in the name of
God.
The events of Sept. I I serve as reminder that
it is a greater personal and global spirituality, a
greater direct, non-verbal experience of the
divine and not a greater religiosity which will
give a greater and lasting peace.
Father Tom Berry clearly expresses the
incredible hope and potential for individuals,
nations and the world when the divine is know
through experience.
In the words of Tom Berry, "It can easily be
seen that the universe is the primary self-
manifestation of the divine, our primary
revelatory experience. Verbal revelation can
never be primary revelation. As soon as divine
communication enters into human .language, it
takes- upon itself the peculiarities of the
language, of the social structures, of the
historical moment: Understanding the message
in this context is too difficult. Our primary
experience is more immediate with our daily
experience, as anyone would testify who has
reflected on their experience of the starts in the
heavens or the wonders of the earth". •
Yours Sincerely,
Jim Hollingworth, M.D.
Founding member, Physicians for Global Survival
A bit of a bumpy ride
t's probably the circles in which I travel, /
but more and more these days I'm noticing
conversations inevitably turning jo our age.
Well, perhaps not so much the fact we're
getting older, but the process of getting older.
Generally, I don't feel much different than
when I was younger. And for many years,
there was little reminding me otherwise. Of
late, however, there seem to be more and more
examples that things aren't quite as they used
to be. Sad story is we all know they're not
likely going to improve.
I watch hair fall from my head and find hair
growing places it's never been before. I need
to get just a little closer to hear things and a
little farther back to see them. Being a
woman, I have reached what someone well
described as the two-degree comfort zone,
floating between a deep chill and heavy
sweats. My concentration is....
.., lacking at best. ,
I can remember the phone numbers of grade
school friends, but don't know why I walked
from one room to another. Standing hurts my
feet, sitting hurts my back. My hands fall
asleep when I write or knit, my shoulders and
head ache, my joints pain.
And I'm in pretty good shape compared to
some people I know.
Talking about this with friends is heartening,
discovering that we're all experiencing the
same symptoms. For boomers, this is what it's
now about and at least we know the cause.
However, I have resolved that I personally
will not go quietly. This means, in addition to
all the complaining, I intend to deny, to fight,
to, if not reverse, then stall, the effects of time
from any further insinuation into my otherwise
ideal life.
And the best attack is healthy living. While I
have not gone the way of herbal junkies, I
admit to a touch of dabbling. Following some
fairly extensive research I have opted to
manage one condition with an herb rather than
a chemical, achieving good results I should
add. I have watched too many people treat an
illness with medicine, then treat the side effect
of that medicine with another, and the side
.effect of that with another and so on. I'd rather
not get that wheel turning, if I can help it.
Healthy eating is a bigger challenge. On the
one hand, I believe we are indeed what we eat.
However, I can't help feeling that there have to
be some perks to growing older so denying
myself is tough. I focus therefore on the
encouraging reports; pizza contains all the
food groups, and a glass of wine a day is good
for you; to assuage any guilt I might have over
my weakness.
An easier practice to, adhere to is regular
physical activity. I'm no fitness freak, but of
all the steps to take to a fountain of youth,
exercise seems the easiest to me. There's no
debate, no denial involved, simply a common
sense approach.
I opt for walking and have returned to an
old favourite, yoga. The former, as we all
know, gives a good moderate cardiovascular
workout with all its benefits. The latter not
only improves strength and flexibility, it
stretches mind and soul, as well as body. Yoga
improves concentration relaxes you and
relieves stress.
Boomers, the road we're on is certainly not
without its potholes. But remember, not only
are we travelling together, we're better
prepared than any other generation to ride with
the bumps.
Some folks Czeching out Canada
Letter to the Editor