Bamboo -- a plant with many uses

Bamboo is an astonishing plant, but not one we normally associate with this climate zone -- at least not enormous stalks like these, which are quietly pushing themselves skyward in East Vancouver.

Some bamboos grow a metre a day. As the plant matures, the growth rate accelerates. Bamboo grows quickly into dense forests, and covers much of South America, Hawaii and Southeast Asia. The world's greatest diversity of bamboos are found in the Chinese province of Yunnan.

With types from a foot tall to fifty feet, this strong, flexible, hard and useful grass can be eaten, used as a building and fencing material, or turned into thermally regulating cloth. It's speedy growth and usefulness make it a sustainable crop. It cleans the air we breathe, and doesn't attract pests.

Birds celebrate as water slowly rises in Serpentine ponds and ditches

 

Ducks reduced to one-lane traffic in dry Serpentine Fen

The black mud is normally the bottom of the pond. Since August, it has been dry except at the edges, where all the waterfowl must crowd in as best they can. Below the exposed rusty pole reveals the normal water depth.

Serpentine ditch bottoms seen for the first time ever

Since late summer, the Serpentine dikes have been low and the nearby ditches shockingly empty of water. At the same time, the nearby fields are green and lovely. These photos were taken on Thanksgiving weekend.

This is us -- selfie from a stick

Life is a constant process of learning and adaptation. Not so very long ago, I was irritated by people who were constantly on their cell phones.

Then I got one myself. At first I barely used my cell phone camera. Now I take a lot of photos, routinely uploading and filing them on my computer.

Our latest foray into cellular technology is the selfie stick. We each have one now: this is us.

Positive stories, not "poverty porn"

  Image from Tracey Lindberg

Still thinking about the wonderful panel on Saturday at the Vancouver Writers Fest. Aboriginal writers Tracey Lindberg, Marilyn Dumont and Wab Kinew shared hilarious moments and profound thoughts.

The overall message was positive and hopeful. Enough, said these authors, of the "poverty porn" stories about the terrible suffering of aboriginal peoples. Instead we need to look for inspiring stories, full of hope and success.

Said Tracey, we need to find ways reach for and mobilize the women who are "holding the world together" on the reserves.

In old aboriginal teachings, a leader is humble; citizens are the boss. We need to become more inclusive, focus on the voices that are not getting heard.

The question period brought an interesting challenge. When audience members asked what the panelists were going to do to move forward, Marilyn quite rightly turned the question back. "What are you going to do?" she wondered.

This is my answer. Since June, I've evolved a small personal plan. Inspired originally by a talk by James Bartleman at the 2015 Canadian Authors conference in Orillia, I've decided to send some inspiring books by some of Canada's many talented Aboriginal authors to children in fly-in communities in northern Ontario, where astonishingly, there are no libraries.

Signed works by these three authors will definitely be in the mix, as well as a few by Richard Wagamese that I bought and had him sign at the Sidney and Peninsula Literary Festival. I'll include something by Joseph Boyden too.

The Way Forward II

After the Waterfront Theatre event presented by The Writers Fest, Wab Kinew chats with an admiring reader as he prepares to sign The Reason we Walk. The book is a memoir of his father, an Anishnabe chief called Tobosunakwut. During his final illness, he took an unprecedented step. In order to help us all find a way forward in dealing with aboriginal issues, he adopted the Bishop of Winnipeg as his brother.

His accomplished son Wab is host of Canada Reads on CBC, a musician, a journalist and the Associate Vice-President of the University of Winnipeg. Kinew thinks, speaks, writes and tweets about issues that affect Canada's aboriginal peoples. We need to hear positive stories, he says, move the conversation away from poverty and suffering.

Wab Kinew, still in his thirties, is definitely a rising star, someone to watch. He feels encouraged by the recent success of the Liberals under Justin Trudeau, who he says "sees us, talks to us, believes we're real people." At this recent election, aboriginals voted in record numbers.

Much work lies ahead. First should come the "baby steps" of providing clean water and accessible education to children on reserves. Then the time will come to face for Canadians to work together to cope with the "baked-in" challenges posed by our history and political structures.

One of his memorable quotes at Saturday's event was that "we (aboriginal peoples) are showing you (non-aboriginal Canadians) how to cure the existential meaninglessness at the centre of modern life."