Today there is a new word for you! In the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, it may be a better autumnal word. However, today, this marvellous winter day, this word is shared especially for you.
Have you ever heard of psithurism before? Well perhaps not the word, but, and however, you probably did enjoy sitting in a forest listening and marvelling at the wind rustling through the leaves. And it is a glorious feeling to hear the wind moving through the branches of the trees. That experience is psithurism.
So next time you marvel at the shimmer of the trembling aspen leaves when the slightest breeze rustles those amazing leafy “coins” of the “money tree,” think of psithurism. As you walk through the forest in the winter and a silverberry or snowberry bush still remains with leaves, remember psithurism and rejoice.
So today, the challenge is passive and quiet. The challenge is to set yourself still and quiet in the forest, and experience psithurism. So please do Take It Outside, and celebrate this WinterCity YXE opportunity to have a Winter Staycation in Saskatoon.
“To be standing together in a frosty field, looking up into the sky, marvelling at birds and revelling in the natural world around us, was a simple miracle. And I wondered why we were so rarely able to appreciate it.”
Lynn Thomson
“Creative expression, whether that means writing, dancing, bird-watching, or cooking, can give a person almost everything that he or she has been searching for: enlivenment, peace, meaning, and the incalculable wealth of time spent quietly in beauty.” -Anne Lamott
Dr Richard St. Barbe Baker, O.B.E., Hon. L.L.D. (Sask), F.A.I.L., For, Dip. Cantab. (St. Barbe) 9 October 1889 – 9 June 1982. Today is St. Barbe’s birthday! It is the 129th anniversary of St. Barbe’s birthdate. October 9 means he is a Libra. What is known about persons who are born under this horoscope sign? … Continue reading “Many happy returns!”
Dr Richard St. Barbe Baker, O.B.E., Hon. L.L.D. (Sask), F.A.I.L., For, Dip. Cantab. (St. Barbe) 9 October 1889 – 9 June 1982.
Today is St. Barbe’s birthday! It is the 129th anniversary of St. Barbe’s birthdate. October 9 means he is a Libra. What is known about persons who are born under this horoscope sign?
Libra Horoscope: Zodiac Sign September 23 – October 23
Rowan Tree (Sensitivity) – October 04 to October 13
Characteristics: Full of Charm, cheerful, gifted without egoism, likes to draw attention, loves life, unrestful, good taste, artistic, passionate, emotional, good company, does not forgive. From LagoSmart
Photo of Richard St. Barbe Baker Courtesy: University of Saskatchewan, University Archives & Special Collections,
E. E. Cummings born October 14, 1894 [a fellow Libran]
what if a much of a which of a wind
what if a much of a which of a wind
gives the truth to summer’s lie;
bloodies with dizzying leaves the sun
and yanks immortal stars awry?
Blow king to beggar and queen to seem
(blow friend to fiend: blow space to time)
-when skies are hanged and oceans drowned,
the single secret will still be man
what if a keen of a lean wind flays
screaming hills with sleet and snow:
strangles valleys by ropes of thing
and stifles forests in white ago?
Blow hope to terror; blow seeing to blind
(blow pity to envy and soul to mind)
-whose hearts are mountains, roots are trees,
it’s they shall cry hello to the spring
what if a dawn of a doom of a dream
bites this universe in two,
peels forever out of his grave
and sprinkles nowhere with me and you?
Blow soon to never and never to twice
(blow life to isn’t:blow death to was)
-all nothing’s only our hugest home;
the most who die, the more we live
Photo of Richard St. Barbe Baker Courtesy: University of Saskatchewan, University Archives & Special Collections,
The Curious Events Day is celebrated annually on October 9.
Fire Prevention day is commemorated every year on October 9.
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SW 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map
Should you wish to help protect / enhance the afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail) Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!
