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Saturday, March 23, 2013

Wild woman of the garden challenges us

Okanagan Valley
via internet search
Did I ever tell you about Sherry Blue Sky? She's a member of the online writers' group Imaginary Garden with Real Toads (my favorite online place) and now lives on Vancouver Island (my favorite place in the world).
Sherry and I were born in the same year, and were schoolgirls at the same time and in the same BC town. We swam in the same lake, on the same beaches, at the same Aquatic club, hiked the same hills, and probably sneaked into the same orchards for forbidden fruit.
True.
We even worked for the same small daily paper at different times, but we never met because we had attended different schools.
Island map via internet search
Now Sherry is one of my favorite online friends I've never met. Having moved to the wild west coast of The Island (as we British Columbians call Vancouver Island) and lived with its crashing waves and wild salt smell, and having raised and lived with a wolf-dog for many years, Sherry feels a closeness with nature that I never reached, despite all my hiking and biking.
I moved to the coast, too, but to the "inside" coast, where the waves are subdued by The Island first and then by all the inner islands, reaching the mainland still smelling of ocean, but mixed with the smell of civilization, into the depths of which I commuted each day for work.
So, Sherry hopes that each of us can reach deep down into the primal areas of our souls to bring forth the wildness that still lurks there, despite the patina of the civilized world. This is her challenge to us at the Imaginary Garden this weekend.
Now, Sherry, from the days of our mutual but unshared youth, this song's for you.



Okanagan Valley
via internet search
on a whim we would ride
to the base of a hill
and race each other
on foot
to the top,
then back on our bikes
for one or more hikes
until all our mothers
called stop!
we had free reign
in golden summers
to hike
Okanagan Valley
via internet search
to ride
to swim
to hide
to lie beside
the lake and burn
our faces red.
dangers then
were sunburn
and rattlesnakes
(which we
 couldn't find)
or falls off a bike
or a hill.
moms didn't fret
they didn't know yet
that some day
grandchildren
would face
dangers which they
never thought of
a day
when "wild"
meant something else entirely




23 comments:

Sherry Blue Sky said...

Oh my Goddess, Kay, you took me right back to the early sixties...we were such babes in the wood, no?......that was SO how I danced, I had forgotten about these songs.........oh more innocent times. I miss the feeling of life then. Oooooh, how I used to love to dance back in The Day.I so loved this post, kiddo. CompLETEly!

Kerry O'Connor said...

I hope that you and Sherry will meet up one day, and drink some Himalayan tea together. I'm on the other side of the world, but you're so close by (relatively speaking).
She is a wild woman who inspires, that's for sure. I love your tribute to the youthful wild women we all once were.

Maude Lynn said...

This is so true! And, it has a great flow.

Friko said...

Exactly!
That’s how we grew up and how happy we were. We didn’t know that there was danger of drowning, falling, grazing knees, etc.

Is Vancouver Island too big for one of yo to travel from one side to the other? You re forever travelling the world, Kay, but not the other side of your island?

Susan said...

Parallel lives roar forth in this, my dear! It is a gift you have.

Scarlet said...

I think someday, I should meet up with you and Sherry ~ Those were some carefree days, Kay, wild in a different way ~ Enjoyed the music links too ~

Kay L. Davies said...

@ Friko — I keep threatening to get myself over to The Island. It's a little farther away now that I live in eastern Alberta (across two provinces, then over to The Island) but I'll get there one of these days.

@ Grace — Sure, come with me. We'll have Sherry show us the west coast of The Island, which I've never seen.

Unknown said...

Talk about " " degrees of separation!
Does fate point to a meeting of these poets of Canada's West? Hope so from this Ontario poet! :)

Lorna Cahall said...

Loved learning about the background. Your "island" is a wonderful place: hope to get back there one day.

Gemma Wiseman said...

The closest I have been to Vancouver Island was on my one fleeting visit to Saskatchewan in Autumn and then on to Drumheller in Alberta. I too loved those dancing days, but being a rather shy spirit, tended to wait till the dance floor was squished with feet before I ventured out! A great post!

hedgewitch said...

Thanks for painting your wild times, and sharing some of your joint history, Kay. B.C. is somewhere I have always wanted to go but probably never will--the Buchart Gardens, in particular. Thanks for rocking my day with a little Jerry Lee, too.

Ella said...

I love your poem Kay! You and Sherry are sisters, we all are~
I love that you both have shared and walked in similiar footprints...this was beautiful on so many levels!

I can't wait for you two to meet :D

LLM Calling said...

When wild meant something more pure and enticing

Marian said...

hi Kay, somehow i didn't realize that you are Sherry are connected so... though it is not surprising, even though it is, you know? i love the image of kids on bikes, freedom and wildness, hey that no longer exists, for us or for today's children. sad.
i'm so glad you're here. i always love reading your posts. thank you for you.

Unknown said...

Amazing story about you and Sherry! As I'm raising kids now, I wish it was still those easy days!

Helen said...

Kay,
Your poem makes me want to cross over my mountain ... spend more time on the coasts of Washington and Oregon!
Wild has gone through so many transitions since we (yes, me too) were kids. I also fret over my grandchildren .. knowing full well what wild means today.

SquirrelQueen said...

I love Vancouver Island but I've only been a couple of times. I would really like to spend more time exploring it. Wild One brings back memories of childhood days when I was a little more on the wild side. I hope the two of you get to meet sometime soon.

Unknown said...

You had so much fun, you free, wild child!

Anonymous said...

Kay, I had no idea you shared so much with Sherry and had never met! Roger Green and I also grew up in the same hometown, but in different schools, etc.

First of all, man, I remember Bobby Rydell and loved him almost as much as that stinker Jerry Lee Lewis (piano men always got more attention from me!).

Your poem slipped down the page like spilt syrup and was just as sweet a read. Makes me wish even more I lived in Canada. I mean, Wisconsin has made me immune to harsh weather, so what the heck?

Great post, you. Amy

Hannah said...

Oh, Kay!! How cool about Sherry and you!? And that you should meet here in the garden more than just coincidence... meant to be I think Amazing.

I love the glimpse and style in which you deliver your thoughts to us!!

Thank you!

Jenn Jilks said...

Isn't that lovely?!
I'm happy you found a friend who understood what you had done and been!

Kay said...

Gracious! Bobby Rydell? I remember him. I think we all had a crush on him when I was in high school.

Other Mary said...

How cool that you and Sherry were so close geographically, and finally got to know each other and become friends. I love your description of the innocent wild days of childhood. This is a sweet one Kay!