Leonardo Da Vinci & Leafy Spurge

What’s that lovely chartreuse-coloured flower that is now blooming near the Oldman river and smells like honey? It’s Leafy Spurge – a nasty, invasive weed species.

James and I did our Poetry in the Park fourteener guided hike this morning in Alexander Wilderness Park (a beautiful nature reserve in Lethbridge, Alberta). There’s so much Leafy Spurge in that nature reserve (and Leafy Spurge does not belong there). Leafy Spurge is displacing many beautiful native flowering plants that should be protected in that park.

There’s still a lot of native beauty in Alexander Wilderness Park, in spite of all the Leafy Spurge. I have uploaded a few videos that I recorded when visiting Alexander Wilderness Park. In the videos, I showed some of the flowers that I was planning to guide others to see. I hope you’ll enjoy seeing them in my videos (though they’re better to see in person).

I was most delighted to see the Shining Penstemon in bloom on top of the coulees along the Lost Soul Ultra trail. There is a large patch of Shining Penstemon that grows right along the road into the park. It isn’t in bloom yet. I expect it will be later this week. It doesn’t last too long so it’s worth showing up often for the next while (so you don’t miss it).

If you do happen to miss the Shining Penstemon at Alexander Wilderness Park in Lethbridge, we will see it later on in Waterton while on one of our scheduled Poetry in the Park hikes there. Every single one of our hikes is worth showing up for. There are a lot of beautiful flowers blooming in the Lethbridge coulees right now. Why wait for Waterton’s Poetry in the Park free guided hikes?

Our next hike takes us just south of the Lethbridge Country Club on May 19, 2024. We will be meeting at a park in suburbia at 9 AM. This subdivision (Chinook Heights) is located near Scenic Drive, south. If you drive south on Scenic, from downtown, you will find it on the right hand side. There is only one park within Chinook Heights and it’s easy to find.

James and I will introduce a type of Fourteener (called Ballad Meter) to interested budding poets while we hike down to check out the budding flowers along the coulee trail which winds down to the Oldman River. We also expect to see a number of birds (as this is one of the best places in Lethbridge for bird-watching).

I have provided an example of a poem written in Ballad Meter below. I wrote this poem on May 14, 2024 after having watched a documentary about Leonardo Da Vinci. James and I will be discussing Leonardo Da Vinci and other Italian Renaissance artists on videos attached to my next blog post.

Observing Da Vinci

Observing Mona Lisa’s smile

is something we all do.

Most tend to linger for a while

so, likely you will, too.

I’ve lingered there, just wondering

what other people see.

The critics say this “perfect” thing

 is all high art should be.

I like the painting but don’t see

it as the best I’ve seen.

And, for its time, it wouldn’t be

the best there’d ever been.

So why the rep? Do critics see

the artist, not the art?

Da Vinci’s “genius” meant that he

could pull the world apart

to understand, then engineer

a better world design.

But he fell short of this, I fear.

And yet, he did just fine.

He’s been renowned for centuries –

all humans know his name,

but is this man the whole world sees

observed by all the same?

I like his artwork – paintings and

his “engineering” plans

because he tried to understand

the world amongst its fans.

But is it genius just to see

the world with hopes to learn?

A genius is, it seems to me,

a title one must earn

by not just seeing with some wit,

but doing something new.

His plans fell short and so he bit

off more than he could chew.

He hoped to fly, as most men do,

but was it worth the fuss?

High aims accomplished nothing new

since fallen Icarus.

If he had spent his time instead

just painting everyday,

would he be famed, amongst the dead,

a “genius” anyway?

Though mastering his art technique

did win him some acclaim,

his mastering of his mystique

without it built his fame.

Leonardo Da Vinci could’ve made a comfortable living making art exclusively. Would his art have more value if he’d churned out a huge number of pieces over his lifetime? No. Rarity and impermanence makes things more valuable. His Last Supper is likely more valuable because it has been disappearing over the centuries. The fact that his 24 foot tall horse sculpture was destroyed makes us value what little remains all the more.

