It may seem that for Canadians the world of war and political conflict is far away. This is a fact that often leads people to make this country their home, to hope for the safety and prosperity of their children, and to look forward to a long and peaceful old age.
But when violence erupts in other parts of the world, and we experience our connection to it, we are reminded again of how the majority of us living in Canada now have our ancestry in places outside our country. In recent years, it feels like so many people in my life are grieving for friends and families displaced or killed in other places, or worried for them.
I chose this post’s topic in consideration of how much disruption irresponsible leaders unleash on the world. Currently, several of my courses have included some type of study on population growth/decline. What I see in the overall story of humans is that despite the death and suffering they inflict on so many people, dictatorships with their big wars and the bankrupt economies they create, are unable to make any significant change. They do nothing to disrupt the underlying patterns of life. They are meaningless to history once those they harm are gone.
In London, Ontario, at this time of year, one such reminder (albeit not human) is the Canada Goose. It was noisy on campus last week, a constant reminder of the continuity of life, as I will explain. On Monday, I set one rule: while on campus I would take a picture of every goose on a roof that I encountered. To try to keep with the rule, I eventually had to stay inside as much as possible, because it took a lot more time from the day than I expected.
Western University is home to year-round geese residents. During the fall and winter they are rather docile. They travel in large groups, usually grazing across the lawns. When the oak trees drop their acorns the geese converge to the sidewalks under these trees shortly after every class-change. The crowds of students walking across the seeds breaks open the shells and the geese rush in to take them.
At this time of year, the birds begin their fight for territory and mates, and start to pair off. One way to attract a potential partner is to claim a roof and commence the noisy mating call process. By Friday, the birds had begun to settle down. But very soon, the nests and the eggs will happen and then goslings. At this point, it is not uncommon for students to be attacked by ground and by air, should they enter goose-occupied zones.
Play 
Fascinating – I’ve never encountered geese in cities before!
Yesterday I moved the compost pile (rather: Bale of straw) and found a sleeping hedgehog. Fortunately I did not hurt it with my rake. It was visibly and audibly breathing, nearly snoring actually. I resettled it – to the new compost pile. This was the best moment since the start of the war, and I was thinking about the same as you are indicating here…. about life on earth, and the grand scheme of things.
I am still processing everything though, as this war is way too close for comfort.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A very short time before the invasion, we had a group of so-called protesters (pro-Trump Canadian extremists) camped out in Ottawa for almost a month. They just took over the place and caused as much mess, chaos and noise as they could. It was finally shut down, and right at the moment when one of the smaller protests in another city had attempted to bring assault weapons into the country with the stated purpose of killing the police.
The truth is, that unsettled me. I saw the support rallies driving through London, not caring at all about the responsibilities of citizenship, of how their so-called rights to be free was doing harm to others (i.e. to not follow health mandates, to say what they want about groups they themselves do not identify with, to physically attack mask wearers and health care workers, and to vandalize businesses following health protocols). I always think that these kind of people are lucky to have been born here, as they are very unlikely to make it through the rigorous screening process of immigrating and obtaining citizenship. It some how brought the war much closer than any outside violence has before.
I love that you found and relocated the hedgehog. Thank you so much for sharing the story. It will make me smile many times as I think of it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve always called the these lunatics domestic terrorists. I’ve watched these reports from your country with horror. Here, they rallied every week in Vienna but also all the small cities – basically the only ‘event’ that was allowed despite ICUs on the brink, because the right to demonstrate is sacred. They also harassed doctors and medics. Medical personnel was advised not to wear their uniforms in public, and some doctors hired security people to protect their practices.
And, surprise, after nearly all rules have been lifted, they still rally … and they wave new flags – in red-blue-white. They shout “Peace! No dictatorship!” because you still have to wear a mask in the supermarket. Speeches given at that rallies quickly pivoted from that former Microsoft founder and his chips (I am re-phrasing to protect your search terms…) and the miracle deworming drug to hidden biotech labs in the invaded country, and why the Western powers are the actual aggressors. I’ve read that propagandists from the red-blue-white country even deliberately re-use ideas from the most crazy recent conspiracy anti-va** theories (again: silly search term optimization) – sounds totally plausible to me.
I do also agonize over our (Austria’s and Germany’s) dependence on gas and our very cautious – if not cowardly – approach to not even consider a temporary embargo. I’ve seen people holding up signs that literally read ‘Ready to freeze’ and I was hopeful at first, but our politicians fear ‘riots at home’ if they demand too much of a sacrifice. I think, they fear this very vocal unhinged minority. We even have a new political party – *another* far right one – whose only agenda was ‘anti-va**’. They got into some regional governments. Our traditional far-right party had always been red-blue-white friendly. Today, those complained about refugees’ ‘large cars’ clogging up parking lots in Vienna, as refugees can currently park for free. How can you see these horrid images and videos from the war zone and not be silent, humble, and thankful for what we have (for now) …. but *envy* people who lost everything (except their ‘large cars’, some of which are battered). And I fear this will get worse, because it does not work to appease a crazy aggressor – they always want more.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I did not get the notification for your message, and I still missed it even when I checked in after exams.
I agree with what you said, and I appreciate how you said it (very carefully to avoid SEO). I feel some of the anxiety and frustration that others feel with the pandemic. Everything has changed, and we can’t guess when the changing will stop and we can begin to make plans again. Yet, I also feel that because everyone is experiencing this, it is not as isolating as it is when we are struggling with something no one else in our lives is experiencing at that moment. I spend a lot of my time trying to see how lucky I am that my family and friends have their lives and their health. I feel incredibly disappointed, however, at how this has amplified the extreme right entitlement. I agree that when we pull back and remember that we have so much, and that others have lost almost everything through no fault of their own, that we are very lucky. Here, we found out how much our country also relies on oil/gas from R. It really was horrifying to realize that while we say in this country that ‘no more oil, no more environmental damage, no more climate change’ we are sneaking it in through the back door. And while we do this, it seems we have helped fund a war.
Given that some time has passed between your comment and my reply, I can also say that mask mandates came off in most places across Canada. A huge spike in Covid-related hospitalizations following, the majority of them are unvaccinated people. The consequences, of course, is that people experiencing other medical emergencies are not receiving the kind of care they would have received pre-pandemic, and that more health care workers are quitting due to burn out. It is very unfair to ask people to be there for us, and at the same time fail to protect their health and needs in turn.
LikeLiked by 1 person