Home in the Boreal Forest - My entry for International Forest Day STEEM Challenge
Ah! The forest!
The place where I call home!
A place which is my sanctuary, my retreat from all the craziness of the world!
A place where I find peace of mind, communing with nature.
A place that I love!
My Home in the Boreal Forest of Saskatchewan, Canada
It is because of this love for the forest and all the flora and fauna in it that it grieves my heart so when I see want-um destruction of this beautiful ecosystem.
Ecological Grief
When you experience the loss of something you love, you grieve that loss.
This is not limited to the typical sphere of humans but we also grieve losses in the natural world like landscapes, species, ecosystems even special places that have meaning to us..
This has been termed "ecological grief"
Read more in my post "Earth Deeds: Experiencing Ecological Grief - Finding Some Relief..."
Unfortunately the land surrounding my forest home is in the Forestry Lease area logged by lumber companies which don't have very sustainable practices. I've been to numerous meetings, stood as a public representative in the provincial forestry meetings, stood in front of feller butchers that threaten our neighborhood forest but alas our words seemed to fall on deaf ears and our actions never had enough backing to stop the powerful lumber companies. The once vast unbroken forest lands in our part of the country is becoming more and more just little islands of forest chunks. This is very devastating to the caribou populations who need those vast stretches of uninterrupted forest to survive. Once abundant in our area, the caribou are being pushed further north.
Our home piece remains an oasis for us and the wildlife around us.
I look to the forest and it's abundance for a sense of food security. Emulating it in my food forest garden.
Food Forest Garden Nestled in the Woods
I have studied and learned to identify it's many wild foods and medicines it provides.
I've shared some in my series "Harvesting from the Wilds of Northern Saskatchewan"
Part 1 is at:** https://steemit.com/nature/@porters/harvesting-from-the-wilds-of-northern-saskatchewan-part-1
Part 2 is at:** https://steemit.com/food/@porters/harvesting-from-the-wilds-of-northern-saskatchewan-part-2-a-prepper-cook-off-challenge-entry
One on the Chokecherry harvest with a pemmican recipe at: https://steemit.com/ghsc/@porters/recipe-chokecherries-are-in-and-juiced
Also my series "Celebrating Healing Plants"
Issue 1 - https://steemit.com/health/@porters/celebrating-healing-plants-issue-1-alfalfa-medicago-sativa
Issue 2 - https://steemit.com/naturalmedicine/@porters/celebrating-healing-plants-issue-2-giant-hyssop-agastache-foeniculum
Issue 3 - https://steemit.com/naturalmedicine/@porters/celebrating-healing-plants-issue-3-wood-lily-lilium-philadelphicum
Issue 4 - https://steemit.com/ecotrain/@porters/celebrating-healing-plants-issue-4-fireweed-epilobium-angustifolium
Issue 5 - https://steemit.com/ecotrain/@porters/celebrating-healing-plants-issue-5-goldenrod-solidago-canadensis
Issue 6 - https://steemit.com/naturalmedicine/@porters/recipes-celebrating-healing-plants-issue-6-wild-rose-rosa-woodsii
Issue 7 - https://steemit.com/ecotrain/@porters/celebrating-healing-plants-issue-7-northern-bedstraw-galium-boreale
More of our local natural medicines at: https://steemit.com/naturalmedicine/@porters/local-medicine-natural-medicine-s-collective-wisdom-challenge
Watch for more issues in this series!
Beauty abounds here with the vast array of wild flowers as you can see in the series I share with you "Photo Journey Through the Seasons - Wild Blossoms Found in the Boreal"
Part 1 at: https://steemit.com/photography/@porters/photo-journey-through-the-seasons-wild-blossoms-found-in-the-boreal-forest-part-1
Part 2 at: https://steemit.com/nature/@porters/photo-journey-through-the-seasons-wild-blossoms-found-in-the-boreal-forest-part-2
Part 3 at: https://steemit.com/nature/@porters/photo-journey-through-the-seasons-wild-blossoms-found-in-the-boreal-forest-part-3
Part 4 at: https://steemit.com/pc-nature/@porters/photo-journey-through-the-seasons-wild-blossoms-found-in-the-boreal-forest-part-4
And the beautiful mushrooms at: https://steemit.com/nature/@porters/photo-journey-wild-mushrooms-found-in-the-boreal-forest
I love the forest with it's many seasons, in it's fall glory -
Autumn Colors in the Boreal Forest
And when it is a winter wonderland -
Nature can be a great teacher too, often revealing things in a way where there is no words.
I was once given an ah-ha moment that showed me somewhat what all this (life) is about.
Walking down a forest trail at a bottom of a hill, when I climbed to the rise of the hill a scene opened up before me -
There was a full moon rising over the silhouettes of the evergreens in the east and the sun setting behind the tree lined hill in the west.
All of a sudden it just hit me -
That this is what it is all about!
I could not tell you in words what it is all about, but the immense beauty and the representation of the rising and falling just made me know deep down in my heart that yes in deed,
This is what it is all about!