Perhaps, even though Da Vinci realized that he was a skilled artist, he realized that there really were more important things for him and everyone else at the time to put one’s energy and time into than art. Perhaps the fact that he branched out into engineering makes us value him more – as not just an artist but a “genius”.

Leonardo Da Vinci had proved himself as an artist. Did this make us all take his other endeavors more seriously? Were his engineering plans really original? Ahead of their time? This is worth discussing further.

Buffalo Bean’s Optimism

Buffalo Bean’s Optimism

If you’re a landscape painter, painting prairie scenes in spring,

you’ll need bright yellow for one bloom that blooms on everything –

on coulee slopes, in ditches, and in meadows way down low.

You’ll even find them fairly close to where the rivers flow.

They’re not the first spring flower type that blooms here every year

but when they bloom, the blind may even notice that they’re here.

The prairies swap dust grey for such an optimistic hue –

just briefly, but just long enough to lure out folks like you.

That yellow fills the scenery of everything you see.

It seems to reignite the light within you easily.

It’s like you’re fueled by seeing such an optimistic hue

and so, each spring, this flower makes you optimistic, too.

I have included two different versions of my poem, He Caught One! in videos included with this blog post. Only the final line of the poem changed, yet this made a big difference. First and final lines are most important, but the alternate ending would have been too slow for any line in the poem. Some words flow together and seem to pour from one’s lips and others take a long time to say.

One must be very selective when choosing which words to use in a poem. Words have meaning and feeling. The words that made up the alternate ending did not leave the listener with the appropriate feeling (even though the meaning of the words may have been slightly better).

Since no one showed up at Cottonwood Park on May 5, 2024, James and I will be covering both the standard fourteener and a second type of fourteener on our next Poetry in the Park guided hike in Alexander Wilderness Park in Lethbridge, at 9 AM on May 12, 2024. We will be guiding people on how to write a fourteener (like my poem, Buffalo Bean’s Optimism, which is just a standard fourteener) and introducing people to native flowers (including Buffalo Bean).

We will be meeting at the lower (main) parking lot in Alexander Wilderness Park. To get to Alexander Wilderness, you need to drive through a bit of suburbia (there are two ways to get there. The fastest way is past the recycling center on the north side of Lethbridge. I suggest you check a map before you head out. If you put “map, Alexander Wilderness, Lethbridge” into an internet search bar, you’ll find it. This park is well signed. Once you’re there, just drive right down the winding road. We’ll meet right near the parking lot (near the picnic tables).

Even though you missed us at Cottonwood, you really should head out there sometime. To find it, just substitute “Cottonwood” for “Alexander Wilderness” in a search bar. Don’t bring your dog or mountain bike to Cottonwood (or any of the nature reserves in Lethbridge). There are plenty of trails where you are permitted to bring your mountain bike or dog. You are not permitted to do so in the Lethbridge nature reserves.

Cottonwood is the most south west park in the city of Lethbridge. To get there, head south on University Drive, past the traffic circle. When you pass the last bit of residential lots on the right-hand side, you will turn right onto a gravel road. You will pass the entrance to Popsin Park (on the left). Keep heading up the gravel road. It winds around. Eventually you will see a parking lot. Park there. You’ve reached Cottonwood Park, a lovely nature reserve.

Many think that their dog won’t do any harm while running off-leash through a nature reserve. The poop is one thing, but the main problem is how dogs disturb the nature there. Some dogs are well behaved (mine wouldn’t be if off-leash anywhere). You might think your dog is one of those well-behaved dogs that won’t chase after the deer.

Since the suburbs moved right next to Alexander Wilderness, we noticed a deer skeleton at the base of a coulee one spring. It seemed odd, but we didn’t think much of it. Then, while we walked along the shore next to 6-mile coulee, we saw another deer skeleton. This time we noticed that it was a steep drop from the coulee to where that deer ended up. We wondered why a deer would leap off a cliff. It didn’t seem like something a deer would do.

