Last night, after an hour of digging post holes for my new fence, my neighbour Joe and my brother Shawn and I toasted each other and looked out on the river and talked. Mostly we talked about the outdoors, hunting and fishing, the beauty of the prairies, and the need to leave something for nature. Especially that. As we did, across the river, three moose emerged from the yellow cottonwoods and passed through the thicket of red-barked dogwoods that marks the boundary to the riverbank. They wanted us to know that they had been listening.
I know, it’s beautiful.
The bull browsed the willows while the two cows dropped down to the river for a drink. Night was coming on quickly and a pale and pretty moon was rising. Coyotes yipped from somewhere not far away. The moose stayed for probably 20 minutes. We watched on with more than a little wonder. It was magical, but not just in the poetic sense. I also mean it’s magical in the sense that it can’t really be explained.
I truly don’t get it. The whole thing is a mystery. The explanations for how any of this is possible never really explain. There are yawning plot gaps in the story of the creation of universe, the laws of nature, the existence of life, and self awareness and human consciousness. But that’s okay. I’m not mad about it. I won’t complain to the human rights commission or start a Go Fund Me page. I get the sense that wandering and wondering might be our delicious destiny.
We are like the Greek God Tantalus “He was made to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree with low branches, with the fruit ever eluding his grasp, and the water always receding before he could take a drink.”
Please excuse the racy image but you know what those ancient Greeks were like.
Or in that blockbuster movie where God beat out Brad Pitt and Josh Brolin to be the leading man and we are given that confusing commandment to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Biblical scholars seem to have no idea what God is getting at which God probably finds funny, but I think it means explore and question all you want, because it’s so fun to wonder about these things and the world is so damn interesting, but your addled and feeble brain will not lead you to the big answers on this side of human existence. It’s a little surprising that God would take that tone, but I for one will not be correcting him.
But in my wandering and wondering I wandered away from my point. The point about saving something for nature. As Joe said, it’s about “quality of life”. He’s right. Yes, having a good income is a key part of “quality of life” but it doesn’t capture all of it, not even close. There’s so much else. A big and growing part of quality of life is ensuring we can experience and enjoy an unspoiled natural world and a healthy environment. I would go so far to say that the idea that we should be ‘good stewards’ is a basic Canadian value. Policy makers who ignore this are not listening to the people who will decide who they hire in the next election.
I would encourage my fellow travelers in the conservative movement to go beyond just tolerating practical, strong and common-sense policies on the environment. They should enthusiastically take them up. Voters know the difference. Conservatives shouldn’t be following on these issues. They should lead. Personal responsibility, stewardship, and doing the right thing are conservative values and Canadian values.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a fence to build, a river to watch over, and a world to wonder about.