February 10, 2015

Digital Storytelling Contest

Guestbook Burmis Tree Crowsnest pass - The Burmis Tree

Every year when I was younger, I would go with my two younger sisters, my step mom and my dad to visit my grandparents in the mountains. Each summer we would go, we would pass the Burmis tree. I have always felt connected to this tree for so many reasons I feel no one understands. I'm not the smartest or the most popular person but when I see that tree standing after so many years, and so many storms, all the times I've been bullied or been hard on myself fade away. I feel a sense of serenity and belonging when I'm in that place. When we pull around the corner to enter Crowsnest Pass I always make my dad stop on the side of the busy highway just so I can get out to take and picture of the tree and have that alone time. Its the only place in the world that makes me feel the way I do. It reminds me that in this world you can have so many troubles in your life and still make it, no matter how grueling and unyielding they are. That tree has been through so much, hundreds of thousands of people have seen that tree, taken pictures with that tree, have stood on and felt the soft smooth bark of what remains on that tree. How many floods, fires, storms, historical moments -- and it still stands today. This tree inspires me to keep going even when things get hard and I feel like giving up. When my grandmother passed away may 2013, I felt my whole world crash down. On our way home from the funeral, as we drove past the Burmis tree I looked out the window and smiled for the first time that weekend because I had realized that even though grandma was gone the world still will remember her, like everyone passing that tree will still remember it. The Burmis tree has helped me shape my own identity by giving me hope that no matter what happens I will be strong enough to get over it and move on with my life, despite the hardships and bullies I may come across in life. I feel so connected with canada whenever I visit that tree. I think about all the past cultures and tribes that have come across this tree after seven hundred years and think what they must have thought of the Burmis tree when they crossed paths with it. Its astounding how many feelings and thoughts I get when I visit this monumental tree here in Canada. It makes me even more thankful to be a Canadian.

February 9, 2015

Old Strathcona Farmers' Market

Guestbook Farmers market

I love that markets it's so nice to see the community helping eachother with personal needs and wants. With fresh fruits and homemade remedies.