One day we were hiking through the 6-mile coulees and saw the handsome buck who lived there. He was running for his life with a large black dog at his heels. They were heading toward the Oldman (and the cliff where we’d seen the the deer skeleton). We used to see that buck nearly every time we hiked in 6-mile. We haven’t seen him since that day. 6-mile was likely his father’s and grandfather’s territory (his ancestral land). It should have been his son’s domain, too.

James and I avoided hiking along the shore after we saw buck being chased by that dog. We wanted to believe that somehow, that buck evaded the dog and is still alive and well somewhere. I feel bad for that buck every time I think of him running that day. Your dog is permitted to run free in several dog parks in Lethbridge. Popsin Park is the nicest one.

World Peace

Our last Poetry in the Park hike was at Botterill Bottom. No one showed up. Perhaps the high wind speeds kept them away. James and I weren’t disappointed. We wouldn’t have been able to teach anything in that wind, anyhow.

We were greeted by an American Eagle who flew quite low overhead. I’ve never caught such a great view of an Eagle in flight before then. I didn’t catch it with my camera. I rarely manage to catch life in motion that way.

We could see the Pelicans from the parking lot. I asked James if he wanted to hike out to see them and he did. When we got out to see the Pelicans close-up, there was a man within the “World Peace” art piece near the weir. It turned out that he was the artist.

James spoke with Michael, the artist, for about two and a half hours that day. Michael is very friendly, patient, and interesting to talk with. Seeing Michael’s art work weeks ago had inspired me to write a poem. Meeting him and listening to him inspired many more.

Our Poetry in the Park hikes always inspire many poems. Although I’ve been to the places where I’ve scheduled these hikes many times before, I never know exactly what I will experience on the hikes. I can anticipate which plants will be blooming and which birds will be present in a particular place at a particular time, but somehow every hike is different.

I’ve typed up and recorded videos of myself reading some of the poems that various Poetry in the Park hikes inspired so that I could include them in this post. I have also included a video which features an interview with Michael, the artist who is creating “World Peace” near the Lethbridge weir at Botterill Bottom.

Our next Poetry in the Park hike is at Cottonwood Park on May 5, 2024 at 9 AM. The poetry form we’re guiding folks through will be the fourteener. I plan to put up another post before the weekend which includes an example of a fourteener. I haven’t included an example of one in this post.

Michael’s Home

A man named Michael told me of

his memory – of his family’s love –

of picking olives back in Crete

and then of sitting down to eat

those olives back beneath their tree –

in shade – the perfect place to be

with loved ones on a sunny day.

He said that while he worked away

on making “peace” a piece of art

he made a little shady part

beneath a little olive tree

his “home,” and smiled while telling me.

He said he ate its olives, too

(which wasn’t something I would do).

He told me that their fruit was sweet.

I saw him – sitting down to eat

his olives in that “home” he made

beneath that little olive’s shade.

If you would like to visit Michael’s website, see the link below.

http://www.worldpeaceshrine.love

Oldman Pelicans

The Pelicans are back in Lethbridge! One of the best places in town to watch Pelicans is Botterill Bottom Park. James and I are offering a Heroic Couplet Poetry in the Park guided hike at Botterill Bottom (across the Oldman River from the University of Lethbridge) for FREE on April 28, 2024 at 10 AM.

There are other places to spot Pelicans in Lethbridge at this time of year – spots that I prefer to spend time. Pelicans are most accessible at Botterill, though.

James’ favorite birds are Pelicans. Watching pelicans is relaxing (unless you’re a fish). James and I saw a lonely male pelican while we hiked through Alexander Wilderness Park on April 24, 2024. We will be offering a Poetry in the Park hike there on May 12, 2024 at 9 AM.

The Oldman’s Spring Fishing Fleet

The Oldman offers up a special treat

to each within a migratory fleet

of Pelicans who fish here every spring.

Though they’re not colourful and they can’t sing,

they’re beautiful and special in their way.

Each distant sighting really makes my day.

At one location, sightings may be near –

near Botterill, along the Oldman’s weir.

So, in the spring, the weir’s the place to be

if Pelicans are birds you want to see.

