Bon Echo: Give me solitude-give me Nature ..

Mazinaw Rock at Bon Echo

A year or two ago, I overheard one of the painters in my class talking about painting at Bon Echo. I learnt after that several famous Canadian artists were inspired to paint the breathtaking scenes of the Mazinaw Rock and lake. Ever since I've been drawn to this place.

The beauty and serenity of this place has attracted nature lovers, poets, artists and philosophers for eons. To the aboriginal people, the Mazinaw rock holds deep spiritual significance. For me the place is special because of its long history, its connection to poet Walt Whitman and the high ideals of the people who sought and found inspiration here. This year we camped here in the midst of nature .. to renew our souls and as Whitman said... "to grow in the open air, and to eat and sleep with the earth" .

Give me solitude—give me Nature—give me again, O Nature, your primal sanities!  - poet Walt Whitman

The desert we call 'graveyard'

Graveyards, the man made deserts

Imagine the world if we continue building tombstones for every person that ever lived! The earth will soon turn into a barren desert of tombstones. Can we permanently mourn every wave that rises and falls or every passing sunset?

Just like the autumn leaves fall to the ground and enrich the earth for new life, so too our dead bodies must become compost for new life. Some cultures and native people understood the natural cycle of birth and death. The ashes of their dead are scattered in the rivers to be carried with it far and wide to nourish and mix with the dust of the earth. The dead leave without a trace and every bit of earth is treated as sacred ground.

..the very dust upon which you now stand ... is rich with the blood of our ancestors, and our bare feet are conscious of the sympathetic touch.  - Chief Seattle 

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft star that shines at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there; I did not die. - Mary Elizabeth Frye

Blessed will be the earth when every graveyard is turned into a lush forest from the desert of tombstones it is now.

Fearless Red-winged blackbird ..

The small red-winged Blackbird attacking a hawk - pic (Louis Ruth)

I know not how many times I have stood transfixed by this drama unfolding in the clear blue summer sky. The thrilling fight of David and Goliath is replayed over and over as the red-winged blackbird takes on yet another bully several times bigger than himself.

The blackbird fiercely defends its nesting area attacking a raven or a red-tailed hawk that steers close, pecking at it relentlessly and chasing the predatory far and away into the horizon as if to once-and-for-all teach it a lesson of a lifetime so it never dares to come back again! No matter who the bully is and in what size or shape he comes .. be it a heron, raven, eagle or a hawk, the blackbird never gives up without a fight.

To me the red-winged blackbird symbolises 'great courage' and the fight against might! A lesson for us to never put up with bullies and to stand up and fight to the end for what is rightfully ours!!