“St. Barbe’s unique capacity to pass on his enthusiasm to others. . . Many foresters all over the world found their vocations as a result of hearing ‘The Man of the Trees’ speak. I certainly did, but his impact has been much wider than that. Through his global lecture tours, St. Barbe has made millions of people aware of the importance of trees and forests to our planet.” Allan Grainger
“The science of forestry arose from the recognition of a universal need. It embodies the spirit of service to mankind in attempting to provide a means of supplying forever a necessity of life and, in addition, ministering to man’s aesthetic tastes and recreational interests. Besides, the spiritual side of human nature needs the refreshing inspiration which comes from trees and woodlands. If a nation saves its trees, the trees will save the nation. And nations as well as tribes may be brought together in this great movement, based on the ideal of beautifying the world by the cultivation of one of God’s loveliest creatures – the tree.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker.
“I believe in the Oneness of Mankind and all living things and the interdependence of each and all.”Richard St. Barbe Baker
Come visit the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, or the George Genereux Urban Regional Park
“The fate of an individual or a nation will always be determined by the degree of his or its harmony with the forces and laws of Nature and the universe. Man is not alone in the universe but is surrounded by sources of power, harmony and knowledge. The fullness of life depends upon man’s harmony with the totality of the natural cosmic laws. Our individual evolution is a job that has to be carried on day by day by each individual himself. It is a livelong task” Richard St. Barbe Baker
The Poplar his branches richly green
Broad to the winds did wildly fling;—
The first in beauty and in power,
All bowed before the forest-king.
But ere its brilliant leaves were sere,
Or scattered by the Autumn wind,
The voice merged into the buzz of autumn noises, and footsteps and other conversation
the wild geese went and came unchecked
Geese are Weed Destroyers they are close grazers
Very valuable in ridding grasslands or fields of troublesome weeds.
As the blear autumnal light burst forth
The Saskatchewan woodpecker drums
this musical rapping may be heard.
“He alternates his tapping with his stridulous call,
and the effect on a cool, autumn-like morning is very pleasing.”
“In that vast evergreen forest Nature works in perfect rhythm; roots digging deep or exploring nearer the surface for food and moisture. Imperceptibly Nature builds those mighty pillars with aisle innumerable, arches multiplex, in the cathedral of the forest.” Richard St. Barbe Baker
For more information:
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, SK, CA north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com
Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)
Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!
October 1 2018, the first monday in October is World Habitat Day.
How can Richard St. Barbe Baker’s theory of spiral shelters be analyzed? Is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area an example of afforestation spiral shelter theory being proven successfully? In 1972, the parks department planted, or afforested 660 acres of afforestation area as a tree nursery in a greening programme for the City of Saskatoon. The various trees selected were planted not in straight rows, but rather in circular patterns throughout the land allotment. What has been noted by horticulturists, and foresters in the comparison of trees planted in semi-circles as opposed to trees planted in straight rows? How does snow accumulate and what is the effect of seasonal drought and flooding? How does wind react upon trees planted in straight lines, and what is the wind pattern, if trees are planted in spirals? What can be learned of this practice to improve agricultural methods? Saskatchewan is a windy province, and is subject to years of drought and high water tables, will a spiral windbreak affect the wind and water cycle on agricultural concerns in our province?
“We submit that water must be a basic consideration in all our national and earth -wide forest programmes; streams and rivers must be restored to their natural motion; and floods and droughts must be eliminated. Forests and woodlands are intimately linked with biological, social and spiritual well-being. The minimum tree cover for safety is one-third of the total land area. Every catchment area should have at least this proportion of tree cover made up of mixed species, including broad-leaf trees, mono-culture in any form being injurious to the land.” segment from The Men of the Trees; The New Earth Charter
Snowfall Saturday September 22 2018 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Saskatoon, SK, CA
“We’re stabilizing the sand with a series of spiral shelters – rows of trees planted in semicircles to catch the winds and create vortices of air,” explains Baker. “The same thing would be valuable on the Canadian prairies where straight shelter belts cause snow to accumulate.” Star Weekly Toronto, On January 15 1972. article title “He’s top man on the world totem pole”
Branta canadensis Canada Goose
Ken Liddells’s Column The Calgary Herald Nov 11 1971″He [Baker] says the fight to prevent the spread of the desert is being won. One tool is a series of spiral shelter belts, with openings for grazing cattle. It is effective for most directions of the wind. The funnels lead into circular enclosures to create vortices of air. It would, he said, be valuable on the Canadian Prairies where straight shelter belts cause snow to accumulate and where “the mining of wheat” will be mourned once again, because the dust bowl of the United States is again creeping over that land.”