The Buffalo Bean is already beginning to bloom in Alexander Wilderness Park. It will likely be in pod by the time we hike there on May 12, 2024. There will be other attractions to come, though. It sure is great to be out hiking again.

I’ve been sick with a head cold for over a week now. When I say sick – I mean sick in bed. I couldn’t even watch TV for a couple days last week (so quite ill). I sure have spent a lot of time watching TV this past week, though.

I didn’t feel so bummed about being ill (and missing out on hiking) while the weather was gloomy last week. It’s sunny this week, though. Time to recover fully again!

Watching a comedy TV series really helps brighten one’s spirits when one is stuck in bed with a head cold. I have a tough time not being productive. I decided to revise Steve Franks’ lyrics to the theme song for his show, Psych, while I was stuck in bed. If you want to hear what I came up with, check out the video for I know, you know that I attached to this post (above).

I didn’t perform any of my poems or songs at the Owl on April 24, 2024 (though it was Owl poetry night on that evening). I’m still ill and didn’t want to make anyone else sick.

You can hear my performance of one song and one poem from about 12:55 to 16:30 into the show on the video from last month, that I attached below.

They clipped off the third that I read (which was the best one, actually). They allow five minutes per person. I didn’t go over my five, but they try to fit as many people into their show as they can. It’s nice that they do that, actually. It might really be important to some people to have a spot on their show.

It’s a great group that shows up regularly for Owl Poetry night. It’s free to attend. I think the only people who attend are poets, or the family of poets who are reading. The group is thrilled to allow anyone into their group. If you want to get up and read a few lines, why not show up at The Owl Acoustic Lounge in Lethbridge on an Owl poetry night?

Watching Life or Participating

We will be offering a Waka FREE Poetry in the Park guided hike at 6-Mile Coulee Nature Reserve, Lethbridge, on April 21, 2024. There’s always a lot of inspiration for poetry to be found at 6-Mile Coulee. The flowers will have started blooming and the birds will be singing to a handsome buck who lives there. You should come join us!

The Yellow Bells (the lilies seen in the above video) will still be blooming April 21, 2024. We will also find Prairie Crocus; Long-fruited Prairie Parsley; Moss Phlox; and Old-man’s Whiskers (also known as Three-flowered Avens).

Daily Bread

T.V. life is fake

and yet we like to watch it.

It’s like how the sick

can’t handle food that’s healthy.

Lifeless men can’t handle life.

That poem was a Waka I wrote on March 9, 2024 (after having spent many sick days watching a stupid teen series called Teen Wolf). I’m back to eating broccoli and asparagus (thank goodness).

I’ve been watching 30 Rock lately. I borrowed the complete series from my local public library (where I get all of the T.V. that I watch). I was surprised to see that I hadn’t watched anything past season 3 while it was on the tube. I guess I was out living instead.

There’s one point when Jack is mentoring Liz and tells her about the Shower Principle, which he presents as a real scientific phenomenon. He explained it as follows: it is moments of inspiration that occur when the brain is distracted from the problem at hand. When the cerebral cortex is distracted by showering (or something else), then the anterior superior temporal gyrus is activated. Since, Jack explains, this is the sight of sudden cognitive inspiration, your brain solves the problem for you.

I googled the Shower Principle. The first answers to my query were 30 Rock things. There were a few results to my search that were written by people who seemed to actually believe that this is an actual scientific phenomenon. I did a search on the Shower Principle through google scholar. There were no results that listed the Shower Principle. This principle seems to have originated on 30 Rock.

The T.V is on a lot when I’m home. It keeps me company while I clean, cook, write poetry, and paint watercolour paintings. I’ve heard a lot of pseudo-science on sitcoms, and then heard the sentiments repeated by the public at large. I’ve come to expect that, if I hear somebody say something interesting, it likely originated on a sitcom.

I started doing a google scholar search on the brain and inspiration. I’ll attach the results that I found interesting at the end of this post, in case you’re interested. However, I would recommend you go to your public library and borrow The Great Courses that pertain to the human brain instead. I’ve watched them and they were all excellent.

