Getting Away Fom It All

One of the reasons we chose to live where we do is it’s location on the northern most point that development is allowed. Beyond that is park and the dedicated hydro preserve around Buntzen Lake.  100m from our door is the road that allows hydro vehicles access to the west side of the lake, and the public a vast array of hiking, biking, and horse trails.

Over the years, I have allowed my schedule to get so cluttered that the option to enjoy this bounty had been stripped from me. This year, I changed all that, and find myself once again free to build the odd walk into my day.

Today, I decided to photo journal the stretch closest to my home, and post a few of those shots here to let my readers have yet another peak into who I am.

Enjoy.

People who have followed me on twitter know that I claim to write on the move. While I do take full advantage of busier places to walk, this makes for a perfect environment to get away from all the noise and collect my thoughts. Except in the middle of summer, at most, I will meet the odd person, or person walking their dog. Even in summer, this side of the lake attracts far less people than the main beach and adjoining trails on the east.

 

 

 

The trails include this little diversion across the south arm of the lake. The very middle of this walkway is a short section of floating bridge that brings you right down to the level of the water.

 

 

 

 

I’ve never seen the water this low before. As a hydro lake that also acts as the overflow from the even larger Coquitlam lake to the east, I can only assume they have lowered the level in preparation for the coming spring runoff.

Who Am I

A common theme among many of the blogs I follow is variations on the meme that asks the blogger to reveal things about themselves their readers are not expected to know.

I little something virtually no one knows about me is that I was once accused of writing poetry with the following piece of prose, composed in answer to a writing challenge, the nature of which I have long since forgotten:

Butterflies.  Hungry butterflies.

Monarchs.  Swallow Tails.  Skippers and Pearl Eyes.  Metalmarks abound.

Butterflies.  They’re everywhere.  They follow me.  I cannot hide.

Oh so beautiful.  Swarming upon me.  Driving me down.

Butterflies.  Butterflies of doom.

The strange things a writer can find hidden in the depths of their computers archives.

IT’S TIME

I can no longer avoid it. The time has come for me to make something of this Blog, or to let it go. With my first Novel, Synergy of Hopes, so close to publication, the obvious answer it to make something of it.

Over on the Blog of Amy Inverness, I have given my first interview as an up and coming writer.

It’s a start, and that puts me ahead of where I’ve been for far too long.

 

Who are the 99%?

I realise I am going to take flack for this post, but I don’t see how it can be helped. Please, I am looking for answers, not more retoric.

I want to understand what this Occupy Wall Street movement is all about.

I want to understand who the 99% see themselves as.

But everywhere I look I see conflicting messages.

How do I separate those voices who want to make a difference from those who only want to make noise?

How do I separate the voices of people who have legitimate grievances from those who have gotten where they are because of there own bad choices?

How do I separate the voices of those who are looking for a way to improve the system from those who want the system to cater to their whims?

How do I separate the voices of those who are prepared to do the work from those who want someone else to do all the heavy lifting for them?

Where can I find balanced voices that will help me sort through tsumani of information this movement has spawned?

On Political Labels

Politics is such a big subject I have decided to limit my opening thoughts to the singular question: What do the terms Right Wing, Left Wing, Liberal, and Conservative mean?

It seems you can’t turn on or read a political commentary without someone throwing out one or more of the above terms. Worse yet, everyone seems to have their own private meaning for these terms, and it’s all too common to discover a single position being tauted as an example of more than one position.

To avoid the commonalities that could muddy the waters when looking at the position called the centre, I have endeavoured to start by taking a closer look at the extremes before working my way in.