Grus canadensis Sandhill Crane
Trees also break the strength of the wind, creating shelter for other life forms and lesser species of vegetation. The planting of shelter-belts (best in spiral form) reduces both the wind speed and the dehydration of the soil, creating microclimates that help the soil against erosion through the provision of additional humus and protection, Indeed shelter belts can influence the evaporation rate over cultivated land by as much as 30 meters upwind and 120 meters downwind, and Canadian research has shown that farms with a third of their land as shelter belts are more productive than farms of equivalent area where there are no trees at all.
These shelter belts also trap Carbon dioxide (CO2), the heaviest naturally occuring atmospheric gas, found mostly in the lowest levels of the atmosphere, and an essential component of photosynthesis. Increased CO2 under the right conditions will produce stronger photosynthesis. When trees and hedgerows between fields are removed, productivity falls, because this causes a fall in carbon dioxide. Trees should be revered as much as water, for together they are both the givers of life.” Hidden Nature: The Startling Insights of Viktor SchaubergerBy Alick Bartholomew
Shelterbelts do not have to be planted in rigid, straight lines. A curved shelterbelt on a natural topographical contour line around the north and west sides of your farmyard will look more pleasing.
Shelterbelts can follow the contour of a valley or creek, run in an angle, or even have a circular shape around the yard site. The main consideration is to keep the spacing parallel between rows for ease of between-row cultivation and maintenance. Farmyard shelterbelts Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
The afforestation areas were planted with “the following tree species…Amercian and Siberian Elm, Manitoba Maple, Green Ash, Poplar, Willow, Colorado Spruce, Scotch Pine and Caragana.” The Trembling Aspen, Snowberry, Buffaloberry are examples of native species also prevalent in the afforestation areas.
As a pioneer in afforestation which is applauded in contemporary times as the earth requires trees for “Carbon Sequestration”, and for the “cooling effect” of the summer tree canopy, reducing the heating effect from Climate Change locally. The Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and the Afforestation area formerly named “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park were planted uniquely, and could be considered pioneers in Richard St. Barbe Baker’s Spiral Shelterbelt planting theory.
A tractor operated by the City of Saskatoon Parks Department purchased a special tree planting machine to afforest the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and the Afforestation area formerly named “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park. The planting process at the afforestation areas began along an outside boundary, and the driver proceeded creating a weaving pattern. The rows would diverge as much as forty feet from the centre line, producing a greater naturalized forest effect rather than strict rows extending linearly. Weaving in and out spirally, and in a curvi-linear fashion creating a much more natural, effect mimicking the genius of Gaia, Mother Nature, herself and her wisdom.
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map
Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)
Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!
“I believe with Ruskin, that I must be just to the Earth beneath my feet, to the neighbour by my side and to the Light that comes from above and within that this wonderful world of ours may be a little more beautiful and happy form my having lived in it. “Richard St. Barbe Baker.
American Elm Trees Ulmus Americana Photo credit BriYYZ CC-BY-SA-2.0
Remembering the Elm Tree
“The great elms murmur in low, inarticulate tones, and the shadows at their feet hide themselves from the moon, moving noiselessly through all the summer night. The woods in the distance stand motionless in the wealth of their massed foliage, keeping guard over the unbroken silence that reigns in all their branching aisles. Beyond the far-spreading waters lie white and dreamlike, and tempt the thought to the fairylands that sleep just beyond the line of the horizon. A sweet and restful mystery, like a bridal veil, hides the face of Nature, and he only can venture to lift it who has won the privilege by long and faithful devotion.”~Hamilton Wright Mabie
Siberian Elm Fruit Seed Ulmus pumila samaras Photo credit Luis Fernández García L. Fdez. cc-by-sa-2.1 Ulmus-pumila-samaras
“Down through the maple avenue you will take your pleasant route, past the willow and alder clumps, and the ancient mill, that hangs its idle arms listlessly by its sides—on and on, over the little style, and the rustic bridge, which spans the rivulet, until you reach the giant elm that spreads its broad branches far and wide. Books and work are scattered about on the verdant turf, bright flowers peep forth from amid the green, and many a fair face greets you with its frank and cordial welcome. The sky is very blue and clear, and the summer’s breath comes refreshingly to you through the leafy screen, as you seat yourself upon a mossy stone and join in the merriments of the happy circle gathered there.” ~ F. Irene Burge Smith
American Elm Ulmus Americana autumn leaf
“The hours in which we come in contact with great souls are always memorable in our history, often the crises in our intellectual life; it is the recollection of such hours that gives those bending elms an imperishable charm, and lends to this landscape a deathless interest.”~ F. Irene Burge Smith
“Love needs new leaves every summer of life, as much as your elm-tree, and new branches to grow broader and wider, and new flowers to cover the ground.”