You could watch Great Courses when the weather seems too wintery to pull you outside for a hike this spring. If your local public library doesn’t have these Great Courses on their shelves, you can order them in from any library in Alberta (provided you hold an Alberta library card – including student cards of a post-secondary institution).

I like to look up titles on The Great Courses website and then look them up through the public library system. I found that keeping a record of what I had already watched essential. There are a lot of DVD courses on similar subjects. It can be tough to recall which ones one has already seen in short order. I have provided a link to The Great Courses website at the end of this post.

The superior temporal gyrus is a real part of the brain. It’s involved in processing language. I doubt it has anything to do with sudden inspiration. The anterior temporal gyrus (anterior temporal lobe) is important for sematic memory – our knowledge of facts, words, etc. So, this could help one recall some information that they had learned but had trouble accessing.

According to Noesis (see link at the end of this post), inspired brains have increased alpha wave activity. Spending time in daily meditation or a joyful, mindful experience will lower stress and increase insight and creativity. So, Jack’s office putting exercise might have served that function for him. Poetry in the Park certainly promotes insight and creativity.

If you want sudden inspiration, you’re certain to find it on a Poetry in the Park hike with us whereas you’re unlikely to find it while vegetating in front of a T.V. show like 30 Rock. I’m not saying that programs like 30 Rock don’t serve a function. I watch them. I didn’t watch any T.V for months during 2020, when James was teaching me how to write poetry, however.

As I mentioned, I get my T.V. from the library. I wasn’t bringing anything home from the public library during the pandemic in 2020. I was out hiking and them came home to write, eat, and sleep. It was wonderful. I often wonder why I got back into the habit of watching T.V. at all.

I use T.V as a substitute for company. The company it provides me with is as fictional as the programs themselves. Having T.V.in my life (with the exception of nonfictional resources like The Great Courses) really isn’t healthy. I know that, but winters are long in Canada. In summer, I can find healthy entertainment out in nature.

James and I will be hosting a Poetry in the Park hike on April 21, 2024 between 10 AM and noon in Six-Mile Coulee Nature Reserve in Lethbridge. This nature reserve contains more biodiversity than any other park in Lethbridge. See the link below (to another nature-lover’s website to get a taste of what beauty you will encounter while hiking in Six-Mile Coulee).

Although there are signs indicating that 6-mile coulee is a nature reserve (and that bicycles and dogs aren’t allowed there), speeding mountain bikes are a hazard there. I would recommend that you wear bright colours while hiking there. A mountain biker probably wouldn’t kill you if they hit you, but they might take away your hiking season (perhaps for good).

I recently saw an accident involving a black truck and a pedestrian on 13 Street, North, Lethbridge. The emergency response team would have surely reached the pedestrian promptly at that location. It would take longer for them to reach a hiker with a broken back on a trail in 6-mile coulee nature reserve.

Other Sources

https://www.inaturalist.org/places/179861

https://www.thegreatcourses.com/category/science?CFM=category_slider

https://www.noesislearning.com/2022/02/11/your-brain-on-inspiration-status/#:~:text=Researchers%20have%20found%20that%20inspired,is%20the%20’analyzation’%20wave.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17470919.2013.808259

https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-7793.1999.00383.x

The last one really didn’t have anything to do with the sentiments from 30 Rock, but it was interesting.

Pavan Blank Verse

James and I are offering a FREE guided Poetry in the Park hike in Pavan Park on April 14, 2024, at 10 AM. We will teach people how to write Blank Verse on that day. Come prepared to commune with some native bird species and begin to look at life in a whole new way.

It isn’t terribly difficult – you just write rhythmically (although it may take some time to develop a good sense of rhythm). With Blank Verse, you don’t have to worry about rhyming. I’ll write out one of my Blank Verse poems below, so that you have an example of a Blank Verse poem.

Sharing the View

I got to see the sun (eclipsed) today

through glasses that some people passed around

at City Hall, at noon or there abouts.

At first, the bright noon sky just turned to black

(those glasses really cut the light right out).

I moved my head so I could see the sun

(and sure felt out-of-sorts while doing it).

