WIDOWED MAMMALS IN AQUAVILLE

 

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Widowed Mammals in Aquaville

A Fairy Tale written by

Antoinetta DeWit

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ONCE upon a time in the hamlet of Aquaville, along the calm, clear, crystalline waters nearby, there were two widowed mammals in a pod of about twenty multigenerational family members.

Suddenly Muffin and Puffin jumped up together and descended with one huge splash, as Tulip, a bystander, stood at a distance and watched. She had often heard a lot of gargling and goo-gooing sounds coming from these two anomalies in the past, but this coming out behaviour along with the recently witnessed stroking and nudging, and smacking of fins on the glassy surface, was particularly novel and intriguing.

All of the other land based and aqua-mammals gathered together to watch a blooming, late in life, relationship develop right in front of them: touching, stroking, feeling, embracing, whispering, rolling round and round and, even motions that made the two seem like one.

Tulip, an autistic human mammal, has known Muffin and Puffin for quite some time, and has watched them grow from mothers to grandmothers and from caretakers to letting go of spouses and siblings. They have lived much happiness and endured much sadness. They have evolved through monogamy and polygamy, childbirth, still births and miscarriages. They have struggled most of their required lives doing what is expected of them, and have now finally broken free in favour of self reliance, self comfort and taking advantage of this opportunity to make their statement.

Watching them in a distance from their regular pod, in the sometimes unforgiving waters, their behaviour speaks to the power of will, optimism, pride and determination. They swim away a short distance from the mainstream pod to almost completely break free, but not completely breaking ties. 

Muffin and Puffin’s lives have evolved significantly over time and they are now constant companions who guard each other, protect each other and speak for each other, hoping the others will notice, listen in and celebrate their new found happiness. 

“Why don’t they just completely leave and live their shared dream of being together happily ever after privately without an audience?”, Tulip wonders.

At first the witnessed behaviour is novel and intriguing, but over time it becomes annoying and even obnoxious, creating judgements that nobody would like to hear. Tulip’s autistic mind brings her back to Darwin’s theory and some of Doctor David Suzuki documentaries about mammals.  They are profoundly groupies; they rely on each other; guide each other; help each other and protect each other. They thrive on attention and depend on togetherness through easy times and tough ones. Two stunning revelations are that they love an audience and they do, as humans know, sometimes need distance to bring a point across.

Tulip looks around and takes a step back. She sees some of the other mammals on the land and in the water, huddle together as observers. Others are a bit closer to the scene in front of them, some whispering, some giggling. A few are blind or deaf or indifferent. 

All of the easily witnessed behaviours between the widowed mammals are commonplace in both genres of mammal worlds: demonstrative aerobatic affection, frequent body rubs, pecks and gentle touches, squeaks, squeals and lots of happy bubbles … lots and lots of happy bubbles. The correlation is stunning.

Human mammals would simply ask: Take it to another cove!

Tulip turns her body and walks to an other vantage point, for a different perspective. Some of the people around her join up and even small groups of aqua mammals do the same. 

Muffin and Puffin suddenly stop co-tangling, look around and at each other, and finally realize they are alone but not completely alone, and that the statement they have been making is now clear to all. They have had a long and productive life, doing what the world expected and did it very well.  This is now their new happy time straying from the norm, but never far away. They don’t want to be far away nor do they want to be isolated; now is the time to close the straining gap.

Out of respect, and realizing their overt atypical behaviour in a public setting may have contorted the feelings of those close by, they both dunk deeply into the deep blue waters and prepare an incredible celebration for themselves and everyone watching. The show is both an apology and a jubilation; an expression of love and understanding. Their special performance is a declaration — a commitment to respecting and honouring social norms and basic social expectations when in common spaces.

Tulip turns to the audience and shouts:  

“As the song says: 

🎶 JUMP!, Let’s go ahead and jump! 🎶 

as together we celebrate an all around victory!” 

And so it was, in the beautiful and special community of Aquaville, two grieving widow mammals yearning to get the most out of the lifespan that is left, open their eyes, ears and hearts, as the once serene and glistening waters survive enraging waves. The pod of multi-generational mammals remain together stronger than ever, as do all that noticed, creating harmony and peace between all on that day and happily ever after.

🐋 THE END 🐋

Battle of The Bulbs

 THE BATTLE OF THE BULBS

I was talking with a gardener the other day and mentioned the once beautiful sight of a beautiful tulip and equally beautiful hyacinth growing in the same garden bed. I have often seen tulips on their own and hyacinths on their own, but never together. He said:

“I’d never put them together. There is something mysterious about their bulbs. Much like certain people: I love them in isolation but they just don’t belong together.”

As it turned out, he was right. A beauty that was once there, is no more. The lone hyacinth shrivelled and died, while the tulips lived on for many weeks to come.

Lesson learned. I feel a story coming on …

Once upon a time in a garden like the one in Eden, there lived a tulip and a hyacinth in the same hood. They were like neighbours in a neighbourhood where everyone was filled with awe and envy when times were good, and sadness and dismay when things weren’t.

Tulip is strong and sturdy; resilient; confident; independent and like most bulbed plants, she resurrects year after year and thrives best around her kind. 

