Others thoughts on giants...

  A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in glorious enthusiasm like worship.  But though to the outer ear these trees are now silent, their songs never cease.  Every hidden cell is throbbing with music and life, every fiber thrilling like harp strings, while incense is ever flowing from the balsam bells and leaves.  No wonder the hills and groves were God's first temples, and the more they are cut down and hewn into cathedrals and churches, the farther off and dimmer seems the Lord himself.  ~John Muir

  It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit.  ~Robert Louis Stevenson

 The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing which stands in their way.  ~William Blake

 Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realise we cannot eat money.  ~Cree Indian Proverb

Song for Friday...

Have you ever spent time on the phone waiting for 'customer service'?

How about working somewhere and feeling like a robot?

Maybe you just have sympathy for those who do...

This video and the words to the song is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.

...but you HAVE to watch it up until the very end...

Have a great weekend all.

Of midgets and giants...

The rains subsided just in time for a day back in time.
We took the road out to the farthest post west of Sooke known as Port Renfrew.
A drive across the lovely Gordon river (not to be confused with Jordan river close by)

This wooden bridge, feeling a little suspect...we try not to think of the heavier logging trucks which still use it as well and take a deep breath for the crossing...

Our destination has been nick named Avatar Grove.
The trail, marked only by some coloured flag tape on the side of the road, took us into the mossy woods.
Miners claims mark some of the trails, for there's still gold to be found in them thar hills...

Have you ever wondered what lies deep in the forests of Vancouver Island?
Bears, cougars, elk...the 4 legged giants of the woods.
Voles, mice, winter wrens...the tiny ones in the moss.
And then there they stand!

The giants of the plant kingdom.

And there we stand...midgets beneath their girth...

These trees are from an ancient time...
Survived for almost a thousand years...

Unlike the minuscule life at my feet which only lives for a few days.

Through the Spanish moss we traipse in awe of the quiet beauty these woods possess.

...and secrets of hundreds of years of life on earth.

Other strange growth creeps along the ground...

Then, as if saving itself for us...the last tree at the end of the trail...

A cedar who's belt would be 34 feet in diameter.

Giving us glimpses of where the elves and fairies live...

How can you not feel good sitting under this monster?

On a sad note, these trees are targeted to be cut down.
The logging company has already been in to mark them as well as to mark where the roads will go to bring in the trucks to haul them away.
I can't even describe my disbelief that this can happen in this day and age.
If one were to find, say, an ancient Egyptian tablet, or perhaps some dinosaur bones, this would be news.
It would be something to be saved and treasured.
So why are these trees any different?
In fact they are the lungs of the earth.
They are keeping this sick planet going.
If you want to know more and to help by signing a petition, go here...
After our walk with the Big ones, we went down to the beach at Port Renfrew...

This wild, west coast beach is always strewn with leftovers from the logging industry...

you can walk up and down for hours on the sandy beach...

Find a little shelter from the wind to have some lunch...

There are a dozen or so of these made by campers and hikers of the West Coast Trail.

It was our shack for the remainder of the day...

Reflecting on what we had been witness to...

Hoping that the voice of reason will save these giants...

Too old to rock and roll??

Continuing on our city adventure, we ended up at the Alix Goolden Hall.

I had written about this in a previous post (where we went to see The Wailin Jennys) and I had forgotten to bring my camera...BLASPHEME!!

Anyway, this time I had it. This is a gorgeous, old, Gothic Anglican church turned music hall and what a beauty she is!

...turrets and stained glass and deep carved pillars..

I know I've mentioned this before but I have to say it again...craftsmanship, back in the day was simply amazing...done by hand and usually with the finest materials around...

Look at the detail in the cast iron balcony...

I mean, really! Does it get much better?

(by the way, we were3 rows from the front on the main floor, I just went upstairs to take photos)

Then there's the 100 year old, 18 tonne pipe organ, which, with it's 3,100 metal and wood pipes has been restored and is being played again after a decade of silence...

O.k  o.k back to the show....

First up was the opening act who's a local boy named David Gogo...

A gifted slide guitar, blues man who's been touring with Johnny Winter for a while now...

...that's a 1920's Gibson...

He also plays this 1930's National Steel guitar with a glass slide...

He's a powerhouse on this thing.

Then, what everyone was waiting for...

The main act...

Johnny Winter.

...tattooed, cross eyed albino from Texas.

Well, the legend has been around and hasn't been too kind on his body...booze, heroin, fast living.

He had to be helped on stage and then sat for the entire performance.

But I tell you...this guy knows how to play the blues!

I've never seen anyone play guitar the way he does.

His fingers never left the neck of the guitar and they danced up and down those frets like a flamenco dancer on polished wood.

He's got these crazy long fingers that look permanently bent to play the licks he does...

 Wonder what the stories are on those tattoos...

 In fact, I kept thinking that...the stories, the life this guy has led...

the people he's played with and the places he's been.

Doing what he's so obviously good at and was meant to do.

I have to tell you something though...maybe he's not too old to rock and roll

but I think I am...

it was so freakin' loud that Tom and I could barely hear each other after the show.

Plus we went and had a few more pints and sang along and closed the Irish pub down and didn't get to the hotel till about 2 in the morning!

I'd probably need help on stage if I were 66 and had been doing that for the past 40 years every night as well!

So here's to Johnny...