At first, I didn’t know where I should look.

I just felt lost in all the blackness there.

But then a tiny, bitten peach shone through

the darkness, and I found my place again –

beneath that tiny sun, where I belong.

Learning to write poetry, starts with learning to maintain a rhythm. If you can’t command rhythm, you can’t honestly call yourself a poet. One must be humble and patient in order to learn how to write poetry. Poetry is an art that passive people can excel at.

Join James and I on our Poetry in the Park hikes this spring. You’ll find plenty of inspiration to write at Pavan (and all of the other locations I’ve chosen for Poetry in the Park hikes this spring). You’ll find the complete Poetry in the Park schedule if you check out the Poetry in the Park tab on this website.

Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden

The first time I went into the Nikka Yuko Japanese garden in Lethbridge, Alberta, I was excited. I was working as a gardener for the City of Lethbridge and got to spend a partial day learning proper Japanese Garden juniper planting techniques. I was surprised to learn how much thought goes into the placement of a single juniper in the landscape.

One must look at the topography and fit the growth habit of the shrub to grow as though it has already been growing in that place. The direction of growth must point down the slope, for example. In a Japanese garden, everything (including the plants) are controlled. Beauty is controlled and control is beauty within a Japanese garden.

I was surprised to see how small the Nikka Yuko Japanese garden is. It is only 4 acres. Although the garden was lovely, and I was thankful for the learning opportunity, I was very glad that I hadn’t had to pay an admission fee to enjoy the garden.

I did go back to the Nikka Yuko garden several times. A friend and coworker snuck me in the back (worker’s) gate so I didn’t have to pay. Some of the staff there permitted me to take part in a tea ceremony, too. I got to enjoy the Japanese Gardens at a more authentic level than most (paying) guests would experience.

Our Heroic Couplet Poetry in the Park guided hike date at Botteril is on April 28, 2024, 10 AM.

If I had paid to get into Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden, I would’ve felt pretty ripped off. The garden is lovely, but it is only 4 acres. Therefore, there’s little space to get a view of the garden without someone else in it.

I understand why they charge so much for people to get into Nikka Yuko, though. I’ve seen many examples of tree and shrub vandalism in this city. The hefty entry fee would keep the vandals out.

James and I will NOT be offering a FREE Poetry in the Park lesson just outside the Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden on April 7, 2024 (starting at 10 AM). We had scheduled to start our Poetry in the Park guided hikes on April 7, 2024, but the forecast for Sunday doesn’t look good. Instead, we will cover the Haiku information with the Blank verse information on April 14, 2024 at Pavan Park.

A haiku isn’t that complicated to write. You may believe that it is as simple as three lines: five syllables; seven syllables; and then five syllables. You might be surprised to learn that writing authentic haikus is a little more complicated then that.

I have written three sentiments in a basic “haiku” form below (5, 7, 5). How many (if any) are actually authentic haikus? 1? 2? 3? None?

Find out the answer to this question (and more) when you attend our free Poetry in the Park event near the outside the entrance gate to Nikka Yuko Japanese garden between 10 AM and noon on April 7, 2024.

Our Waka guided hike at Six-Mile Coulee is on April 21, 10AM. (Bohemian Waxwings, not Cedars).

Japanese Garden

Rich complexity

of nature’s lost for order

and simplicity.

Garden “Gods”

Weak men crave control.

Controlling nature’s gardens

makes them feel like gods.

Show Garden

Low diversity

of life requires much labor.

Nature needs no slaves.

We planned to be teaching this lesson outside the front gate at Nikka Yuko. We had no plans to go in. I’m pretty sure it’s still closed for the season, anyhow. Feel free to pay to go in later on your own, if you care to do so. You will find more information about park fees further down on this page.

None of my songs (featured in videos between typed content in this post) were haikus. All were poems, though. In the winter months, James and I spend a fair amount of time down near the river feeding birds. The birds provide me with a very forgiving audience for my improvised melodies for first draft poems (especially when I bribe them with seeds and peanuts).

