GUSTAV YKEMA'S ARTWORK

Ontario, Georgian Bay by Killbear Park.

Canadians have the fortunate opportunity to acquire a summer cottage.

This is used to get away from the hustle and bustle of their regular city lives; to get

back to the nature we Canadians are so lucky to have at our door-step.

My wife and I have good friends that have chosen to have a cottage. They have many

a time offered us to come up to visit them. The beauty of the nature, the seclusion and

ambiance is to behold. From the lunes diving for fish, the hummingbirds dashing past to

take advantage of the contents the bird feeder, to the rattle snakes sunning on the gravel

roadway, to the black bears making their visits known to all who live there. At night the sounds of

the many insects come to life, but most of all the dancing northern lights (Aurora Borealis).

Sitting in a lawn chair on the front deck you hear the lapping of the water on the shoreline

of granite and sand. Yes, the visual is amazing, but to close your eyes and listen to the life

around you, brings a peace that never tires.

This nature is no longer available to many parts of the planet. Through greed, necessity, global

warming many unique ecosystems have been lost. Humankind has to make a decision, now!

We all have step forward, and say,” Now we must work together to save our planet. Now we

must address hunger. Now we must stop polluting. Now we have to make all those leaders

accountable for their actions. ” These are the issues we need to address, now.

In past years I didn’t realize what was happening to our world. As a child We played outside in nature.

I remember climbing trees, running through fields, drinking water from a spring bubbling through the

ground. I remember the property behind a Sunoco gas station Piled high with empty oil cans, leaching

the left over oil into a nearby creek, we swam in and fished. At the land fill stations we called the dump,

so appropriate for we all dumped everything and anything there. This was happening everywhere all over

the world. We would burying, it was out of sight, we didn’t have to worry about anymore. Ah, not so,

for years later the dumps became parks, residential areas, and yes even schools were built on them.

There was radon emissions and other gasses and the aquafer below became tainted forcing us to

shut down our wells. Our children must pay the price of our ignorance. Those who are motivated by

greed will never concede. There is but one answer and that is we must be on the side of the earth.

It’s all we have and we know what we must do. Support those in government who are willing to take

on the challenge.

We start out in life finding our place, in what we believe in, what person we want to become.

The journey could be a long one and for some short. In youth I found that I had blinders on

looking forward but forgetting the peripheral. Too focused on ones self. In reflection, taking time

to focus on what is really important. Once you lose those who were dear, the ones who affected who

are to become, those who were there to support you when needed a helping hand, were there to

share a moment, to laugh, to cry. Yes, too late to be with them as the person you have become, but

not too late to be that person for those who are to follow.

My thoughts on inequality in the world. How much money does a person need? Human beings born

into poverty having no control over their development as children. Subjected to an environment consisting

of violence and hunger. It is up to the more fortunate to share and to provide opportunity for those. The

challenges are to get that help to those who really need it and not those who seek to profit by intercepting

the good intentions of others. There are true living saints in our world and I feel blessed to know such a

couple who give it all, in their case the people in Haiti

This came from a vacation in Cuba. While snorkeling parallel to the beech in about 1 1/2 meter

of water. I ended up swimming in a school of fish for what seemed minutes, they were all around me. With the sunlight

reflecting off the fish, a flashing of yellow and silver was all I could see. I was unable to focus

properly and thus I was experiencing the defense mechanism of schooling. With survival always in the

minds of nature we humans are unique in that we are able step away from that and focus on creating.

Being allowed to experience the floating sensation with the waves and currents swaying me this way and

that while amongst the fish was something I will never forget.