Narvaes Bay, Saturna Island
by Toni Onley 1928-2004
March came in like a lamb here on the West Coast of Canada, but Toni Onley left life like a lion, roaring into the Fraser River in his float plane near Maple Ridge.
Onley was one of Canada’s great painters, and he was a real bridge between generations. He painted with members of the Group of Seven including Varley and Jackson and was renowned for his contemplative renderings of the British Columbia coast.
He loved flying, and had actually survived one previous crash 20 years ago on a glacier in the Coast Mountains.
He will be missed.
More from JohnEngle through his personal website, which includes several pictures of life in Haiti, a good place to have a look and see what daily life is like there: preparing chicken for supper, feeding the cats and dogs and engaging in reflection circles.
Despite the crises, it’s important to remember that there are many folks just doing what they do, and some of them embody the hope that Haiti needs.
I’m back, and although this isn’t a photo I took, this is the scenery I drove through. A little more snow though!
I’m away again for the weekend, but back on March 1.
By the way Michael, the Queen Charlotte Islands were named for the wife of George III, but around here they are increasingly known by their Haida name, Haida Gwai’i.
Prince Rupert, British Columbia
It’s beautiful here in Prince Rupert. The sun is shining and I’ve seen the tops of mountains that I have never seen on my previous visits here. We’re on our way to Terrace to do the second of three consultation meetings I am doing on a federal government Aboriginal economic development program. This trip will take my colleague Veronica and I across Highway 16, which runs from Rupert here on the coast to Prince George. That’s where I’ll leave the highway, but the road continues all the way to Winnipeg as the Yellowhead highway, named for a Iroquois trader nicknamed Tete Jaune who made his way across this route in the 19th century.
We’re about to drive through the Coast Mountains up the Skeena River to Terrace. It should be a breathtaking ride. For more on our route today check here.
I am leaving for another extended roadt trip for a week in northern British Columbia, so blogging will once again become light. Before I go, I’ll leave you with this, which came by way of Beliefnet.com:
There are thousands upon thousands of students who have practiced meditation and obtained its fruits. Do not doubt its possibilities because of the simplicity of the method. If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?
— “The Practice of Meditation” Zen Master Dogen
From Teachings of the Buddha edited by Jack Kornfield, 1993.
Right here, right now is where the truth is. Always.