Check out this other person’s post:

If you want to see a preview of Nikka Yuko, see the post below.

https://shirley-agardenerslife.blogspot.com/2014/07/nikka-yuko-japanese-garden-in.html

You needn’t necessarily go into the Japanese Gardens to be inspired to write a Haiku about the scenery found within the garden. You can find many photos of Nikka Yuko on-line.

Poetry in the Park helps people develop Mindfulness, Knowledge, Focus, a Sense of Belonging, Health, and Confidence. The best things in life sometimes really are FREE!

Hikes may be cancelled with inclement weather (rain or 60 Km/ hour wind speeds). No bookings are required. Just show up ready to learn and hike.

Park Fees

Poetry in the Park guided hikes are free but there are entry fees for Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens and/ or Waterton Lakes National Park. We’ve always found a Parks Canada Discovery pass to be money well spent. A Discovery pass allows access to ALL of Canada’s National Parks for the entire year (and other heritage sites, etc.).

We will only be offering Poetry in the Park guided hikes in one of the National Parks this spring: Waterton Lakes National Park. Therefore, one may choose to buy an annual Waterton pass to save a little cash. Even when we’ve only ended up going to Waterton in the year with our Discovery pass, we didn’t feel ripped off an the end of the year. It’s always nice to keep your options open and keep dreaming of discovering more beauty in nature.

The Nikka Yuko general admission fee for an adult is $13.50 for the day (but it is currently closed for the season). You can get an annual pass ($40 for an individual, $50 for a couple, or $60 for a family of four).

A daily pass into Waterton is $10.50 per adult (youth get in for free). A family/ group daily pass is $21.00. An annual pass for one adult to get into Waterton is $52.25. An annual pass for a family/ group (of up to seven people in one vehicle) is $104.50.

A Discovery pass (an annual pass) for one adult to get into a national park is $75.25. An annual pass for a family/ group (of up to seven people in one vehicle) is $151.25.

Seniors get in to National Parks a little cheaper (but not much cheaper).

Although I have a deep respect for the work that has went into designing, constructing, and maintaining Nikka Yuko, paying $10.50 to get into Waterton for the day sure beats paying $13.50 to get into Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden, if you ask me.

Please see my Poetry in the Park website tab for more information about Poetry in the Park and a complete spring, 2024 Poetry in the Park schedule.

Our next Poetry in the Park guided hike will take place at Pavan Park, 10 AM.

Piercing Insecurity

This post features several poems about nipple piercing. I’ve placed videos (mostly nipple piercing poems) between the stanzas of one long piercing poem that I typed out.

Crucifixion

Though many westerners associate

such things as body piercings and tattoos

with tribal rites of passage, they should wait

before they “other” youth they’ve raised. Why choose

to pierce oneself with needles for tattoos

or for a place where one may hang a ring?

Our youth have yet to learn why they would choose

to pierce themselves. What rationale would bring

our youth to pierce themselves like mules or slaves?

Pierced youth all feel like they’re already beat.

In our society, where Jesus saves,

does he save all, or only our elite?

Perhaps some can’t choose life, but can choose pain.

What makes them mark that pain they feel with ink

to make a “bruise” that never heals again?

They’re western crucifixion wounds, I think.

For those raised Christian, like most western youth,

their piercing fetish symbolizes sins.

It’s obvious, though most won’t see the truth.

We all know where this piercing thing begins.

Since God died for our sins, we all can live,

and yet our piercing youth still don’t feel free –

because they aren’t. They’re lost and we won’t give

them love. Withholding love’s a sin, to me.

Why do our piercing youth feel so alone? –

Like God’s abandoned them? – Like God is dead,

so they’re all left to suffer on their own?

Most piercers wear their suffering instead

of suffering in silence, so we’ll see

the piercing psychic pain they hold inside.

They’re outcasts from a sick society

that celebrates a piercer who once died

but cast away their own forgotten youth.

We see their piercing pain, and yet we stay

disgusted – seeing sinners, when in truth

it’s our sins that we see, then look away.

Lily Season

Lily Season

Most lilies bloom here in July.

