P. Ferguson image, November 2021.
Ready for these times to get better
A provincial state of emergency was declared 17 November 2021 at 1:15 pm.
All our days – an earlier generation of high water with the ’48 Flood – and this day’s high water – the flood of British Columbia 2021. People helping people, filling sandbags, finding comforts, waiting, hope, worry, searching amidst the loss, new friends, the military is here (or has returned). Stop the water…move the people…save the livestock….save the sturgeon, evacuate, evacuate…find higher ground as sirens wail their haunting scream. In the worst of times the best of us found.
P. Ferguson image, November 2021.
I saw the high water of a nearby river racing on its corrosive path to the coast…scarce below the bridge…its strength evident by the inertia of its live edge. How much has it taken as it seeks its larger familiar on this misnamed planet?
P. Ferguson image, November 2021.
Today I recognize some while has passed since I last wrote or spoke about historic waters…The Drainage of Sumas Lake…The Politics of Water. Some while since I last examined the black and white photo prints of the Vedder Canal and the dredges of the J.W. Pike Dredging Company at work. Some while since I read of Premier Oliver and his team or the returned soldier work crews. Some while since I studied the Sumas Reclaimed Lands foldout brochure…and some while since I considered the impact of removing a lake that the Semá:th peoples had known since time immemorial.
P. Ferguson image, November 2021.
Rather than attempt to rewrite this previous work…I turn instead to these days of constant turmoil and impact. One event after the other…we are tired…we yearn for new days of peace…no pandemics…no contempt of our kind…no wrath of nature. Just one day to find our feet. No more variants, no more atmospheric rivers, no more anxieties…hand in hand together…these lands…these waters…and I’m ready for the times to get better.