Monthly Archives: November 2020

Hedley, Inspiration, People

Lindsay Fairweather, Advocate For Cold Water Swimming

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Lindsay Fairweather on the bank of the Similkameen River, preparing her mind for a plunge into the cold water.

My idea of a preferred activity on a December morning differs vastly from that of Hedley resident, Lindsay Fairweather. For me, it’s sitting in front of a roaring fire in the fireplace with a cup of steaming coffee, reading a John Grisham novel. In a telephone conversation with Lindsay last week, I gathered she’d be just as happy swimming in the frigid water of the Similkameen River. She began swimming in the river this past May and now takes the plunge once a week. She seems to agree with Jim Whittaker, Mt. Everest mountaineer who said, “if you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space.”

Lindsay has long been prone to living closer to the edge than most of us. “When I was about 15,” she said, “I had an experience that scared me. I was floating down the Similkameen on a tube. At the Slaughterhouse Rapids I was bounced from the tube and was suddenly under the water. I reached the surface but the water sucked me down repeatedly. All I could do was hold my breath and crawl along the bottom from rock to rock until I was past the rapids and able to pull myself up on a rock. I was pretty shaken up, but there was lots of adrenalin.”

More recently when she learned about the benefits of cold water swimming, she felt a tugging to try it. “I began swimming in the river this past May. To acclimatize my body to the coming winter temperatures, I ended my showers with five minutes of cold water.” Now she and a friend swim once a week. “She wears a wet suit. I wear my bathing suit and neoprene gloves.”

Lindsay Fairweather swimming underwater.

Prior to current winter temperatures, she did a two kilometer swim. “I was becoming aware of weariness and cold setting in so I made for the shore. Seeing it was overgrown with poison ivy, to which I’m severely allergic, I returned to the river. To deal with the weariness, I reminded myself that I’m much stronger than I give myself credit for. The Ford slogan, “built tough” came to me and I told myself, that’s how I’m built.” She began repeating to herself, “Built tough! Built tough!” It became a mantra. From this and other experiences she has learned it’s important to not under estimate the power of the mind. “Sometimes you have to think of another option,” she said.

Lindsay returned to the river and kept swimming, repeating “Built tough”.

Several potentially life ending episodes have convinced Lindsay she can’t be blasé about what she is doing. She recognizes that cold water swimming is inherently hazardous and she must be constantly aware of how the cold is impacting her physically. One website stresses the importance of understanding the dangers. “When entering cool water,” it says, “the muscles tighten. Breathing can become erratic and shallow. Overcoming a game ending panicky feeling starts and ends with the breathing.”

For Lindsay breathing is an essential aspect of her preparation. “I take a number of rapid breaths,” she said. “I also practise holding my breath. I can do that for three minutes. When I enter the water, I breathe calmly and walk until I’m in up to my neck. Learning to stay calm also helps me in challenging circumstances I encounter in life. People suffering with depression and anxiety disorders can benefit from this.”

Lindsay has derived a number of life altering positives from cold water swimming. “I love the thrill,” she said, “but there are a number of mental and physical benefits. Injured muscles heal more rapidly. Cold water immersion also quick starts the immune system and increases the number of white blood cells. I’ve found that it impacts my mental state. I feel happier, more awake and clear minded. It’s like a kind of meditation. I think more positively about myself. It helps me overcome negative self talk.”

By the end of an hour long conversation I concluded that much of Lindsay’s enthusiasm stems from the way cold water swimming is changing who she is and how she perceives herself. Each time she immerses her body in the river, she must steel herself against the cold. Experience has taught her there is potential unseen danger lurking beneath the surface. Her words suggest that for her cold water swimming is an inner exploration. It is creating in her a fuller understanding of who she is and what she is capable of accomplishing.

Community, People

Lynn Wells, End of an Era

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Lynn Wells shared some of her experiences.

Only rarely do the faint of heart apply for a leadership role. Leading can be a messy undertaking, fraught with unanticipated challenges and sometimes undeserved criticism. Knowing this, I’ve noted the fortitude of Lynn Wells as head of the Hedley Improvement District for many years. She completed her third and final term last week and Hedley will now need to look for new leadership.

In a two hour conversation in our home, Lynn shared some of her experiences, beginning in 2010. “The community needed to upgrade its fire truck or accept a huge increase in property insurance,” she recalled. “I asked if I could serve on the committee set up to research the matter.” There were widely differing opinions as to whether the town should purchase a new truck or find a used one. At times the discussions in the community became pretty heated. It was Lynn’s first foray into local politics.

