Facing Our Fears?

HALLOWEEN decorations abound this time of the year ... the more ghoulish the better. I prefer images that soothe the soul so this fascination with representations of death and horror puzzles me, especially when true misery is everywhere. Perhaps because we so rarely discuss our own inevitable demise it's a way to stare down our fears.

It was unnerving to see severed feet dangling from a tree (below). It reminded me that we are literally bombing one another to oblivion, for real, in some parts of the world. But then I thought ... hey, what I'm seeing here is pure plastic.

I don't dare to stay scared for long. I'd rather focus on the best of the season when people get wildly creative decorating front yards and fences ... and themselves.

Way back in 2011, my husband and I searched for costumes and tried on masks to get into the Halloween spirit. You can check out my pictures of that day HERE.

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Still the kid I used to be

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Striking The Right Tone In A Cosmic Composition

THE UNIVERSE floated above and around us ... vast, eerie, lonely, lovely, angelic, orderly ... at times as sparkling as a sprinkling of fairy dust. It also was destructive, relentless and restless, churning furiously within its unfathomable creative chaos.

Planets and gaseous clouds fumed, formed, faded and vanished at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre in Vancouver that celebrated its 50th anniversary this past Friday. Since I couldn't take pictures during the visuals I took pictures of pictures (the two above) while waiting to get into the Planetarium Star Theatre.

Once inside I was enthralled not only by what I was seeing but by what I was hearing. The cosmos danced to the original music score written specifically for the occasion by Thomas Beckman, accompanied by the Borealis String Quartet and two others.

The composer of “Life in the Universe” says he was "inspired by the unique character of the planets in our solar system and the wonders of our Universe". I was inspired by Beckman's ability to channel rhythms through musical instruments that mimicked the beating heart of deep space, from awakening and sleepy to fluttering and bombastic.

When the show was over and we drifted into the museum I took out my camera wishing I could fly like the man above ... or below.

But, no, I could only marvel at how cleverly humankind designed its flying machinery.

Marvel, too, at monstrous gadgets surely imagined in nightmarish dreams about space.

Even the lighting fixture in the lobby (pictured below) looked like it could fly.

It seemed grasping ... a multi-tentacled sea creature or starfish in the sky.

It was fully dark when we left the building. I took a parting picture of the crab fountain spouting water amid colourful lights. It felt good to head home on a rainless night.

H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, Vancouver, BC

I expected easy traveling on the freeway ... easier than the trip into Vancouver (below) at "rush" hour when cars, buses and trucks crawled and came to a lengthy stall due to multiple lanes squeezing into one at the tunnel. Depending on time of day, a trip to Mars can seem ridiculously more doable ... and the Milky Way more inviting.

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Cosmic Camelot

RAYS OF LIGHT poured through the trees. This minuscule moment in time had the mystique of mythical Camelot, I thought, as I walked through the morning dazzle of fall. Like a fragile fantasy made real, idyllic happiness was, and perhaps still is, ours for the taking after the billions of years it took for organic life to burst forth upon Earth.

For thousands of years it’s been a playground for humankind yet taking our only home for granted, wars and disagreements have brought us to an odd pivotal point. Did you hear about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report? Turns out that the knights in shining armour galloping to our rescue needs to be all of us.

Sandy Trail, Crescent Beach, Surrey, BC

We have a dozen years, scientists say, “… for global warming to be kept to a maximum of 1.5C, beyond which even half a degree will significantly worsen the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty for hundreds of millions of people.”

They say there's no need to panic or to shy away from the uncomfortable truths in the report because keeping temperatures down to that level IS doable. The tricky part is that we would need to make unprecedented changes.

Carbon pollution would have to be cut by 45% by 2030. That’s overwhelming in societies where many see no problem at all. But if we dare to pay more now instead gamble with life later, we might be surprised at how well we rise to the call.

It's a chance to move forward with better habits reminiscent of earlier times, before households with three cars became common.

Less traffic, less consumption, more backyard gardens and nature-friendly activities from big and small business could extend the human story in this cosmic realm.

We know what to do but is there the will to add to the chapters of our fantastic tale.

Crescent Beach, Surrey, BC

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So Much In Life Hangs On Which Way The Votes Go

TWISTS and turns of politics can be heart-wrenching and disturbing as evidenced by the picking of a justice to the highest court in the US land. Watching events unfold as a Canadian observer hit home how elections matter more than ever, the big and small.

I could hardly wait to cast my ballot for mayor and city councillors in my world. I voted early at a recreation centre that had an intriguing piece of art near the entrance. The work captured what I was feeling in an inexplicable way.

The artists Ruth Beer and Charlotte Wall endowed Ribbon with a whimsical outlook. They explained: “Our sculpture is imbued with a ribbon’s qualities of joyous movement and the potential to form beautiful shapes. Whether by the flick of a wrist or randomly caught in the wind, it can be appreciated by people of all ages and cultures.”

Indeed, the work appeared to float off the ground happily as shadow and light played. Yet, after listening to the US news, I didn't see its motion as entirely carefree, realizing that until justice for women, for all assaulted people, is no longer placated and ignored, every pretty ribbon is a twist away from being tied into painful knots. So much depends on which way the wind blows and how each of our votes go.

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