From the Editor's Computer
Two young fish swim past an older
fish. As they pass the older fish, he
says, "Morning, boys. How's the
water?" The two young fish continue
on for a while until one eventually asks the other, "What the heck is
water?" - David Foster Wallace
The indigenous people of our province (many
years before it even was a province) lived very close to the land. Their entire existence was governed by the
whims and foibles of nature.
They learned the way various weather
patterns occurred and repeated themselves. Thus they knew when to seek shelter, when to
move to higher ground, and when it was safe to be out and travel.
Unfortunately, in this day and age, too many
of us are like the two young fish in the above quote. We are completely, and constantly, surrounded
by Mother Nature and yet, we’ve lost touch with her.
I noticed this trend particularly in the
past weeks as Calgary, and areas of southwestern Alberta, experienced the incredible
flooding.
This is not the first time the rivers and
creeks have flooded, nor is the first time that they have completely changed
course, dramatically altering the landscape, due to flooding. It has happened many times before, and it
will happen many more times again.
However, humans seem to think that they can
stop Mother Nature, or prevent her from unleashing whatever she decides to send
our way.
How foolish of us.
Mother Nature will always win. Rain will fall where it decides to fall, not
where we think it should. Racing water
will not be stopped by banks, berms, roads, or buildings. Mother Nature does not care where we build or
develop, she is going to do what she does, regardless.
The flooding of 2013 was not only
devastating and very tragic for those directly impacted, as well for the many
emergency personnel who have been assisting the province during this time.
But even more devastating is that next time
the destruction will be even worse if we continue to insist on having our own
way and don’t start paying more attention to what Mother Nature is telling
us.
Beth
To contact The Chautauqua, email: thechautauqua@gmail.com.