Harriet Beecher Stowe
“It was the summer time, and he remembers that the old elm under which he sat was just in the fullness and glory of its foliage; the hour, too, is distinctly in his memory; the dreary and sad twilight, and the breeze’s soft play over the waving grass, and the hum of the insects, and the murmur of the city’s noise that came pleasantly from the distance, like the moving of far-off waters. Oh! these things can never die out of his remembrance. How can they! Doesn’t he cherish them religiously, coming always at the vesper time to the same spot to live them over and over again?
Even through the dreary winters he but closes his eyes and the verdure is there, and the beauty.”~ F. Irene Burge Smith
“The minimum [re-afforestation] for safety is one third of the total land area. I think what is happening to the elms must be alerting the whole country to the necessity of trees, of the need for more trees. The elm has the largest leaf surface of any tree in Britain. If you defoliate a large elm and put the leaves together edge to edge, they would cover ten acres. So naturally, the first tree to suffer from air pollution was the elm and, of course, when an elm is suffering from fatigue it is subject to attack by disease: the elm bark beetle, the carrier of the elm fungus, comes along and the tree succumbs.
I look at it this way. If a person is living a normal life and not abusing themselves – not smoking too much, not eating too much, not drinking too much – but living normally and eating the right food – they will be fit and well. It is only when they start abusing themselves that they are prone to attack by disease. It is the same with trees.
The next tree to go (the next tree with the largest leaf surface after the elm) is probably the beech: after that the sycamore: and so on. Finally it will be Man’s turn. We forget that we owe our existence to the presence of trees and as far as forest cover goes, we have never been in such a vulnerable position as we are today. The only answer is to plant more trees – to plant for our lives.” ~Richard St. Barbe Baker
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map
Please help protect / enhance /commemorate your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)
Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!
“St. Barbe’s unique capacity to pass on his enthusiasm to others. . . Many foresters all over the world found their vocations as a result of hearing ‘The Man of the Trees’ speak. I certainly did, but his impact has been much wider than that. Through his global lecture tours, St. Barbe has made millions of people aware of the importance of trees and forests to our planet.” Allan Grainger
“We forget that we owe our existence to the presence of Trees. As far as forest cover goes, we have never been in such a vulnerable position as we are today. The only answer is to plant more Trees – to Plant Trees for Our Lives.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker
“Act. Don’t react. See a need, fix it first. Worry about the details later. If you wait until you are asked you have just missed a golden opportunity. They are fleeting and rare.” Philip Wollen founder of Winsome Kindness Trust
Fire. File Photo. 2016 Spring Fire Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK CA
Fire. File Photo. 2016 Spring Fire Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK CA
“If there had been a fire here when that wind came up it would have been roaring in the cañon now. The storm would have swept it down on the trees there, and the whole gully would soon have become a roaring furnace. Better cut out the fire.” ~G. Harvey Ralphson
It is with wondrous elation, that there are forest scouts keeping an eye on the George Genereux Afforestation Area, and the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area along with all the city parks. It is with gratitude that the Saskatoon Fire Department is on top of fire prevention in the city of Saskatoon.
Fire prevention week is October 8-14. Check the fire prevention tips, and classroom study.
