I can’t help but ask myself, and others, as we move through this world pandemic, how will things be when we reach the other side?
For the most part, COVID-19 has been a virus that is most lethal to those that are elderly and those people with underlying, major health conditions. It is also a virus that has taken the lives of many that are on the frontlines of healthcare and exposed to the virus daily in larger quantities. Many that have recovered from it are living with long-line symptoms afterwards or with compromised organs post-recovery. Some people [could] possibly [be affected] for the rest of their lives.
Here in Canada, had our governments not swiftly reacted to prop up businesses and society financially, the virus would have killed many small businesses within a month or two, and many people would be without a roof overhead and food on their table. It would have forced people into retraction where they would either have been sheltering with family or friends not yet impacted economically nor from a health point of view.
People eventually would have had to move out of their apartments or homes if they defaulted on rent or mortgages as landlords and banks closed in and forced them out. The winners would be few and the losers would be many!
The one clear winner so far during COVID-19 has been the environment, for we have quickly seen how a city filled with smog can clear and how manufacturing and consumption levels change when we are all in semi- or full-time quarantine.
It’s not a life that any of us have enjoyed, as it has caused equal mental illness and stress to a point that we have questioned which is worse—to risk getting the virus or to become mentally ill from the effects of isolation and stress related to avoiding contact with others, which is a natural part of our human makeup. Those that are happy hermits and content loners would be the exception.
The United States of America will soon have an election that may well determine the future of that country for many years to come and by close geographical association and economic relationship, possibly even that of Canada and Mexico.
While we are currently in a health crisis with COVID-19, we are also in an environmental crisis that has been ongoing, really, since the Industrial Revolution, as populations increased, standards of living went up the world over, women joined the workforce and Earth’s resources were consumed.
A few U.S. federal elections ago, a man named Al Gore was running for president and willing to channel us into a new frontier and way of life, but the U.S. chose differently. Gore carried on to produce a documentary film called An Inconvenient Truth that clearly explained to society the consequences of our ways if we did not change immediately. So time passed on and things got worse and many are now at the mercy of nature’s wrath.
For the past four years, the United States of America has also fallen into a nightmare of leadership and a state of denial that leads me to believe there are many that have lost their minds, and their way, south of the border. One thing is clear in 2020: The last chance at changing course to a possible brighter future is this election, be it here in British Columbia in October where far too many people are also in a state of denial regarding our own environmental needs, or in November south of the border in the U.S.A. where there is a big house on fire and a crazy man at the helm running for the president’s office once again.
Trying to reimagine our various global societies in an ideal way is a daunting task when you consider the environment is what ultimately sustains us all. Kill the environment and we kill ourselves. Moving from our current structure of society into a new era and way of living more in harmony with nature and our environment will take leadership far beyond one city, province, state or country if only because we share the atmosphere that all life depends upon.
We could be good as gold here in Canada and do everything just right for the environment in the future, but if other countries with large populations carry on as we all have over the past 100 years, we are largely doomed to burn up in the years ahead before 2100.
Being the new leader of B.C.’s Green Party, I wish Sonia Furstenau well in creating that vision for us, as it needs to start somewhere and grow at lightspeed!
I feel that the Green influence in government across municipal, provincial and federal levels needs to vastly increase as it does across the globe in all levels of government. For people with children, for those in their 20s just starting out in life and for those well positioned financially, there is no reason that could justify not voting Green at this point in human history, for the youth of the world are counting on it and so is Planet Earth, which each and everyone of us depends upon for survival and our own health and well-being.
With our 2020-21 winter and ski season approaching, those who are fortunate enough to be up in Whistler skiing and enjoying Mother Nature’s gift of icing sugar, please keep in mind that it is only because she has not yet reached the point of no return.
Brian Wolfgang Becker // North Vancouver
Fungus festival thanks
The Whistler Naturalists would like to thank everyone who was part of our 18th annual Fungus Among Us Mushroom Festival.
For our virtual event this year, we held our first-ever Fantastic Fungi Photo Contest. Thanks to Joern Rohde and Andy Dittrich for judging the contest; we definitely needed pros to help choose winners from all the fabulous entries.
Congratulations to winners in each category: Captivating Colour, Kali Talmon-Longden; Weird and Wonderful, Kate Siegel; Already Occupied, Monica Petrich; Mushrooms Magnified, Liz Barrett; and Fungal Fun, Johanna Aldred. These photos and other entries can be viewed on our website (as well as on page 49 of this edition of Pique).
We’d also like to thank our presenters who were part of Talks with Gurus on Friday: Veronica Woodruff for sharing An Enthusiasts Guide to Mushroom Picking; Bryce Kendrick for opening our eyes to the Marvellous Microscopic World of Spores; and Andy MacKinnon and Paul Kroger for their presentation on A Natural and Cultural History of Magic Mushrooms in B.C.
Chef Bruce Worden did an amazing job of presenting Cooking and Preserving Wild Mushrooms. If only we could convey the smell of the wonderful dishes he was preparing! His recipes are available to download on our website. If you missed either the talks or cooking demo, recordings will be available for a limited amount of time on our website.