In 2011 she ran for a position on the Hedley Improvement District (HID). Trustees receive a $100 per year honorarium and are responsible for the water system, street lighting and fire department. She paused for a moment to reflect, then said, “I didn’t know what to expect. It was a steep learning curve. I wanted to understand what I had become involved in so I looked into the history and responsibilities of improvement districts. I learned the HID had been set up in 1952. Funding is an issue because we’re not permitted to apply to the provincial government for funds. Improvement Districts can apply to the Regional District, but every community has a wish list and there is fierce competition for grants.”

Lynn considers the lack of funds for infrastructure upgrades as Hedley’s most pressing issue. “Several years ago I wrote two proposals requesting grants from the RDOS,” she said. “Elef Christensen, our Area Director at that time, was able to obtain only enough money to replace water pipes on one block of Daly Avenue.”

As in many communities in our province, much of our water system is well past the “best before” date. Underlying this issue is a longstanding debate as to whether Hedley should join the RDOS. This could give us access to provincial grants, providing of course the government isn’t bankrupted by the covid crises. In the past there has been a solid wall of opposition to this prospect. Some old timers in town attach great importance to the almost complete lack of building and other regulations.

Lynn pointed out that whatever course of action we take, we must expect there will be an increase in taxes and fees. She is acutely aware this could cause hardship for people on fixed incomes. In spite of the drawbacks, she favours joining the RDOS. Last spring she felt the town could not ignore the issue much longer and wanted to initiate the required consultations with local citizens. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing nixed this idea due to the covid pandemic.

“We have low levels of arsenic in the water,” she said. “If this rises above the permitted level, Interior Health may require us to upgrade our infrastructure. To undertake this ourselves would entail borrowing about 2 million dollars. If we join the RDOS, they may cover up to 75 percent. To this time we’ve been applying bandaid solutions in emergency situations. This siphons off funds saved for capital projects. It’s not sustainable.”

To this time Lynn has stickhandled the community through the various water issues. The trustees have held town meetings to provide information and explain HID decisions. One of these meetings became boisterous, with a few disgruntled citizens throwing unfair barbs at her. Resilient and resolute, Lynn remained unflustered, refuted the allegations graciously and carried on. Someone else might have walked out of the meeting in frustration. The most effective leaders are able to remain focused on important objectives and not be distracted by opposition.

In recent years a number of people have moved out of Hedley for health and other reasons. New people with fresh ideas and greater means are taking their place. Also, some of us who have been here a while are realizing we need to begin seriously grappling with the water issue before the system crumbles. Change is coming. Without Lynn Wells leading, we really should all pay more attention and accept greater responsibility for our community. Thanks, Lynn, for your years at the helm.

Politics

Statue of Liberty May Again Infuse Hope

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Statue of Liberty (photo: this day in history)

I have long thought of America’s Statue of Liberty as a beacon of hope for people around the globe. To me it suggests America is a nation where government leaders value honesty and truth. Where those who govern live by a high standard and do not deceive the people. From the very beginning, the words of U.S. presidents, senators, state governors, big city mayors, business leaders and others have supported this lofty vision. Until recent years, it has been a source of hope and inspiration for many.

Observing the U.S. president over the past four years, and the recent election, I’ve concluded that the symbolism of the statue has been seriously tarnished. By clever use of social media, Donald Trump has convinced a huge swath of the U.S. public that the nation’s electoral system, institutions, media, and political opponents have been corrupted. He has championed the idea that the media are guilty of propagating fake news, while he himself is unabashedly spreading falsehoods. And he has persuaded top Republican Party leaders and numerous influential individuals to fall in step behind him. With his many tweets and harangues, he has convinced his followers to believe the worst about their country.

Hoping for a more objective perspective, I turned to a foreign source. Writing in the November 3 Jerusalem Post, Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman observed that “trolls have provoked and inflamed discourse, and technology has made it possible to control the actions, and maybe even the minds of potential voters in America.”

Trump’s allies have demonstrated an uncanny knack for employing the internet to decimate voters’ confidence in his opponents. In one case a digital editor manipulated content to persuade viewers Joe Biden didn’t know what state he was in. In the video Biden greeted the crowd with “Hello Minnesota!” The editor changed the signs behind him from Minnesota to Tampa, Florida. This was to reinforce Trump’s depiction of Biden as “Sleepy Joe”. Before it was taken down, the video received over a million views and almost certainly planted doubt in the minds of some voters concerning Biden’s capacity to govern America.