“If the forest has a day of fire and the heat of the flames does not consume a special tree, it will still be changed; charred, but still standing.”Dan Groat
Of the earth’s thirty billion acres, already nine billion acres are desert. And if a man loses a third of his skin, he dies; plastic surgeons say “He’s had it.” And if a tree loses one-third of its bark, it dies. And if the earth loses one-third of its green mantle of trees, it will die. The water table will sink beyond recall and life on this planet will become impossible. It’s being skinned alive today. ” ~Richard St. Barbe Baker
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SW 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map
Please help protect / enhance /commemorate your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)
Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!
“St. Barbe’s unique capacity to pass on his enthusiasm to others. . . Many foresters all over the world found their vocations as a result of hearing ‘The Man of the Trees’ speak. I certainly did, but his impact has been much wider than that. Through his global lecture tours, St. Barbe has made millions of people aware of the importance of trees and forests to our planet.” Allan Grainger
“We forget that we owe our existence to the presence of Trees. As far as forest cover goes, we have never been in such a vulnerable position as we are today. The only answer is to plant more Trees – to Plant Trees for Our Lives.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker
“Act. Don’t react. See a need, fix it first. Worry about the details later. If you wait until you are asked you have just missed a golden opportunity. They are fleeting and rare.” Philip Wollen founder of Winsome Kindness Trust
Stand firm. Grip hard.
Thrust upward to the skies.
Bend to the winds of heaven.
And learn tranquility.
Richard St. Barbe Baker
” if you devote 22% of a quarter section, that’s 160 acres, to trees, you can double the crops.’ It’s a question of planting trees strategically. The trees reduce the speed of the wind, modify the climate, they modify the difference in temperature from day and night, and above all the trees make it possible for the earthworms to come into the land, and the earthworm casts its own weight every 24 hours. And a well-populated acre of worms casts 30 tonnes of worm castings per acre per year. That’s equal to 30 tonnes of farmyard manure on that land.” Richard St. Barbe Baker
Clouds in the sky
Richard St. Barbe Baker AFforestation Area, Saskatoon, SK
Trembling Aspen grove Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, CA
Native species, Trembling Aspen or Populus tremuloides, quaking aspen, trembling aspen, American aspen, Quakies, mountain or golden aspen, trembling poplar, white poplar,, Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA
Red-Winged Blackbird. West Swale Wetlands Chappell Marsh. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Saskatoon, SK
Today, Wednesday August 23, experience the wind in the woodlands.
Today, Wednesday August 23, capture the wind alongside the waterfowl in the West Swale wetlands.
Today, Wednesday August 23, watch the clouds traveling in the wind as you wander among the Scots Pine and Colorado Blue Spruce.
Today, Wednesday August 23, loose yourself in the dance of the Trembling Aspen leaf.
“I believe in going with the flow. I don’t believe in fighting against the flow. You ride on your river and you go with the tides and the flow. But it has to be your river, not someone else’s. Everyone has their own river, and you don’t need to swim,float,sail on their’s, but you need to be in your own river and you need to go with it. And I don’t believe in fighting the wind. You go and you fly with your wind. Let everyone else catch their own gusts of wind and let them fly with their own gusts of wind, and you go and you fly with yours.”
― C. JoyBell C.
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map
Please help protect / enhance /commemorate your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)
Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!