Hyacinth, when ready, stands tall and firm. She keeps her petals close to her chest and seems to fan out ever so slightly, but forever protectively, occasionally. She has mastered poise and posture and that is what makes her so appealing to the others in the garden. But, behind that poise and posture, there is a reality that nobody can see from the outside. There is a weak gene within her reproducing bulb that shortens her lifespan when embedded with those who are not her kind. She is not a fighter, dies off prematurely, and vows to do better next year — but, her sad cycle continues. 

One dreary day Hyacinth asked Tulip: “What is your secret?”

“Lead don’t follow.”

The response was short and blunt, and caused Hyacinth to take a step back to figure it out.  Every year she sets out to search for a comfortable bed. She would look and look for all kinds of options relating to locations, feed, moisture, wind, sun, and hormones. She tried to bond with the like-minded and those shunned by all other flora. She befriended the dwarfs and the giants; the colourful and drab. She was known and noticed by many, but embraced by few. Her life had been a very sad tale.

“What do you mean by that?”, she asks Tulip.

“I have been watching you struggle once again this season and every year your life ends in peril prematurely. Try something different next year. Move to another garden with your kind. Live by their example. 

You may look well with others flora, but you don’t fit in well with them. You may come across as confident, but the end result proves you are very lost and scared. You are afraid of something when you are around others, yet you are desperate to be around them, desperate to be seen, wanted and loved.  The path you have been following leaves you alone, very alone; depressed, sad and forlorn.

Find fresh soil, good drainage, a spot with natural sunlight and a bit of daily shade. Instead of shrinking in sadness, face your memories and motives, stick with your kind and then start growing. Like in the human world, new borns and orphans aren’t farmed out until they are ready to go. You jumped ahead too quickly. Listen to your bulb.”

As Hyacinth reaches another end to her annual cycle, she feels struck by a ray of much needed wisdom from an arm’s length tulip who believes in her potential to do better. She will never again embed herself into a garden plot designated to others or for others. 

As so it was, in that garden much like Eden’s, Hyacinth lays herself to rest embracing the beat of her bulb, rather than the bulbs of others, and it's that rhythm that will lead the way to a life she has always yearned for, but never quite reached.

THE END  

Can You See Me Now?

CAN YOU SEE ME NOW?

Once upon a time on the unceded traditional territory of the Kwantlen First Nation, Tulip slips into a dream.  The banner reads: gas prices soar to five dollars a litre. Her sleepy eyes open widely and her jaw drops, as a sudden blanket of dark fog surrounds her.

She imagines a plan B to complete her to-do list for the day without the use of her car. She plots out a cycling route using only cycling paths and multi-use paths that millions of taxpayers’ dollars have supported for communities around the territory. There are four errands on the list.

Just plotting out the route turns into a mammoth task because the infrastructure for cycling is piecemeal, convoluted, and illogical, with numerous extra lefts and rights, switchbacks and backtracking. Finally the plan is in place and off she goes feeling excited and optimistic.

Those feelings don’t last long. 

Once on the go, obstructions set in almost immediately. From parked cars, delivery trucks, power poles, garbage and recycling bins, broken glass, bolts and debris, loose gravel and dead animals, the trip is very eventful. 

Three hours in and only 2 out of four errands are accomplished. She rechecks her route map, her watch and her compass, and starts to wonder how a life without a car could possibly ever happen.  She is hungry; her frustration level is high; her blood pressure is above normal and all the meandering routes have caused her to lose her sense of direction. She tosses and turns, and tries to tune it out, but the dream continues.

It brings her to an unobstructed cycling structure on a raised platform high above the power poles, meandering through the landmass below. It is beautifully endowed with First Nations art, framed with fir side panels and cedar shake roofing. 

At the end of this part of her dream, she looks down through the fog at the politicians and developers below, raises her arms and proudly sings: “Can you see me now?” 

She hears nothing and cannot see the faces.

Tulip jumps out of the sub-dream, smiling, and resolves to take action. She is no stupid bulb. She is strong, resilient and determined. She has risen from the dead a few times, and often brought light to the troubled lives of many. 

The next scene is the gathering of a lot of local like-minded cyclists, like a pack of wolves ready to listen to the guiding eagle hungry to devour a good fish. Some would call it an interest group but for Tulip it is to be a pressure group. The time for interest has come and gone, and gone nowhere, and now’s the time for action, real action, loud action, determined action, to feed the fish, that will feed the eagle, that will guide the wolves together to live happily ever after, as all good communities do under even the most challenging of circumstances.

Tulip pulls out her conceptual drawings and video presentation. Following the Kwantlen edict of one Nation, one family, and as believers in leadership with vision, her tireless spirit springs to life. She presses the PLAY button and the Kwantlen SkyNation Cycling Track presentation begins.

The group sees Tulip stopping short of hitting the next power pole, illuminated like a rowing paddle, on the multi-use pathway. From the sudden shock, she feels a spirit’s hand reach out to her handlebars and raises her and her bicycle up the transformed pole to a beautifully endowed secret platform, high above the morning fog. 

