One of the world's heroes

Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE

I said yesterday I would tell you why my husband and I went to Calgary. Here is the reason...yes...to meet Dr. Jane Goodall and to listen to her talk to a crowd of thousands in the Jubilee Auditorium.

We fell in love with her.

Having admired her for so many years, we both expected to enjoy her talk, but we were completely blown away.

How many 81-year-olds could bring so many people to their feet, applauding, laughing, and crying at once?

Meeting a woman who has long been a heroine to both of us.

Hugging Icelandic horses on a farm northwest of Calgary, as I told you about yesterday, was a bonus. The real thrill of the week was meeting Dr. Jane.

Now my husband Dick (Richard Schear) and I are contemplating ways in which we can join in the amazing work this wonderful woman is doing.

You see, it's not just studying chimpanzees any more. Dr. Jane is now an activist rather than a scientist. She established the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977,  and since then she has been actively working to save the planet, one child, one school, one town, one city at a time. Calgary, Alberta, has been completely won over. The mayor of Calgary, Naheed Nenshi, calls her one of the world's heroes.
Her Roots and Shoots program is active in Calgary schools and the children who participate are already making a difference to their world.

We both came away inspired, each with a copy of her latest book 50 Years at Gombe, with its fabulous National Geographic cover shot of a young Jane grooming a chimpanzee (i.e. looking for bugs) while the nonchalant chimp munches on bananas.
Thanks to Vets to Go for producing a wonderful evening and for bringing one of the world's heroes to Alberta.

Communicating with one of her chimps in Gombe

Better late than...I don't know what

It's now almost three months since I posted anything to my blog.
I can't really call myself a blogger any more, can I?

Well, to help remedy the situation, here are some photos my husband, Richard Schear, took during our recent trip to Calgary and beyond.

These are from the Wild Rose Icelandics horse farm, owned by our new friends Danielle and Kyle.

Danielle and I share a laugh.

My history with horses

I grew up in British Columbia, in what was then a small city surrounded by farms and orchards. I had plenty of opportunities to ride horses, and I did try, more than once, but the horses would always know I was afraid, so they would all toss me off. Very scary stuff, that.

I retained my fear of horses into adulthood, and into my old age, until last year when we visited Iceland and I met a herd of Icelandic horses. All they wanted was for me to hug them, and cuddle them, and sweet talk them. I was in love.

This week I was able to hug Icelandic horses again, and it was just as wonderful. We've been invited back, and I will certainly make sure we go.

Meanwhile, the photos...

This is Aurora.

This is Aurora's trick.
A finger held horizontally, then raised up in front of her nose, always produces this reaction.
Needless to say, I thought it was great fun, and had her do her trick again and again.

Next:

Coming soon to a blog near you: the reason we went to Calgary.