“St. Barbe’s unique capacity to pass on his enthusiasm to others. . . Many foresters all over the world found their vocations as a result of hearing ‘The Man of the Trees’ speak. I certainly did, but his impact has been much wider than that. Through his global lecture tours, St. Barbe has made millions of people aware of the importance of trees and forests to our planet.” Allan Grainger
“We forget that we owe our existence to the presence of Trees. As far as forest cover goes, we have never been in such a vulnerable position as we are today. The only answer is to plant more Trees – to Plant Trees for Our Lives.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker
“Act. Don’t react. See a need, fix it first. Worry about the details later. If you wait until you are asked you have just missed a golden opportunity. They are fleeting and rare.” Philip Wollen founder of Winsome Kindness Trust
The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness. John Muir
A Snow day literally and figuratively falls from the sky ~ unbidden ~ and seems like a thing of wonder”~Susan Orlean<
Colorado Blue Spruce Picea pungens in Winter copyright Julia Adamson
“A Snow day literally and figuratively falls from the sky ~ unbidden ~ and seems like a thing of wonder“~Susan Orlean
A Single Spruce, A Singular Glory; Prithee now the story…
One from the archives…
Colorado Blue Spruce Picea pungens with foliage mottled and marbled with white blanket of snow. The soft cover a marked contrast to the foliage highlighting, nay caressing the pattern which in due time allow and reveal to our eyes beholden the varied lines, nuances and lacy swirls. For thou art captivating in thy winter charms and this snowy robe has made this fine wonder yours. Hiding leaves so green amid this fair world of ours. It is thus that a wonder such as this doth work inside of me with a canvas rich and beautiful. And is it true that when the winter hibernal months come at last, that it is then that snowflakes become your butterflies? Have you ever entered into that wilderness, have you ever found the spruce decked out in white? Let not God’s rattle rob your sight but on this wintery morn; step out and see the varied shapes amid the wood, a pleasure so fine, that time and space fold away that perchance one may say that the space seems but divine. For ’tis graced with Sun’s warmth and light the heavy laden bough among the green doth shine within the kindly beams. On boughs now gathering winter wool, the snowflakes, so light they worked, and now scarcely should a living soul doth breathe lest the wondrous sculpture shouldst break. Oh have you ever seen a lovely sight as this, bred by the sun on that wondrous winter’s day. Can you walk in the urban wilderness park, and see such sweet music cry? Oh can you hear the snow settle down with laughter in the trees? Such does the wind lay down its the silent spell, so stop and marvel for awhile, drink in Nature’s song~ swallowing the spruce green boundaries. And look around at millions of souls, the spruce turned green to white, and look this day upon their face, and truly do walk apace in joy among the giant spruce in these hibernal months I do so love.
In sleep of helpless infancy
Trees were the arms that cradled me;
On Tree my daily food is spread;
Tree is my chair, and Tree is my bed.
~Theresa Hooley
When snow falls, nature listens ! Antoinette van Kleef.
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SW 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map
Please help protect / enhance /commemorate your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)
Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!
I believe in oneness of mankind and of all living things and in the interdependence of each and all. I believe that unless we play fair to the Earth, we cannot exist physically on this planet. Unless we play fair to our neighbour, we cannot exist socially or internationally. Unless we play fair to better self, there is no individuality and no leadership. ~Richard St. Barbe Baker.
“Kind people have been expressing superlatives on my work. But I can assure you that anything which I have been able to achieve has been team work. We have a motto in the Men of the Trees. TWAHAMWE. It is an African word meaning ‘pull together’ and I pass this on to all those concerned with conservation in this country. I would like to call you to silence for a moment with the words of Mathew Arnold:
“Calm soul of all things, make it mine,
To feel amidst the City ‘s jar
That there abides a peace of thine
Men did not make and cannot mar. ”
~Richard St. Barbe Baker
One of the earliest [memories] is that of the pine forest which came up close to the house. I often sat in the sun there and in the tree tops I seemed to hear the sound of waves breaking on the sea-shore. Those pines spoke to me of distant lands and gave me my first desire to travel and see the trees of other countries. At times I would imagine that these tall pines were talking to each other as they shook or nodded their heads at the whim of the winds.~Richard St. Barbe Baker
As I wandered on as in a dream, all sense of time and space lost. ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker
Were you there?
The snowstorm provided atmosphere in a glance; a subtle nuance which the snow covers as if the forest possessed an iniquitous or gentle soul. Within the forest enraptured within the illusion of time, and the dance of snowflakes are never at rest; even within the narrow compass of the forest they develop a scene; growing in captivating, spell-binding wonder and beauty, the landscape continuously transformed; the trees and snow swirl together in “sync,” and ideality unites thus the blanketed forest vision with that of the humans.
For is it not on such a day that we do, indeed create our world? Wonderfully wrought, rich yet dim was the day, as if God himself had dipped his artistic brush in mist and not in reality. Time and space died that day. The mysticism of the day revealed itself in a spell-bound trance, all of nature was settled, serene, and the pattern wove a splendour of moods and tonalities.
