It was an extended Thanksgiving holiday peppered with family gatherings, feasting and a lot of car travel. It was also one tarnished by news of another assault on a sacred site in the nation’s capital.
I spent most of my vacation week traveling with family to visit others in the Greater Sudbury area. The long drive was accompanied and enhanced by the natural fall colours. We enjoyed a couple of days of conversation, feasting, playing cards and going on an outing to a natural attraction. We drove farther north to Onaping Falls to visit the AY Jackson lookout.
A walking stick rests after a tour of the natural beauty of Onaping Falls
I enjoyed the fresh, cool air and exercise plus another chance to catch up with older and wiser relatives.
Blonde woman at the bridge over Onaping River and Falls
When I returned home stiff yet elated, I was relieved that one of the offspring heeded my request to visit le petit apartment and check on the cats.
A peaceful Sunday setting in the Tabby cat’s habitat
While I was savoring the memories of visiting Onaping Falls and viewing photographs of its natural settings, my activist friends in the Ottawa area were having to educate the public, the politicians, anyone who would listen about the shameful activities happening again at a sacred site in the Ottawa River.
That’s a bold prediction from someone so naturally fair of skin and hair.
I am okay with that possibility.
First, I can say that because I have brown offspring from a mixed marriage. In my eyes and their doting Aunties’, these children were beautiful, intelligent and well-behaved.
I was often oblivious to the colour of my children’s skin yet experienced some strange looks and comments when we were out in public. The most humorous and innocent was when a child at the local park asked if I was their babysitter.
Yes, they have met challenges with finding their identity, their place in society. They adapted. They survived. Some of them identify as Black or POC (Person of Colour). None of them have adopted urban stereotypes nor have they been in trouble with the law.
To me, they are beautiful humans, the next generation. I raised them to be positive contributors to their community and to society. They know how to speak up when they see injustices. They too will make beautiful babies if they so choose or can afford to raise a family in this precarious economy.
In the 90s, I grooved to this song from Michael Jackson. It spoke to me – except for the beginning featuring a loud, dysfunctional family then the parts where MJ is grabbing his genitals, smashing up a parked car and vandalizing empty store windows. Apparently, the main body of the “Black or White” short film reflects the song’s lyrical plea for racial and cultural unity. That message was lost on me into the eight minute mark. I think MJ also wanted to express issues with father figures, the automotive industry, consumerism and colonialism.
You will be thankful I found the shortened version.
My second posit is that my white, blond son from an earlier relationship chose to marry a lovely woman of Asian origin. I see that he inherited the “non-conformist” gene as well as the blond one.
Their children are beautiful. My grandchildren are beautiful.
My grandchildren.
It was comments I heard years ago from a stand-up comedian that stuck with me and inspired me to draft this blog entry.
Quoting Paul Rodriguez, “One hundred years from now, our children’s children… everybody’s going to be Filipino”
(Start at 1:30)
I’m okay with that.
Regardless of their skin colour or which version of the Creator they honour, I have hopes for my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren and those to follow.
I hope the shared traits of humanity such as compassion will calm the fear and hatred of those feeling threatened. Is it possible that the good ole boys are scared? Are they trying to protect their heritage, their culture?
Why did it take public outrage at his initial comments for Tweetle-Dum to finally denounce the white supremacists?
Let’s remember that this continent was occupied by other people thousands of years before those European colonizers and immigrants arrived with their ships.
The first people had a respect for the power of nature, the seasons, the animals they hunted for food. They hunted out of necessity, not for sport. We could learn from the First Nations about living in harmony with nature and planning seven generations ahead.
It’s going to be a struggle but people will learn that harmonious survival of the human race and Mother Earth is more important than skin colour, religious dogma and power. At the basic root, we need to ensure clean air, water and arable land.
Here are some changes i would like to see in our gently blended future:
Muscle cars and air-polluting auto racing will no longer exist. Neither will fossil fuels.
Reusable energy from the sun, wind and oceans will power our needs.
People will be educated, active and civil. We will see a return to public discourse and philosophical discussions.
Artists will be respected and supported regardless of their eccentricities ;-^
The fashion industry will reuse materials and will not be so frivolous and wasteful. We will do away with stilettos, latex and skinny jeans.
There will challenges with how we define culture.
Some people may still want to pierce their body parts, tattoo their skin and dye their hair to stand out, to show their individualism or create a sense of belonging in some form of neo-tribalism. Some may try to appear so unique as to bleach their hair blonde. I hope the chemicals don’t harm their brain cells or our ecosystem as a result.
If we deplete and pollute this planet to the point of no recovery and have to spread out into the galaxy, to meet and rely on other species, I just hope we can still celebrate and respect diversity.
What was the point of the series? Celebrating diversity. Here’s Star Trek creator, Gene Roddenberry, explaining: pic.twitter.com/toaFoGQNXx
Spring travel whisked me away from the rainy Ottawa Valley to Vancouver Island.
It rained there too.
My objectives were made months in advance:
Travel somewhere within Canada
Push my air travel anxiety limits – further than before
Visit with family
Do touristy things
Do not think about work
My destination was Vancouver Island, just off the coast of British Columbia. The long stretches of flying, sitting, waiting, flying, sitting, etc. tired me out. At various destinations I welcomed opportunities for walking tours and restaurant outings. Soon that tired me out too!
I practiced mindfulness as much as I could, savouring moments and reminding myself to breathe.
One family member took me for a drive up the east coast of Vancouver Island, humoured my request to stop where I could dip my toes into the Pacific Ocean.
Pacific Ocean (well… some inlet) I am in you!
Soon I was on a bus then another bus to the beautiful city of Victoria. I was happy and comforted that relatives were waiting for me, extra umbrellas in hand to provide an escort to my hotel.
While in Victoria, I was treated to sufficient walking excursions, visited a castle and tried food from different restaurants. We had one sunny, windy day.
I spent one rainy afternoon by myself, enjoying bright flower gardens and inhaling the scent of trees in full blossom.
A rainy tourist outing in downtown Victoria
A wet bench and colourful flowers
Soon one of my adult children joined me after his own cross-country tour by train, ferry and bus. He got to meet one set of cousins for the first time. He accompanied me for a walk by the docks, an appropriate lunch and a walking tour up to Emily Carr House.
Lunch at Red Fish Blue Fish – Victoria
As with my tour of the castle a couple of days earlier, we exited through the gift shop and I picked up a few souvenirs.
A chance to sit down during a tour of Emily Carr house
Did I achieve my objectives? Yes! I practiced mindfulness moments wherever I was, taking in the experiences, breathing in and breathing out.
After a long day of travel east, I returned to Ottawa in the rain. I observed the local news about severe spring flooding in our region.
I was glad to be home, to have the chance to do laundry and rest in my creature comforts.
Snuggles was glad to see me too and perform his morning routine of waking me up to serve breakfast and read the online news together. Creatures of habit…