The following chart depicts my progress to date:

The Radical Left Position	The Radical Right Position
Begins with
The Rise of a Highly Charismatic Leader	The Rise of a Highly Charismatic Leader
Who gathers around him
A group of likeminded individuals	A group of likeminded individuals
Who tap into
The common dissatisfaction of the people	The common dissatisfaction of the people
By promising
That if they are put into power they will wipe away those things the anger the populous the most	That if they are put into power they will wipe away those things the anger the populous the most
Then they grant
Special power to the police and/or military to act as needed for the common good	Special power to the police and/or military to act as needed for the common good
While
Demonising those who speak up or protest in any way	Demonising those who speak up or protest in any way
Until such people
Have been marginalised to the point that they can be separated from society and disappeared or otherwise eliminated	Have been marginalised to the point that they can be separated from society and disappeared or otherwise eliminated

With these clear differences to guide me, the trip into the centre should be a cakewalk.

On Being A Writer

I write to clear my mind of all the clutter that accumulates from observing the work around me.

I write because I feel I have something to say.

I write because I have to.

I write because I feel guilty when I do not.

I write because I understand that neither fame nor fortune will come my way if I do not write.

---

This stimuli has begun to digest. The clutter is beginning to disappear into loosely sorted boxes. Looking at the growing stack I begin to see that if my original statement was correct then most of these boxes would be accompanied by some kind of story.

Instead, they wait forlornly as I move to another place, one that has been dedicated to a single line of thought: two, maybe three novels that create a unified whole. One novel stands halfway through its second draft as the rest await their turn. It could be only one book, but only those who make it to the big times are allowed that many words all at once.

Still, the clutter comes, bad books, boring movies, disturbing plots and ideas. I need to do something with them. I think, I plot, I digest. Then, at the end of the day, I recognize that I am ripping apart someone else’s dream. It comes back to me that I have the ability to create my own, so I write.

Then there are the GOOD stories. The ones that inspire you and give you a benchmark to aim for. Never under estimate their value when you find them.

Proud Supporter of

Critique Circle Online Writing Workshop

On Being A Father

All biblical quotes are taken from the New International Version of the bible

I dedicate this page to my daughter June Melissa Michelle Downward

For as long as I can remember I have wanted to be a father. The joy and
privilage of bringing a new life into the world and then raising that child to
live a long and productive life has been a lure that called me from the moment I
first understood the process.

Becoming a Christian took that whole ideal and raised it to a new level. As it
is written in the book of Psalms:

Psalm 127:3-5

Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. Like arrows in
the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose
quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with
the enemies in the gate.

Psalm 128:1-4

Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways. You will eat the fruit
of your labour; blessings and prosperity will be yours. Your wife will be like
a fruitful vine within your house; your sons will be like olive shoots around
your table. Thus is a man blessed who fears the Lord.

Now some will claim that these quotes only refer to Sons. Within their
immediate contexts this could be said to be true. Within the larger Biblical
context of the Christian world view, however, this is not strictly accurate.

Genesis 1:27

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

Galatians 3:28

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you
are all one in Christ Jesus.

Both of these versus (and many others) point us to the fact that men and women
are equal in nature. Therefore, when we are speaking of the fundamental value
of one gender, we are speaking of both. The only split comes when we begin to
speak of that persons role. Here we see that men and women are called by God to
fullfill different functions, for which each is most suited by the very act of
creation.

It can be argued that the most important job anyone can ever have is that
of raising the next generation. Both science and common sense tells us that the
best possible environment in which this can be done is when there is both a
Loving Mother and a Loving Father actively raising them.

As a father I have taken much joy over the years just sitting down with my
daughter June to read her a story, tell her about something I think she should
know, or even lay on the floor as we play with Lego together. Then there are
those times when she comes with me to the store, to the park, to her
Grandparents, or just driving around on errands.

You see, it is not just enough to be the man who helped to give her life. Being
a Father must also include being the man who is an example to her. I recognize
that she is looking to me as the template of what a Godly man should be. If it
is God’s gift that she be married, I am the type of man she is most likely to
take as a husband. Even if it is God’s gift that she be single for her entire
life, I am the type of man she is most likely to have as a close friend, or even
business associate.

In the end I must recognize that my daughter will catch more things from
me than I will ever teach her.

It is an awesome, and even frightening task, but it is also one of the most
beautiful and fullfilling I have ever encountered.