The blizzard brought a new way of seeing, the rhythm of the wind as a cinematograph carrying the eye to a point of distraction. As the trees danced about in their newly donned snowy robes, we tread about the snow drifts as the wind blew on and on. Under the snow blanket hidden deep, the squirrels, and mice uttered not a peep. The pine boughs laden under the bevy of snow, held fast the chickadee and waxwing, for in the blizzard no song of bird across the woodlands was ever heard. So it is thus to tell the story when the pale glow of the northern Canadian sun faded behind the gathering snow.
Step by step walk now through the snow, enveloped in this seemingly endless wilderness. The day revealed snow stretching out before the travelers unbroken by track, or footprint of any living creature. The outset of the day ’twas quite impossible to look or see for a pace around, the snow fell thick and fast. The big snow caressed the earth, and upon the woodland trees fell whispering through the wind, catching on the top of the swaying spruce-tops. And such was the day, the day of the big snow that transfigured the spirit, and aligned a new rhythm within the landscape creating new perspectives.
Little snowflakes, insignificant at first, ranging themselves into complex and grand atmospheres which can transfix melodramatic eyes. The multiplicity of details now hidden create new notes of nature revealing breathtaking scenes of dramatic power, creating vivid visions of silent peace. The day has now passed, and with it, too, the sun has taken the vision.
The harmony and symphony of the blizzard, the sense of serenity has played out in the vanishing seconds down the corridor of time. And yet there is a delightful consolation captured ~ the alluring mystery hovering around the woodlands that day when the north wind danced with the woodlands Grace.
“According to ancient mythology, trees were the first living things on earth. This is borne out by scientific reasoning which shows that it is through them that the air we breathe can give life to humanity. Through countless ages trees have been drawing carbonic acid gas from the atmosphere, absorbing and incorporating the carbon, assimilating it; then when they die, bequeathing to soil their carboniferous remains. The consequence has been that eventually the atmospheric oxygen was left sufficiently pure for the requirements of birds and mammals which have replaced the flying reptiles and monstrous amphibians that were able to endure the heavy air of primeval swamps and jungles.”~Richard St. Barbe Baker
One of the earliest [memories] is that of the pine forest which came up close to the house. I often sat in the sun there and in the tree tops I seemed to hear the sound of waves breaking on the sea-shore. Those pines spoke to me of distant lands and gave me my first desire to travel and see the trees of other countries. At times I would imagine that these tall pines were talking to each other as they shook or nodded their heads at the whim of the winds.~Richard St. Barbe Baker
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SW 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map
Please help protect / enhance /commemorate your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)
Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!
I believe in oneness of mankind and of all living things and in the interdependence of each and all. I believe that unless we play fair to the Earth, we cannot exist physically on this planet. Unless we play fair to our neighbour, we cannot exist socially or internationally. Unless we play fair to better self, there is no individuality and no leadership. ~Richard St. Barbe Baker.
“Kind people have been expressing superlatives on my work. But I can assure you that anything which I have been able to achieve has been team work. We have a motto in the Men of the Trees. TWAHAMWE. It is an African word meaning ‘pull together’ and I pass this on to all those concerned with conservation in this country. I would like to call you to silence for a moment with the words of Mathew Arnold:
“Calm soul of all things, make it mine,
To feel amidst the City ‘s jar
That there abides a peace of thine
Men did not make and cannot mar. ”
~Richard St. Barbe Baker
Soon the bracken became shorter
“I believed that God has lent us the Earth. It belongs as much to those who come after us as to us, and it ill behooves us by anything we do or neglect, to deprive them of benefits which are in our power to bequeath.” Richard St. Barbe Baker
There is only one real reason to keep bees, and that is because they are fascinating. If you just want honey, make friends with a beekeeper.
-Australia beekeeper, Adrian the Bee Man
“As I wandered on as in a dream, all sense of time and space lost. As I continued this mysterious journey, looking up every now and then I could see shafts of light where the sunshine lit up the morning mists and made subtle shadows on the huge bracken fronds which provided a continuous canopy of bright green over me. Their pungent scent was a delight to me. Although I could see only a few yards ahead, I had no sense of being shut in. The sensation was exhilarating. I began to walk faster, buoyed up with an almost ethereal feeling of well-being, as if I had been detached from earth. I became intoxicated with the beauty around me, immersed in the joyousness and exultation of feeling part of it all.~Richard St. Barbe Baker.”