She opens her eyes and sees an Inukshuk beside her pointing south. The platform is five metres wide, enveloped in fir fencing on either side, and roofed with red cedar shingles, just like in the other dream. This time she also sees a clock and a compass held up by a golden eagle’s beak. To her left is a charcoal drawing of a pack of wolves encircling a route map of the risen pathway and another pack is standing around a map of the various amenities located at and around ground level. 

As Tulip continues to drift further into her dream, she mounts her bicycle, heading south as directed, and sets off on an amazing obstruction-free cycling adventure. The impeccable views to the left and to the right are breathtaking. The sides of the meandering pathway are donned with beautiful local First Nations artwork from murals to sculptures, carvings, jewelry, fashion designs, paintings, drawings, baskets, hats, talking sticks, feathers and so much more. 

Each entrance/exit station along the way includes a First Nation poet,  singer, dancer or storyteller, in person or virtually. The word “WOW” springs constantly from her forehead, as she slowly continues on in awe.

On she goes from her hometown of Maple Ridge, south to Pitt Meadows, over the mighty Fraser River, on to New Westminster, veering west to Delta and Richmond. From there, she heads east towards Surrey, Langley and Fort Langley and then north to Stave Lake where she stands still, listens to the sound of nature and watches the eagles high above welcoming her to the northern point  of the Kwantlen SkyNation track.  She feels like she has just had the adventure of a lifetime and woken up in heaven.

In that moment, Tulip feels the courage and strength of the eagle. She resolves to put an extra spring in her step much like a jumping salmon about to head upstream to spawn and bring new life to the waters.  She sees both the sun and the moon aligned in the clear blue sky, and returns to the starting point of her journey once again. 

Now the wolves have encircled the crowd below. They are watching over the gathered family of politicians, planners and builders, as well as skeptics and optimists, all still hidden under that dense fog.  

Tulip stands high above on the magnificent elevated cycling track, as the fog slowly lifts and the sun shines brightly on everyone.

 

“Can you see me now?”, she asks.

The loud echoing reply from the once muted crowd awakens her from her dream, as she sits up straight in her cozy bed and wonders what just happened.

She writes down her story and prepares to use it in renewed efforts for reconciliation between cyclists and motorists; cyclists and pedestrians; cyclists and city planners; as well as cyclists and politicians. The track would also forever be a lasting legacy symbolizing one small embracing effort of reconciliation with Kwantlen First Nation peoples.

And so it was, in the land of strife and stubbornness, and a lack of willingness to take bold new steps forward in an environmentally damaged world, a farfetched dream greased the squeaky bicycle wheels and put them up against the once dominant automobile and the pressures of developers. 

 

And, above all, the inclusion of the Kwantlen people in the discussions and final planning, brings the viable project to an even greater level, as the whole of civilization works together, inclusively, from this day forward, to make the region a prototype of excellence in safe cycling travel and lasting reconciliation between all, for ever and ever.

The End

Postscript:

 To my cycling friends reading this story, let’s keep the dream alive and look forward to better, safer cycling days ahead.

As unrealistic a dreamed up solution might be the first time hearing about it, the Trans Canada railway was a pipe dream once too, and look at what happened with it!  And, what about sending a human to the moon? In the end, didn’t the tortoise beat the hare?

 

Run Towards The Danger: Book Review

 Run Towards The Danger

Written by Sarah Polley

This Canadian authored book is amazing! Basically she unravels a lot of her anger and anxiety about life experiences during her youth as a child actor and later as an adult experiencing a mystery condition. 

Sarah Polley tells those of us who remember The Road to Avonlea as a most delightful family television show on CBC, that the stories were delightful; but, getting them to the release stage for all of us to enjoy, was HELL for her. She talks about some of the behind the scenes mismanagement, disorganization, and lack of communication, on top of the pressures of some parents pushing their own anticipated glory ahead of the thoughts, concerns and feelings of the children. 

From the tv screen, she went to the stage at Stratford where she experienced personal challenges with anxiety and a lack of self confidence leading to ultimate stage fright. She desperately tried to hide those challenges to the point of getting very sick. It, too, became HELL for her and she had to stop prematurely.

She later found joy and personal satisfaction in film making and discovered her comfort level was being behind the scenes.

Later in the book she talks about her direct experience with a guy named Gian Ghomeshi — a name in the news during a terrible time in the lives of other women who had a similar story to tell. It is a moving and very emotional account of ‘should I or shouldn’t I” and her decision to do what she did, when she did.

The other of her six essays I want to highlight is the last one entitled “Run Towards The Danger”.  It is about the horrors of getting a concussion.  Initially she thought nothing of it, until she became an almost completely different person. She felt mixed up and messed up at the same time. Went to various specialists, many contradicting the others, all giving her conflicting advice, until one day, she was in the right place at the right time, and someone with a similar experience, guided her to a potential solution. The results were life changing and life enhancing, bringing her to a point she never imagined to ever be. She finds her spirit and embraces her being.  The best way to explain it is by saying don’t live backwards, live forwards.

I really enjoyed this book. It took blunt honesty to pull her from dark waters and a gloomy attitude, to get her to her happy place.  We can all learn a lot from her journey from Avonlea to blissful glee!