For the local schools, in addition to limited in-person presentations with our gurus, we put together a scavenger hunt activity and accompanying video. After all, knowing the proper name of a mushroom isn’t as important as finding something interesting about it just by looking at it! The activity sheet and video are available on our website for anyone else who would like to check them out.
On the science side of things, we are grateful to the gurus who made it up for a smaller and unfortunately non-public version of fungal forays. There will definitely be new finds from our forays to add to our list of over 900 species—check the Whistler Naturalists’ website in the next month for the updated list.
Finally, the Whistler Naturalists would also like to thank our key sponsors: The Whistler Community Foundation, AWARE and the Resort Municipality of Whistler. Thanks also to Nesters Market, Legends Creekside, Whistler Bike Co., Milestones, Armchair Books and the Whistler Biodiversity Project.
See you next year, as always, the weekend after Thanksgiving.
Kristina Swerhun and Bob Brett // On behalf of the Whistler Naturalists
Let’s try unity for a change
I think Max is incorrect. “The majority of us will ... wind up with the government we deserve and desire.” (“Promises, promises …,” Pique, Oct. 15.) The majority of us desire to be divided, whether politically, economically, religiously or any other ways we can think of, so we will wind up with a divided government, which is what we deserve.
The lead in the CBC newsfeed today was the threat of an imminent federal election caused by the four opposition parties insisting on creating an anti-corruption committee so the Liberals can’t hide what the others think is the “WE scandal.”
I can’t wait to hear the five leaders stand on a stage and complain about the politics of division.
[B.C. NDP Premier] John Horgan is also incorrect but he is not alone. Even the TD Bank commercial promises it will help us “move forward.” More than 2,600 years ago, Aesop noted, “Divided we fall.” Now, 2,600 years later, humanity still can’t accept fact that, because we are divided, we are moving downward!
The most often cited defence of democracy is a Winston Churchill quote: “Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others.”
That is only because we haven’t yet replaced democratic division with unity. Aesop also noted, “united we stand.”
We should try unity sometime soon. It is the only way upward.
Doug Barr // Whistler
Hello, Vail Resorts folks?
I called [Vail Resorts at their] 970 area code number yesterday, was put on hold, waited for over 20 minutes on their season-pass call centre line, and gave up!
I live in Pemberton, B.C., very close to Whistler.
I hope that I’m not getting charged for that phone call.
Couldn’t [Vail Resorts] just decentralize [its] season-pass offices from Colorado and have one in Whistler?
We (us Canadians) would be able to get our pass a lot more efficiently, and heck, I would even drive to the mountain and get my pass from guest services in person with a photo to boot.
In the email Vail Resorts sent me it says, “Action is required.” Almost sounding urgent. Well, I’m not getting much action out of my phone call to Vail Resorts’ guest services but elevator music.
Wayne Binmore // Pemberton
Soup was on!
Myrtle Philip Community School’s Harvest Soup event looked a little different than in previous years due to our added safety protocols with COVID-19.
While we missed celebrating around a long table, the students and teachers loved enjoying the soup in their individual classrooms. From harvesting the veggie gardens to serving the soup, it was a huge success.
It is always a fun learning experience for the students and helps keep them connected to where their food comes from. From seed to harvest to table, the kids love it. It never gets old seeing the excitement of elevated voices and smiles from the children with the pulling carrots and potatoes.
I would like to give a big thank you to Marnie Melsted of Whistler Food Co. and Whistler Athletes’ Centre Lodge for use of their commercial kitchen where we did all our food prep. This could not have happened without you. As always, this is a group effort so thank you so much to our volunteers.
Marcia Meszaros // On behalf of the Harvest Soup event
Frustrated with Vail Resorts
For months, we had hoped to get a response to the telephone calls I made to Whistler Blackcomb Guest Services regarding Edge Card credits.
At one point, a manager gave me his direct line, said he was busy with opening the bike park in June and would call me back. I spoke to him two more times, each time he said he would call back but he never did.
On Sept. 11, in a last-ditch effort, I called again to guest services, but the response was a telephone loop, which said: Agents working hard/pass credit extended. It repeated twice, wished me a great day and hung up.
Hoping this was a fluke, I called back three more times, same loop, twice, and then a disconnect.
We purchased Edge Cards for 2019-20 season and they were unused—we lost 20 per cent? The borders are closed and probably will be for many more months. Exactly how can we use our credit?
I understand that this is difficult for Vail Resorts as well; hence we don’t expect a refund. Transferring the credit to next season or transferring a credit to someone else, or any solution to not lose $1,620 would be acceptable.
Even if the Canadian border opens in January or February, it will be too late to plan a family trip for us.
Pique letter-writer Ian Quek [on Sept. 3] said it well: “Their disgraceful business practices gives them a deservedly bad name.”
Sacha Van Tuijn and Daan Bormans // Holland
Take action
Today (Oct. 15), I was so proud of [NDP] Premier John Horgan when he finally owned up to his white privilege and offered his sincerest apologies for it.
I will look forward to his immediately stepping aside from his current position in favour of a suitably racialized individual to atone for the unfair advantages from which he has benefitted as a result.
This would be an example of affirmative action at its best!
Jeffrey Green // Whistler