He that planteth a tree is a servant of God;
He provideth a kindness for many generations
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, south west sector, in the City of Saskatoon, SK, CA
Traveling west along Valley Road Picture of north turnoff onto Township Road 362A which is also named the Cedar Villa Road. Granting access to the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, and South West Off Leash Recreation Area. Saskatoon, Sk, CA
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, SK, CA
Last night Autumn arrived. Felt in the wind. Some little change in the air. O’er trail and track, the air, comes e’er cool. The breeze, ’tis changing, how to describe the change in the air. How does one welcome Autumn? Of all the seasons, Autumn announces the change of time with more presence that the rest. The call of the geese will mix with the wind breathing through the poplar. Cooler, ever cooler that’s the way the Autumn comes. Remember now, the hidden signs before the leaf turns gold. Look all around, summer’s going to sleep, the warmth falls from the air. No need to open almanac, nor seek the solstice ‘our, just feel the change, the sounds of air. The hungry winds seeking russet leaf. ‘Tis soon the theatre of the season, the forest to begin their ritual. The wandering wind blows away our sighs. The serene ir moves o’er the world. Moves man and beast, moves tree and forest. And so again, the story begins. On the edge of summer time. Autumn arrived quietly last night.
“First it was the seedlings…Then it was a smooth bark beech: ‘That was my Madonna of the woods, my mother confessor.’ Then it was the giant redwoods of California. And most recently it was a cedar of Labanon.”
Baker would oft recite the poetry of trees;
O dreamy, gloomy, friendly Trees,
I came along your narrow track
To bring my gifts unto your knees
And gifts did you give back;
For when I brought this heart that burns–
These thoughts that bitterly repine–
And laid them here among the ferns
And the hum of boughs divine,
Ye, vastest breathers of the air,
Shook down with slow and mighty poise
Your coolness on the human care,
Your wonder on its toys,
Your greenness on the heart’s despair,
Your darkness on its noise.
Frederic Herbert Trench (12 November 1865 – 11 June 1923)
“The aim … is briefly ‘ to develop a tree sense in every citizen, and to encourage all to plant, protect and love their native trees; for forestry is among the oldest and most honourable of the peaceful arts of men, and in its practice is unselfish and constructive service.’ ”
“In the words of Henry van Dyke, (10 November 1852 – 10 April 1933) America’s greatest tree poet, whom ’twas often quoted by St. Barbe.
The Friendly Trees.
He that planteth a tree is a servant of God;
He provideth a kindness for many generations
And faces that he hath not seen shall bless him.”
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map
Should you wish to help protect / enhance the afforestation areas, please contact the City of Saskatoon, Corporate Revenue Division, 222 3rd Ave N, Saskatoon, SK S7K 0J5…to support the afforestation area with your donation please state that your donation should go towards the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, or the George Genereux Urban Regional Park, or both afforestation areas located in the Blairmore Sector. Please and thank you! Your donation is greatly appreciated.
“St. Barbe’s unique capacity to pass on his enthusiasm to others. . . Many foresters all over the world found their vocations as a result of hearing ‘The Man of the Trees’ speak. I certainly did, but his impact has been much wider than that. Through his global lecture tours, St. Barbe has made millions of people aware of the importance of trees and forests to our planet.” Allan Grainger
“The science of forestry arose from the recognition of a universal need. It embodies the spirit of service to mankind in attempting to provide a means of supplying forever a necessity of life and, in addition, ministering to man’s aesthetic tastes and recreational interests. Besides, the spiritual side of human nature needs the refreshing inspiration which comes from trees and woodlands. If a nation saves its trees, the trees will save the nation. And nations as well as tribes may be brought together in this great movement, based on the ideal of beautifying the world by the cultivation of one of God’s loveliest creatures – the tree.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker.
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. George Genereux Urban Regional Park. 