Our native lilies bloom in June.

Our Easter lily’s forced to die

post bloom indoors to then be strewn

upon our compost heaps in spring.

September’s lily: Lycoris,

an amaryllis that may bring

pink fragrant blooms of tender bliss

in fall, just might not bloom at all

for five long years once planted in

your fertile, well-drained soil in fall.

But, once these lilies do begin

perfuming air in autumn sun,

then lilies may accompany you

from Easter ‘til the autumn’s done.

So, do as lily lovers do –

plant different types of lilies in

your garden where there’s lots of sun.

Blooms finish, then new blooms begin,

so lily season’s never done.

If you watched some of the videos that I included with this post, you will have noticed that the Lily I wrote about was not a flower. I’ve mentioned having written Silas Stories (and many of these stories have been featured in previous blog posts). Lily and other women with flower names are featured in many of the Silas Stories that I’ve written.

These flower-named women will have their own book at some point, with “Lily season” being an important part of it. I still haven’t published any books (and won’t for some time). I am still revising.

For any of you Canadians who are interested in growing your own lily garden, I have included some names of great lilies below.

Many of you lily lovers have an Easter Lily in your home right now. It will fill your home with its amazing perfume, and then hit the compost heap.

If you are lucky, you live near a wild space in Canada where Lilium canadense will be blooming in June. Lilium regale also blooms in June.

Lilium lancifolium (Tiger Lily) blooms in July.

Lilium martagon (Turk’s cap); Lilium pumilum; Lilium henryi; Lilium pardalium; and Lilium superbum bloom in August.

Lycoris squamigera blooms in September (if you’re lucky).

James and I will be offering a free guided poetry hike in Waterton Lakes National Park in June (to see the Lilies and other flowers in bloom along Wishbone trail). Check out our Poetry in the Park schedule to find out about more of our free guided hikes.

James and I will be offering free Poetry in the Park hikes in Lethbridge. These will start in April. We will tour people through different poetry forms in different areas of Lethbridge every Sunday morning in April and much of May. See the Poetry in the Park schedule for more information.

If you enjoyed my Lily poems that were featured in this post, I plan on reading a few more at the Owl Acoustic Lounge tonight – March 27, 2024. Owl Poetry starts at 7 PM. I hope to see you there. If not, have a happy Easter!

Wishbone in Mid-March

Wishbone trail sure was beautiful in the middle of March. I hoped I’d see the Pine Grosbeaks and a woodpecker (and did). Seeing Spruce Grouse in Waterton isn’t unusual (but is always a treat). I never could have guessed that I would see Mourning Cloak butterflies, though.

Fan Dancing

The Spruce Grouse strolled quite casually

along the Wishbone trail.

She didn’t look too shy to me,

but did fan out her tail.

James said she’d likely fanned it out

to not appear so small.

If that’s what that display’s about,

it doesn’t work at all.

The Peacocks do that fanning thing

and Ostriches do, too.

Perhaps they do it in the spring.

Perhaps all ground birds do.

I sure did like that little hen

and hope I’ll see her here again.

It takes some time and expense to get to Waterton from Lethbridge, but it’s always worth it. I used to think Wishbone was a dud of a trail. It has become a favorite. Wishbone trail really does feature one million gifts all on its own.

I’m so accustomed to tame Downy Woodpeckers in Lethbridge parks. No one’s allowed to feed them in Waterton. That’s probably why the Waterton Downy Woodpeckers are a little shyer.

I couldn’t wish for more inspiration than I received on Wishbone trail on March 18, 2024. It was more beautiful than I expected. It also had more snow than expected (given that the temperatures had been so warm for a week before we showed up there).

If you haven’t hiked Wishbone trail yet, why not try it out. I think you’ll find, as James and I have – Wishbone is fun to hike, whenever. Be forewarned that tick season has officially begun! We met a couple on the trail and I watched one of them pick a tick off his arm. James and I were tick-free. Tuck your pant legs into your socks! I know it looks silly at first. You get used to it.

See this other interesting site

https://kananaskis.org/mourning-cloak-butterfly/