dandelion days: February 2006

farmer's market roses

Witness

Jessie told me she chose happiness. Thirty-nine years ago. She was sorting her husband's papers when the words of a poet fluttered to the floor.

He drew a circle that shut me out––
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in.
Edwin Markham (1852-1940)

Jesse forgave him for taking his life. She erased the image of him floating in the water below the falls. And, at ninety-two, her countenance shines as she recalls his beauty.

terrapi sky

***
image courtesy of Camp TerraPi, Baviaanskloof Wilderness, South Africa

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Cape Mountain Leopard Project

I received an important request from Harry Bateman, a dear wiki friend of mine living in South Africa, regarding a project near to his heart and I thought I'd seed it to the winds of kind fortune. Please follow the document link to read Harry's compelling vision for the project.

Dear friends and family,

Saskia, Emily and myself have settled in well in the mountains of the Baviaanskloof. Our camp TerraPi is functioning as a centre for environmental awareness and wilderness connection and we facilitate numerous excursions into the mountains, enhancing peoples perception of our natural word and growing the love for the great outdoors and its inhabitants.

Countless opportunities present itself for us to become involved in conservation orientated work by using TerraPi as a base for environmental awareness and education and it is a blessing to be given responsibility in such a wonderful natural environment.

Our volunteer project has been structured and nears implementation, and our environmental rehabilitation efforts educate the public on the threat of invasive vegetation and possible solutions to combat this growing problem.

There is however another facet of conservation that desires our immediate attention, and that is the hunting of Leopard bordering the world heritage site, the Baviaanskloof wilderness area. I have included this link to a document composed by myself to try and explain what is happening and my wish to become involved in a more practical sense and my need of some support. Please take the time to read the document and forward it on to people whom you might think able to contribute in any way whatsoever.

Please help us protect a threatened species that live on our land and in the wilderness by forwarding this valuable mail to people you might know - who can help. Donors will be treated to a free visit at TerraPi with a Leopard tracking experience on the Red Tiger Ranch, home of the Red Tiger - The Cape Mountain Leopard.

Yours sincerely,

Harry Bateman

www.terrapi.org

info@terrapi.org

* image courtesy of Camp TerraPi, Baviaanskloof Wilderness, South Africa

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blind alley

The Emperor's New Clothes

First they cleared the land. The trees fell, the faeries fled, the sun still shone. Bulldozers dug and piled and shovelled the sweet forest loam for days on end and the earthmovers drove their dump-truck treasure away to a far unknown.

Next they staked their designer-jean slogans into the sun-baked clay. Stark against the naked horizon, the banners with butterfly graphics announced: Bronte Creek: Oakville’s Natural Neighbourhood. Bronte Creek: Grand Chateau Inspired Designs. Bronte Creek: Perfectly Integrated with Nature.

Perfectly. Integrated. With. Nature.

Then, up they went, the cookie-cutter chateaus side-by-side-by-side with their grass patch lawns and their lonely stick-twig trees. Numbered lots labelled ‘Estate Homes’ — bought at high digit prices by wedding cake couples with their cell-phoned children and their golden doodle dogs — sold like candy floss at a May Day fair.

Perhaps fringed by a thin thicket of trees... perhaps bordered by a creek ravine... perhaps neighboured by a provincial park with campsites and trails and nature guides... perhaps this grants the illusion weight yet all I can feel is despair at such bullshit bravado.

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