Glorious and Free

So it seems we have lost our innocence; or those who still had it have anyway. The violence and threat of violence that is present around the modern world has hit home for Canadians. The killing of one of our soldiers in Quebec on Monday was a crack in the mask of innocence, but the attack on our parliament yesterday grabbed that mask and shattered it on the ground.

The fact that we are at war with a sophisticated and far reaching enemy has not just been highlighted, but has jumped up and slapped us in the face. For too long, we have collectively had the attitude that the terrorists were not interested in friendly old Canada; who would want to hurt us; we invented peace keeping, we had one of the few non-violent independence movements back in the 1860's. We are the kinder, gentler of the North American cousins.

But we have stepped up and said we will help fight an enemy that most feel must be stopped. To be clear, this is not a fight against Islam...this enemy is very far from the core tenants of the Muslim religion. This enemy is brutal and an affront to human rights, human decency and wants nothing less than the destruction of all who disagree with their extreme beliefs. This fight is not a veiled move to secure oil reserves, or avenge a terrorist attack, as some recent fights have been; this is akin to the scourge that was Hitler and Japan in 1939. We have to help in this fight, it is our responsibility as a modern nation.

But still, even for a witness like myself, who I like to think had no innocence about our vulnerability; it was shocking to see and hear about a gunman (or multiply gunmen) attacking our nations most sacred places. I watched in shock the video of gun fire in the Hall of Honour. As many have, I have walked that hall, I have browsed the front lawn of Parliament...this violence and terror there was shocking.

We live in a world were groups want to attack innocents and where implements of mass murder (guns and bombs) are fairly easy to obtain. Our armed forces and police organizations are not just there to fight overseas and provide security for parades and protests...they carefully train, plan and run security drills for a reason.

 Barricades around important landmarks and metal detectors at entrances are common place in most other areas of the world. You cannot get close to the front door of the White House, of Congress, of Buckingham Palace or many other landmarks around the world. In Paris, it is hard to ignore the presence of heavily armed soldiers near all the famous landmarks. Most of the world has lost its innocence when it comes to security and terrorism; now Canada has also.

We are no less safe today than we were yesterday, but we are now more aware of that safety or lack there of. When our military asks for more funding, or our security experts put more barricades and security procedures in place, we will better understand why these things are necessary.

BUT... we will remain glorious and free, and we will remain the friendly, polite, neighbour with the great sense of humour on the world stage. We will still say thank you and sorry and we will still be the one's who soften the American ways and strengthen the European tendencies and personalize the Asian efficiencies. We are still the model for a free, socially responsible and secure nation, and that is why the terrorists want to change us...lets not let them have the satisfaction.

O Canada, glorious and free!

Johanna Jessie Mackenzie - A force of nature

My Grandmother passed away this evening in her home in Cape Breton...she was very sick since the weekend, and I was compelled to write about her a couple of days ago, it became a tribute. My wife encouraged me to post it here:

A force of nature…not a cliché, but the truth. Since I was very young, my grandmother has been just that to me, and to all who knew her well. Not a blustering wind, or a rushing rain storm, but a calm breeze or a quite glen in the woods. She never raised her voice, never got overly excited, but her strong hands were attuned to the places she grew up. Born and raised in the middle of Bras d’Or lake and never living far from its shores for all her 96 years, she was apart of the place. She was gentle and calm, always telling us to “leave those poor beasts alone” when we removed a hornets nest, or shoo a ferret or mouse from the house.  She was as close a person I have ever know to mother nature. Not that she communed with nature like a hippy, but she appreciated and coveted being exposed to the wonders and hardships of nature. She loved nothing more than the simple pleasures of a walk down the road or a swim in the lake.

She raised a family on the shore of the lake and helped raise all of us grandchildren too. She spoiled us, but not too much, and indulged us but also kept a close eye. During my sister’s sicknesses as I grew up, I spent a lot of time with my grandmother in West Bay, and despite my fear of the deep dark and her illusive cat Dusty, I looked forward to my stays with her. She always made sure she had a fresh batch of my favorite treat, cinnamon buns, ready when I arrived. We would go into town and buy fresh mackerel and other things and have great meals in her kitchen. She had fishing rods on hand so I could drop a line in the brook or the lake…though I never caught anything.

In her later years she lost the ability to go for a walk or swim in her beloved lake, but in her moments of clarity, her stories were always about the lake and the adventure that it was to live on an island in the middle of a lake.

While she was raising 5 sons and a daughter, she worked at the lumber camps feeding the workers, and boarded more workers and fed them at the house. Then in another phase of her life, she became one of the longest serving mail workers in Nova Scotia. She was proud of the fact that she trained many mail workers and took pride in the important service of delivering the mail. The house in West Bay housed the mail office through the 70s and 80s, and as happens became one of the hubs of the community.

My grandmother did enjoy retirement, going to Florida for the winter for serveral years and becoming a regular at card plays around the county. As she began to fail and was not able to drive, she still walked several miles a day and easily climbed the hill to her daughters house. In later years, when she could not walk to the lake or even swim in the lake any longer, her favorite activity was to go for a drive along the lake shore. Her main perch in the house over the years overlooked her lake. Even after 90+ years living near it, she always marveled at the beauty of a sunset on the lake, or at some bird on the lake.

I had the luck to spend a fair bit of time with my grandmother during the formative years of my life and in hindsight, I can see that she helped form the man I have become. Everytime I see a sunset, or wonder at some landscape I see as I travel the globe for my job, I am channeling the wonder and respect for nature that she taught me. I am told I have an easy nature and an ability to put people at ease; this comes from both my father and mother; but I saw the power of an even keel from my grandmother too. An even keel that can gain speed and ram you if you got out of line. Her dry humor and quick wit when critiquing someone are legendary, and I like to think I carry some of that charm. Only a few months ago, when one of the homecare workers asked me about my kids, Grammy quickly commented “You don’t have any goats do your Mark?”, her years teaching her brothers and sisters on the island showing through. I didn’t think she was listening, and could not help my laugh.

Growing up in rural Nova Scotia on the shores of this lake formed a granite back bone in this force of nature, and we can all attest to the toughness of our grandmother. Losing a husband, losing 2 sons, a shattered arm, and countless other set backs could not slow her. Even when her body started to fail her, she pushed on longer than others would have had the fortitude to do so. She comes from hardy stock and the hardships of lake living only tempered that stock and made it seemingly indestructible.

I will miss my grandmother, but it was her time. She lived all the life she was given, but it is time she had a rest. I take solace in the idea that she is now at peace and watching over us all. This place, this lake, will always resonate with her presence.