Monday, August 7, 2017

Postcard from Medicine Lake, Jasper



Photo by Grace@Everyday Amazing


The Excelsior fire in summer of 2015 left the forest a fragment of its lush vegetation.  Tall skeletal trees, burnt logs and roots, form a silent graveyard.   The rain had stopped the wildfire from wrecking further havoc on the small town of Jasper, Alberta province.   The area is a grim reminder of the harsh realisties of wildfire during summer.  

Around the flanks of the forest, lake rises up to vibrancy during spring and summer. The clouds can be dark from the distance.  But the tides are calm, soothing balm for the place of what was once a firestorm.   What once was a carribou country where the First Nations thrived.   The contrast of lake's startling beauty and emptiness from wildfire surrounding it, is a visual and spiritual experience. The area may not be a tourist perfect area.  Yet here is where life and death intertwined.

cloudy morning
two bald eagles nest on a tree-
wind cries - distant drums -




Photo by Grace@Everyday Amazing
Medicine Lake, Jasper National Park
Alberta, Canada



Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - How Wonderfully Imperfect (wabi-sabi) for Haibun Monday, hosted by Victoria C. Slotto.  Join us when the pub door opens by 3pm EST.  I am back after my Alberta vacation.

22 comments:

  1. "Where life and death intertwined...." and now an area as large as Prince Edward Island is a graveyard from the fires..........your photos are wonderful, Grace. It must be sobering to see such devastation in person.

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  2. Fires sure can be destructive in every way. All can sure hang in the balance in its wake.

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  3. We still have smoke-choked skies in the Pac N W. My asthma is kicking up. I enjoyed your first-hand reporting. Fires ruined two of my Canadian summer road trips in the past.

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  4. Such a perfect example of Wabi-Sabi, Grace. I've also written of trees, one tree. Nature offers us so many examples. Welcome back--what a beautiful part of the world you have visited.

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  5. Wonderful haibun and the haiku is perfection and amazing. I keep seeing green emerging from the wildfire, in my mind. In Oklahoma, the ranchers deliberately set fire to parts of their land to encourage new grass to grow - to clear out the matted dead grass. I hope this area will soon begin to flourish in all its beauty. But then, there is beauty in bareness. Of course, I wrote about snow...

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  6. I have never experience a forest fire but I the scenes you describe sadden me: 'Tall skeletal trees, burnt logs and roots, form a silent graveyard'. I have heard of Jasper, Alberta but had not heard that the town narrowly escaped such devastation. You've described the imperfect beauty of the area in such detail in so few words, Grace - both prose and haiku are stunning!

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  7. "here is where life and death intertwined."
    An absolutely wonderful description of that intersection at the edge of where a forest/wildfire ends its life. The descruction on one side of the line; the life on the other. And yet, even within the descuction, there shall be seeds that will eventually grow; spores that will reproduce. Within death, there is life.
    Thank you for this wonderful post.

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  8. Life and death intertwines and makes this less than tourist perfect: nice concept developed well.

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  9. The life that comes after a wildfire is truly amazing. Some plants and trees cannot reproduce without fire, which is just mind-boggling. We see death and destruction, but life is simply waiting in the wings for its turn. Excellent haibun today.

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  10. Wow, what an amazing place. I love your haiku, with its echoes of Canadian tradition.

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  11. The amazing thing about the wildfires is that nature rises again. This is beautifully written.

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  12. I love 'lake's startling beauty and emptiness from wildfire surrounding it, is a visual and spiritual experience' and the second photograph is so serene and peaceful xxx

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  13. Like an old legend, fire brings renewal. Brings life. A wonderful haibun.

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  14. I love your haibun, and how the "lake rises up to vibrancy" and the idea that it is a balm on the charred landscape, both aesthetically and literally, I imagine. Very eloquent closing lines. Thanks for sharing!

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  15. Your words where the wind. Well woven haibun.

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  16. Stunning photos, Grace! Everything in life is impermanent, but beautiful. Perfect haibun.

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  17. They are so beautiful, but those evergreens with all their volatile oils can remind you in a heartbeat how fast it all can go up, especially in such tall timber country. I hope it returns to it's verdant state soon

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  18. The Haiku is stunning. The Haibun too in a sobering kind of way.Our expectation that nature will always find way back is part of the problem I think. We are too arrogant. Maybe she will always bounce back but we may not be there to witness it.

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  19. There is beauty in all things. We fear the fire, and wish it wouldn't come, devestating for man and beast. Yes, I felt I was out for a strole, and stopped suddenly, by what is left from the fire.

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  20. Such a sad story but such a beautiful haiku. I hope that the lakeside is gradually regaining some life and vitality. Nature is so powerful in both its ability to create and its ability to destroy.

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  21. 'here is where life and death intertwined' - yes, when we are powerfully confronted with the sense of that ... I have found it to be a spiritual experience.

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  22. I see upon being busy myself, I have missed some really beautifully written posts. Hope you are well.

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