| Addicted To Powder Articles | | | | November 11, 2005 | Nov 15, 2005| Resort - Whistler / Blackcomb | Thomas Hunterson | Crazy, but that’s how it goes.
Millions of people, living as foes.
Maybe, it’s not too late.
To learn how to love, and forget how to hate.
Ozzy Osbourne
November 11, 2005
It is a rare thing to have a three day long weekend in the month of November. It is even rarer to make turns on fresh snow this early in the season. Many of us shared a moment of reflection as we rode chairlifts on Blackcomb Mountain this weekend
I was riding the Solar Coaster Chair on November eleventh at eleven o’clock. I was indulging in the decadence that is my life. I tried to remember those who have died, those who are dying, and those who will die. Is it ethical for me to be enjoying myself so much while others fear for their lives thousands of miles away in foreign lands? This is a question I am not worthy of answering
I looked back on my visit to the Vimy Ridge Memorial near Arras France. I remembered seeing the monument off in the distance across miles of open field. I walked through the trenches and tried to imagine the muddy quagmire that was the western front during the Great War nearly one hundred years ago. I peered through the sights of the machine gun nests to see the enemy line mere feet away on the other side of a deep crater.
I ate lunch in a glade of pine trees which grew at odd angles from hundreds of bomb craters. The park interpreter informed me that these trees were symbolic of the Canadians who died here. I walked to the cemetery and looked at the crosses. I remember the way I wept when I read his age was twenty one. I was twenty one. He was from Vancouver and I was from Vancouver Island. This was a long way from home to come only to never return. I looked around. I saw no mountains nor no oceans. I grieved for those who die so far from everything they love.
I walked through Whistler Village amongst the million and billionaires. I recalled a piece of graffiti written for all to read along the highway during the First Gulf War. It read; third world blood for your lifestyle. I took a moment to remember the innocent, those who die for nothing, the statistics, the collateral damage, and the friendly fire.
I have no right to be critical of the affluent. I too live in lotus land. I too am guilty of consuming more than my share of the world’s resources. At times of introspection such as these I think back to the words of my mentor who once said, “I did not create the world I live in. I am only trying to survive as best I can.”
I hope humanity can survive for a long time in this world. However I fear our greed may get the best of us. Until then I will make sure I take time to enjoy the quality of life that I owe to the dead and the maimed. I will take a moment to bask in the beauty that is this place. Then, I will take a run for the young man from Vancouver who lies in a field thousands of miles from home.
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| Random Picture | | Rob |  | | click on image for larger view |
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