This moment passed and I carried on with my life. Every once in awhile, because that moment still lives on in my heart, if I sit quiet and tune into nature it will return and I am free from wondering and uncertainty. I can just be!
I hope you too can find that peace and abundance that nature provides!
Rising moon and setting sun photos from Pixabay.com
All other pictures were taken with my Canon PowerShot A495
And that's why we keep returning, huh? It's like we connect to all that is in a moment of ecstatic joy. If the big company men had ever felt that, would they participate in forest devastation?
You are a forest sprite dear @porters!
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Good point @riverflows I think we need to tune the big company men into the nature more, that could be the solution!
Right there with you, across the board.
My dream was always to live on acreage that was three quarters woods, and that's exactly what we have here.
And yet the majority of the forests that once abounded in the Appalachians are gone, and we have far more fields than forests, which is the opposite of what the first European settlers found. And the forestry service still seems intent on pushing logging as the primary source of income for landowners, even though it's increasingly short-sighted, and in no way sustainable.
I try to let people know that we can not only protect our woods, but in doing so make far more money in the long run, and sustain our land far better by working with nature, rather than by clear-cutting our most valuable trees.
By growing and harvesting the often-prolific native understory species that have made this place what it is, we can increase diversity and provide needed food and shelter for the pollinators and other species, and become healthier in the process, while improving habitat and ecosystems, and steadily increasing the the monetary and intrinsic value of our land.
And yet I'm human, and my heart sinks every time I see a logging truck going down the road. We humans can be such fools, can fail to see the truth right before our eyes, and can fail to act intelligently and responsibly when it is most needed.
But still, I have hope. For every awful thing in the "news," there are dozens, if not hundreds of people working behind the scenes to effect change for the better, not for glory or aggrandizement, but because they are called to do so. They are the embodiment of the love and vigor that begins and ends with our beautiful planet and all her amazing lifeforms.
Together, let's create miracles.
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Oh @crescendoofpeace how beautifully put! It is so sad to see a land once so abundant destroyed by greed! I'm all with you to create miracles! There is such abundance around us if we work with nature. May we all flourish and live in peace and harmony!
What a beautiful place. Why would they want to cut away such beauty. I pray that you can convince them not to. 🙏
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First two pictures! What a contrast....amazing scenery.
Beautiful photos! I just love the moon coming up over the trees! Lovely post!
What a gorgeous place ! Almost magical, the nature and its faces between the seasons ! The colours are absolutely gorgeous and that moon, such a magical shot <3 <3 <3
I find these kinds of places very wonderful, living in the city for years myself.... It makes me feel like I can breathe a bit when I see such pictures :)
I call it my bit of paradise! And one of the things I appreciate most is being able to breath in the fresh air!
What a beautiful setting to live in. It's a shame that greed wins out and they can't do what they need to do in a sustainable way.
That's what really erks me is that the forest can provide and there are forestry methods that are sustainable but greed has the lumber companies just taking the quick profits then often they will just pack up and move on.
I know I really appreciate having a vibrant healthy forest environment to live in and I do what I can to make sure that it remains that way.
well done for standing up and protecting the forests.. It sounds like you are one of the growing few who really understands the many reasons why we need to take a stand and stop the greed destroying our world... <3
I do my part but I feel greed is just growing rampant these days! It can be so disheartening!
Yes, its true! Esp in cities .. its bred into people...
A gorgeous haven that make you want to leave everything behind. It is sad to hear that the neighborhood forest is threatened by the lumber companies. It is hard to bear seeing beauty being destroyed. You live in a very beautiful land and so blessed. I hope I would also find my oasis of peace.
I do feel blessed and do my best to protect this bit of paradise we have. I hope you do find your oasis of peace too!
Beautiful post @porters and lovely photos. I just read that Canada's Boreal forest is home to 25% of the WORLDS remaining primary forests. We have lost (and destroyed) 80% of the original forests the majority in which happened over the past three decades. This is so painful to read.
Very painful indeed! I have witnessed so much destruction of our forests, all for money! Can they not see the richness of an intact forest ecosystem! Greed can be a powerful force!
I am always grateful that I have been able to live a good part of my life peacefully in the Boreal forest which has played a big part in sustaining me.
I can so relate. I grew up in coastal California, and we have less than 5% left of the original redwood forests, which were vast.
That's nothing short of criminal.
I pray that Canada can get it together, along with Bolivia and Russia, as the three nations with the largest and most pristine remaining forests.
Obviously I pray that my own country gets a frigging clue as well, but as long as we are ruled by a crime family and an equally criminal Congress, our environment and people will continue to take a back seat.
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So sad to hear you only have 5% left of those beautiful redwood forests. I use to visit them when I was a child for we had cousins living in California and every few years we would go down and visit. My folks had old photos too of the Redwoods when my mom was taking schooling down there before us kids were born.
Once you lose something like that you can't get it back or at least not for generations and generations. I do hope we can keep our forest pristine for the generations to come.