Professor Michael Dahan of Sapir College in Israel, an astute observer of American politics says “infusing fake news into the public sphere is exactly like poisoning wells, because it affects public ability to reach conclusions on the basis of factual information.” He says further “to bypass social networks, Trump has used a sophisticated election application with a social media-like feed, full of attacks against Biden and others, without revealing who wrote the content or where it came from.” The ease of creating fake news today through digital tools compounds the challenge. Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler of the Israel Democracy Institute believes “this is a transparent attempt to keep voters within the universe of alternative facts of the Trump campaign.”

Well, now this chapter in U.S. history is almost over, even if Donald Trump cannot yet grasp that he will no longer be president. Having watched this pretty dramatic episode unfold over four years from our side of the forty ninth parallel, I’m likely not the only one experiencing a sense of unease at the delicate nature of American democracy. This is the nation many of us look to as an example of what it means to live in freedom under a government that is elected to serve the people.

How is it possible that Republican Party mandarins have endorsed, seemingly with few questions, the decisions of a leader who lied to his people, praised ruthless foreign dictators, disdained longstanding global alliances, refused to disavow white supremacists, and cast doubt on the legality of the American electoral system? Equally puzzling is the willingness of some 70 million U.S. citizens to cast their precious ballot in support of his candidacy. Is there such a deep level of discontent in America that people chose to believe Trump’s distorted version of the truth?

Prior to the election several friends, keen observers of American politics, told me if they lived in the U.S. they’d vote for Trump. Possibly I would have voted for him too, if he was less volatile, less divisive, more truthful and committed to fostering reconciliation between disputing perspectives.

I very much hope Joe Biden will be able to help Americans again have faith in their democracy. A united, optimistic America will once more give citizens of the world reason to feel inspired when they look at the Statue of Liberty.

People

Living In Difficult Times

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Uncle Jim & Aunt Betty probably didn’t have the luxury of this many trees near their home.

At this time when some people are chafing at covid-19 restrictions, I’m reminded of how people responded to the deprivations of the Great Depression. There were few opportunities for employment, and even fewer government handouts. My grandparents, Abram and Susana Funk, lived in a remote area of Manitoba. They were surrounded by their 14 offspring, all on small acreages. Having grown up on marginally productive land, the Funks had developed a robust work ethic, learned to laugh at adversity, and at times to risk just to survive.

I especially like to think of my Uncle Jim. With coal black hair and a powerful physique, he was the most audacious of an audacious bunch. I once asked his wife, my Aunt Betty, if he had requested a kiss on their first date. “Oh no!” she said, laughing with evident pleasure at the memory. “He didn’t ask. He just did it.” By the winter of 1936 they were already married, had three children, and a fourth was well on the way.

Having shared food with hungry destitute men looking for work, the supply in their root cellar had been considerably depleted. Uncle Jim knew he needed to shoot a deer. When he rose early on January 19th, the mercury had plummeted to below zero F over night and snow was falling relentlessly. He placed paper and kindling in the stove and lit the fire, then hurried out into the frigid cold to feed the dozen chickens, Dolly the milk cow, several rabbits and Ned, his faithful appaloosa mare. After milking Dolly he collected the eggs and carried in enough wood for the day. His pretty blond wife was already mixing dough to bake brown bread.

Like his five brothers, Uncle Jim was skilled with axe, saw and rifle. He had been in the woods many days in summer and fall, cutting fire wood to sell in Winnipeg. His meager income had enabled them to buy flour and other essentials, but now there was little money left in the tin coffee can kept under their bed. In spite of the cold and snow, he’d have to hunt today.

He had donned his thick grey Stanfield underwear upon rising. Now, wearing a heavy parka with a fur lined hood, his coal black moustache and deeply sun and wind browned face gave him the appearance of an Inuit hunter setting out to search for polar bears. Uncle Jim kissed Aunt Betty, who said, “it’s not a good day for hunting. Don’t take any foolish risks.”

The wind was less brisk now and the snow lighter as he and Ned set out for a meadow about an hour from home. There at the edge of a stand of poplars, he tied a canvas tarp between two trees down wind from where he expected deer. Using the tarp as shelter against the weather, he and the appaloosa settled in and waited patiently. He had just poured himself a cup of strong black coffee from a flask when two young bucks emerged cautiously from among the trees on the opposite side of the clearing. They pawed at the snow while their noses sniffed anxiously.

