Song for J-Pod
It is 3:24 a.m. and this mid-night I am connecting to J-Pod. These magnificent orcas are struggling to survive and my daughter Chaya sent me a video via her iPhone of this pack of wild undersea horses pounding through the pass of the Georgia Strait.
I have been hoping to catch a glimpse of them but so far have not been in the right place at the right time, but it is clear to me tonight I have been getting close.
And I have been getting reminders, clues, pushes from my dear ones that I am on the right track, like this little room I have been granted overlooking Lyall Harbour on Saturna...with its stain glass mural of the mother Orca and her calf.
My youngest sister Dianne who lives in Calgary reminded me too that she hoped I would listen for the singing of the whales. Dianne's message came to life again tonight in the wee hours when I remembered that I used to work for Greenpeace in Vancouver and our mission was to bring a Save the Whales program into the public schools.
I was far away from the front lines, and only given the task of book-keeper but that was what I could do, and what I was hired for as it was a government granted Local Initiative Project, and the workers needed to pay their bills.
Karl Sturmanis who was on the staff saved my life when I got fed up and quit, and he walked over to my back-to-basics hippie flat with the shouts of neighbors at all hours coming through the air vents and hand delivered me my paycheck while gently reminding me that there was no one else there to fill my position. I did the right thing and returned to work the next day.
My living/sleeping room in a rundown apartment building on 2nd off Arbutus consisted of 4 walls, a window, a radiator whose vents allowed all hours of disturbances from other tenants, a mattress on the floor, a blue wooden bench built by my good friend Bruno Castellan which served as both dining table and writing desk. He gave this to me as a gift when he helped me move there.
On the door of my bare little room was a poster of the album cover to a Pink Floyd LP recording, Wish You Were Here left by a previous tenant. It shows two men in business suits shaking hands and one of them bursting into flames.
In those days I was heavily into meditation but felt that the one about to burst into flames was me. I was searching for a place to stand, to live, a firm foundation and Greenpeace in the act of hiring me gave me a hand up.
At one point they were using my work-space downstairs for a meeting and moved me up into the executive office on the floor overlooking 4th and Arbutus and Robert Hunter [front lines begin here] walked in on me. He looked me right in the eyes and said "You've got it all, haven't you," smiled and walked out.
That is my situation today as I sit in my room overlooking Lyall Harbour. I didn't ask to be here, but once again I have been given it all.
Chaya's photo of the Orcas reminded me again of this statement so that I am inspired to get up and write.
So I have been meditating again most of the night, and I seem to hear the song of the Orcas calling to me. The next morning I am listening closely and watching Orca videos on line. Their songs sound very like the cries of eagles...big ones.
What can I do for the whales? They are like canaries in the mine shaft, reminding us that danger is near. It is our duty as humans to find out what the danger is as the Orcas' lives are our lives.
And so this is my song for J-Pod. I am listening and you are beautiful. You own the waters around us and deserve to live. And I get it. You and I are one being.
I have been hoping to catch a glimpse of them but so far have not been in the right place at the right time, but it is clear to me tonight I have been getting close.
And I have been getting reminders, clues, pushes from my dear ones that I am on the right track, like this little room I have been granted overlooking Lyall Harbour on Saturna...with its stain glass mural of the mother Orca and her calf.
My youngest sister Dianne who lives in Calgary reminded me too that she hoped I would listen for the singing of the whales. Dianne's message came to life again tonight in the wee hours when I remembered that I used to work for Greenpeace in Vancouver and our mission was to bring a Save the Whales program into the public schools.
I was far away from the front lines, and only given the task of book-keeper but that was what I could do, and what I was hired for as it was a government granted Local Initiative Project, and the workers needed to pay their bills.
Karl Sturmanis who was on the staff saved my life when I got fed up and quit, and he walked over to my back-to-basics hippie flat with the shouts of neighbors at all hours coming through the air vents and hand delivered me my paycheck while gently reminding me that there was no one else there to fill my position. I did the right thing and returned to work the next day.
My living/sleeping room in a rundown apartment building on 2nd off Arbutus consisted of 4 walls, a window, a radiator whose vents allowed all hours of disturbances from other tenants, a mattress on the floor, a blue wooden bench built by my good friend Bruno Castellan which served as both dining table and writing desk. He gave this to me as a gift when he helped me move there.
On the door of my bare little room was a poster of the album cover to a Pink Floyd LP recording, Wish You Were Here left by a previous tenant. It shows two men in business suits shaking hands and one of them bursting into flames.
In those days I was heavily into meditation but felt that the one about to burst into flames was me. I was searching for a place to stand, to live, a firm foundation and Greenpeace in the act of hiring me gave me a hand up.
At one point they were using my work-space downstairs for a meeting and moved me up into the executive office on the floor overlooking 4th and Arbutus and Robert Hunter [front lines begin here] walked in on me. He looked me right in the eyes and said "You've got it all, haven't you," smiled and walked out.
That is my situation today as I sit in my room overlooking Lyall Harbour. I didn't ask to be here, but once again I have been given it all.
Chaya's photo of the Orcas reminded me again of this statement so that I am inspired to get up and write.
So I have been meditating again most of the night, and I seem to hear the song of the Orcas calling to me. The next morning I am listening closely and watching Orca videos on line. Their songs sound very like the cries of eagles...big ones.
What can I do for the whales? They are like canaries in the mine shaft, reminding us that danger is near. It is our duty as humans to find out what the danger is as the Orcas' lives are our lives.
And so this is my song for J-Pod. I am listening and you are beautiful. You own the waters around us and deserve to live. And I get it. You and I are one being.
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