My World Tuesday ~ Lest We Forget

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

My World Tuesday

Weekend Reflections #7 ~ Rainforest Autumn

I went into Queen Charlotte(I'm staying up the coast in Tlell at the moment) last Saturday and enjoyed an unusually beautiful morning of quiet waters, beautiful sunshine and reflections. This is what we call a Rainforest autumn!!

While checking out Wigger's World I was introduced to Weekend Reflections and decided to participate, so to see other great reflections or join in check out James' site.

SkyWatch Friday ~ Promise

The beach at Tlell, Haida Gwaii

I walked out on the beach yesterday morning after a wild weather night and this sky absolutely captivated me. I have it as my screensaver now and I get lost in it. Click on it to enlarge and be drawn in and do feel free to make it your screensaver.

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My World Tuesday ~ Olympic Torch Relay

(Please note all photos can be clicked on and enlarged for more detail)

Before sunrise this morning we drove down the coast from Tlell to the beach at Kaay'llnaagy.

The day was promising to be beautiful.
By sunrise a few people had gathered to witness a once in a lifetime experience.
As the sun dawned


the Olympic Flame arrived on Haida Gwaii in its miners lantern.

Haida Elder, Percy Williams, 79 waited for his torch to be lit.

His torch is lit by the Olympic flame and by the sunrise under the glare of cameras.

Proudly this remarkable Haida Elder takes possession of his torch

in Bill Reid's "Loota"(Wave Eater) canoe under the watchful eyes of the Canadian Coast Guard, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Parks Canada and BC Ferries.

But no boat is more at home in these waters than the Loota and her crew.

The Loota, with escorts rounds the point at Kaay'llnaagy.

Kim is a Torch bearer who came here at her own expense from Vancouver so that she could have her once in a lifetime experience carrying the torch. When I asked to take her photo she said "yes....

and do you want me to take a picture of you holding the torch"!!

The Torch arrives on the ancient shores of Haida Gwaii in the way it should.

The Torch Relay "rules" say that you must wear white unmarked running shoes...Percy is wearing gumboots!

As Percy walks up the beach with the Torch Haida dancers and singers surround him with their button blankets

and "voila" Percy has white running shoes!!!

Percy surrounded by his family while the Flame is blessed.

Tyler Brown lights his torch from Percy...symbolizing passing the torch from the old to the young.

Tyler takes his moment before heading into Queen Charlotte

in the traditional Haida way.On this stunning day seven runners carried the Torch on Haida Gwaii, you have met three!

Do you clean it or leave it with the essences of the Olympic flame?

For other great experiences and places from around the world join us at

MyWorld Tuesday.

SkyWatch Friday ~ Some Morning Skies are just too beautiful for words

Click any of these photos for great detail.

To witness other beautiful skies from around the world visit

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My World Tuesday ~ A walk on the Dunes

Another one of those Oreo cookie moments between a steady stream of storms. The winds blew and blew and blew the clouds away. The sea took a little longer to settle.

The east coast of the Graham Island is mostly beautiful sand beaches for about 100 kms terminating at Rose Spit at the northeast end of the island. The Hecate Strait (seperating Haida Gwaii from mainland British Columbia) is shallow and sandy and our prevailing wind is a "southeaster".

These strong winds blow the sand that washes up on the beaches inland to form dunes. The sands if not anchored by grasses or blocked by debri on the beachs will move over a landscape claiming everything in its way.

When the natural dune vegetation is disturbed by grazing,or something as simple as
human traffic

The dunes move inland,

suffocating trees and plants
and encroaching on forests, changing vegetation (this is a border region where dune grasses are moving into the forest). As the trees are suffocated they die and become vulnerable to the winds.
Beautiful to visit and explore but so fragile.

To learn more about other great places from around the world go to
MY WORLD TUESDAY.

SkyWatch Friday ~ A sign of things to come

Storm growing in intensity as high tide nears on Tuesday afternoon.

The Queen Charlotte Islands/Haida Gwaii are known for their ferious winter storms. We have the highest consistent wind velocity of anywhere in Canada or is it the world, the third most dangerous piece of water seperating us from mainland British Columbia in the world and some of the highest tides in the world.
Beauty can be found even in the storm.
So when all three of these factures come together at the same time you can have some pretty heady storms. Unlike many of the recent storms we have seen from around the world the storms here on Haida Gwaii are an almost daily occurance during the winter.

The surf coming in on Balance Rock

Stopping ferry service for weeks and cancelling air traffic to and from the islands however you generally don't hear about these storms on the news because they are a part of our life and we accept that there is nothing we can do but be prepared.

This was my home four years ago on Christmas eve day when 100 km/hour winds, combined with 24 foot tides and a two foot storm surge scoured our eastern shore line and moved things around. As you can see I got all the firewood I needed plus eight inches of water in the cabin! The shoreline was eroded four feet bringing the beach within two feet of the cabin....I moved in the spring!

For other great skies from arond the world why not join us at
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