Uncle Jim raised his rifle slowly and fired two shots. One buck crumpled and the other fled. After gutting the deer, he hoisted it to the back of Ned, and holding the reins, set off on foot beside the horse.

The following morning, after chores and breakfast with his family, he heard a car door bang shut. Looking out a window, he realized it was Constable Monroe, the Mountie stationed in Steinbach.

He was surprised when the constable greeted him with, “Mr. Funk, we have a report that you’ve been hunting out of season. Do you have any game in your barn?” Not wanting to lie, Uncle Jim said, “I have rabbits in there.” To this the Mountie replied, “I’ll have to look.” Concerned the deer would be taken and he’d be fined, Uncle Jim said nothing.

The Constable had been in the force many years and understood the plight of these rural people who had little income. When he returned he said, “Mr. Funk, that’s a mighty big rabbit you have hanging there. I hope you and your family enjoy it.” A hint of a smile crossed his face and then he departed.

Politics

New Times, New Wars

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I don’t usually publish the writing of others. The following piece was submitted to me by Robert Billyard, a covid survivor I wrote about Aug. 23, 2020. He’s a longtime friend and an ardent campaigner for causes he deems worthy. It’s a thought provoking article. I’m including it because Robert is a valued friend. A.M.

Robert Billyard & his wife Jennifer

New Times, New Wars by Robert Billyard

Peace movements must be relevant and specific to our times.

I fail to understand why we are focusing on the world wars of the 20th century when we should be focusing on the imminent dangers of war in the 21st century.

We are presently in the second cold war. A major confrontation looms large between China and the USA. The USA holds the world hostage to its bullying confrontational militarism that is a persistent threat and blocks any hope of world peace and harmony among nations. The US ignores international law and walks away from treaties with reckless abandon. It is willing to wage endless warfare and endless bullying to achieve its stated purpose of global domination.

War in the 21st century has become more complex, more hybrid and more covert – and in too many ways easily hidden from public view, aided and abetted by a mainstream media that is both propagandist and complicit in modern warfare.

We have awarded the war mongers tremendous power and control over our lives, and they have shown tremendous guile and megalomania in maintaining this control. We allow them to kill and connive in a shadow world sequestered from public and media scrutiny.

We must also acknowledge that in modern times the immorality of war has sunken to new lows. Gone are the pious high minded resolutions born of the Nuremberg trials after WW II. Now, there is a wanton disregard for civilian casualties (“collateral damage”). War is more and more by remote control where killing becomes more indiscriminate drone warfare. There is the lingering suspicion that the Coronavirus is actually a biological warfare agent. Now war criminals walk the street and slide into comfortable retirements.

Leadership today is too often based on deceit and duplicity. Where governments have their sovereignty and mandates usurped by vested interests and the veiled power that colonize them. Deceit, duplicity and secrecy become their essential survival skills. Scandals, as exercises in incompetence, reveal for us the real workings of government.

The peace movement is endowed with the most powerful weapon there is – the truth. And it must start using this weapon effectively. It must start going after politicians who monger war and pander to it. It must go after NATO and show it for what it is -a weapons cartel and extortion ring in service to a rogue super power.

The peace movement should be in solidarity with the plight of Julian Assange for his torture and persecution is a travesty of justice and a fundamental attack on the freedom of the press. It is a further indictment of the media and journalism just how little support he has received from colleagues so willing to remain silent in this blatant attempt to silence the truth.

As the world becomes more integrated, change, trends and tyrannies jump national borders with the greatest of ease. A tyranny very obvious to the so called west is what can be termed elite betrayal. Governments in the west become more self-serving, secretive and duplicitous. True democracy becomes a luxury no longer affordable and in too many ways government’s true loyalty is to the corporate and economic elites that control them. Governments have become contemptuous of the populations they are elected to serve.

Their service to war and militarism is unconditional. We fight the empire’s wars, buy unneeded and over priced weaponry and support the endless profiteering of corporate parasitism.

When was the last time you heard a politician make a convincing pitch for peace in our times? They are all on the bandwagon of war, war and more war as they serve their warmongering masters.

The peace movement must get with the times, start naming names, being specific, relevant, forceful, and most importantly speak the truth and insist on it. In other words, the present status quo must be challenged in convincing terms.