magazine / oct12
 |
October 2012 issue |
|
|
|
Reverberations
Walkers of the
world unite!
The July/August edition of
Canadian Geographic was full of great geographic
journalism, ranging from the
exclusive world of caves and
caving culture (“Subterranean
trailblazers”) to much more
familiar urban landscapes
(“This is your city on foot”), seen from a
perspective that is unfortunately foreign
to most Canadians.
Writer/walker Chris Turner is a kindred
spirit; I share his passion for drifting
around cities on foot. It’s a great way
to avoid crowds: you tend to encounter
just the poor and the old and a few dog
walkers. I could relate especially to
Turner’s description of the “sidewalks”
leading away from Terminal 1 at
Toronto Pearson International Airport,
having negotiated that bizarre network
of concrete and gravel paths during
frequent layovers between connecting
flights. On one occasion, I was apprehended
by the Toronto Police and
escorted back to the terminal, having
committed the violation of walking.
Another personal incident that reflects
how far we’ve strayed from a pedestrian
lifestyle occurred a few years ago when
I was asked to speak in the House of
Commons to a committee of MPs.
I began my remarks by suggesting that
two of their most challenging issues,
health care and the environment, could
be addressed with a single solution:
encouraging Canadians to walk. This
suggestion was met with spontaneous
laughter and a second round of chuckles
when one MP noted that I live in
Regina. I suppose they misinterpreted
my sincere advice as an attempt to preface
my talk with some humour.
Dave Sauchyn
Prairie Adaptation
Research Collaborative
University of Regina
Regina
The portion of Chris Turner’s article
about trying to escape Pearson
International Airport on foot is
tragically accurate. A few years ago,
I attended two days of meetings at the
Sheraton Gateway Hotel. The airport
venue was chosen as most participants
had to fly in from western Canada and
Montréal. After day one wrapped up,
I decided to go for my evening walk on
a beautiful warm Canadian summer
night. I followed sidewalks and walkways
trying to escape the concrete
prison that is Pearson and finally had to
dodge traffic on roadways and ramps.
(I guess this improves your dodger dexterity).
I did mange to get over the concrete
walls and off on my stroll. But on
day two, I actually rented a car to drive
out of the complex for that walk, and
I parked at a strip mall with a bar and
grill — maybe the same one that the
author visits in his article.
D’arcy J. Brown
Sherwood Park, Alta.
I disagree with Chris Turner’s assessment
that Marchetti’s Constant
applies to all humans. Nomadic (or seasonally
nomadic) hunter-gatherers are,
for the most part, “at work” when they
wake up. They may make longer forays,
but if there is a need to “commute” regularly
to a resource, they move their
homes to the resource until the need
is gone. The concepts of “work” and
“home” are constructs of post-agrarian
societies and do not, even today, apply
to all people.
I do agree that time, not distance, is
the essential piece of human travel, but
the idea that a one-hour walk in an urban
setting is a measuring stick that applies to
all is not true. There are many places in
Canada and the rest of the world where it
is an excellent achievement to cover 100
metres in one hour on foot.
Bruce Self
Quesnel, B.C.
My wife and I are retired and love to
walk everywhere. We are not, as
implied in the article, poor or old. Yes,
we are aging, but we still like a good walk
to anywhere.
While I do agree that King Street in
Kitchener, Ont., is noisy and that the
exhaust fumes can at times be a concern —
and, yes, the sidewalks need attention — if
we just get out and walk it and bother City
Hall, it will improve with time.
K. Young
Kitchener, Ont.
Hats off for Hap
How great it was to open Canadian
Geographic and read an article by
Hap Wilson (“Path of the paddle,” July/
August 2012). Here is a man who knows
how to survive in unexpectedly dangerous
places. He is a man committed to
saving our wilderness and our environment
for the next generation.
My husband and I had the privilege of
working with Hap when he was teaching
at Rosseau Lake College, a small boarding
and day school on Ontario’s Lake Rosseau
that each autumn has all the students and
staff take part in a week-long wilderness
trip. When Hap was at the school, teaching
art and outdoor education and taking
trips with students, the programs were
very special. What a wonderful experience
the students had — especially if they were
fortunate enough to be part of a trip he
led. I’m sure there are many students
from Canada and other parts of the
world who remember Hap and what
they learned from him about Ontario’s
quiet, uncrowded special regions in the
near north.
I was the school’s librarian at the time
and what a joy it was to have Hap’s
books, with his wonderful maps, come to
the library. Thanks for this article. It’s
good to know that Hap is still doing the
things he loves to do and it brought back
good memories.
Elizabeth Hearn Milner
Bracebridge, Ont.
Africville’s resilience
Jon Tattrie’s article “Return to
Africville” (“Mosaic,” July/August
2012) screamed “Read me!” He related
very well how resilient this community of
indigenous black refugee settlers has been
and continues to be since entering Nova
Scotia in the mid-1700s.
Kudos as well to Eddie Carvery!
Through his persistent efforts, the attempts
to obliterate Africville have failed. As the
Africville Genealogy Society holds its
annual summer picnics in the ruins of the
once-bustling village, the joy that the community
feels is, in large part, due to him.
The excitement of those who gather
for the reunion spills from the hearts of
those who remember life in Africville.
Those who saw Africville’s destruction
found that it was a cruel and heartless
act. The loss of all that was held dear by
Africville residents appears to have been
ignored in the early 1960s. How wonderful
it is today to find that individuals
such as Carvery and Brenda Steed-Ross
have worked tirelessly to ensure that the
culture of those who once lived in
Africville will be preserved.
Lawrence E. Farrell
Grafton, N.B.
A model voyage
I really enjoyed Stefan Superina’s article
on one of my heroes, Henry Larsen (“A
trip so nice, he did it twice,” “Discovery,”
July/August 2012). My uncle (my namesake)
was an RCMP officer, so I had many
points of connection to the St. Roch, the
RCMP ship that Larsen sailed through the
Northwest Passage 70 years ago.
In 2009, I built a radio-controlled
model of the St. Roch, put it in a case,
flew to Resolute Bay, Nunavut, got on
the Clipper Adventurer and launched my
model in Gjoa Haven — all with the
support and co-operation of the folks at
Adventure Canada. We had a wonderful
time on the expedition, and the visit to
Gjoa Haven was a highlight. The elders
were telling stories of their memories of
the St. Roch as children, the RCMP officers
were recent graduates and knew the
history, my fellow passengers discovered
what was in my secret box, and the kids
wanted the model ship to go faster.
Bob Allan
Mississauga, Ont.
Trouble at the henhouse
I had to read “Cluck and duck” by
Merilyn Simonds (“In habitat,” July/
Aug 2012) twice to ensure I had caught
her drift, and I’m still not sure I get it.
What I did deduce is that she is OK with
the rare grey fox living near her precious
hens but not the common racoon, for
which she has an apparent hatred. She left
me with the impression that she killed the
mother raccoon and its young after they
killed some hens. An eye for an eye, she
said. I would hope that is not the case.
How can she hate an animal because it
is abundant in numbers and is only doing
what it needs to survive and feed its
young? If she would rather burden raccoons
with the responsibility to not kill
her hens, then it is only fair to provide
them with rights as well. Her attitude is
archaic, and I would hope that in the
future she takes a more “live and let live”
approach toward creatures who are simply
trying to survive.
Toby Gorman
Nanaimo, B.C.
top
* Letters may be edited for length, accuracy and liability.
|
