Mar
14
Sign Sign, Everywhere a Sign …
Posted by: lmairs | March 14, 2010 | Leave a Comment
At Woodhaven there are rules. There are cautions to take note of. There are even very good reasons for the rules and the cautions. I’ll take you through this once then we can get on with the business of being here.
The NO Sign, here’s the movie on this one.
No dogs, really important. There are dog parks in town and this isn’t one of them. There is a herd of deer that frequent Woodhaven, in fact they pretty much live here and in the spring have their babies here. They cannot under any circumstances be disturbed by dogs. There are squirrels, and we know how much dogs love those critters. No dogs.
No fires, really important. Fires burn trees. Woodhaven, as you may have guessed by its name, is full of trees. The firestorm of 2003 missed us by mere feet while homes burned on the ridge above us at Crawford Estates. No fires includes no smoking. No fires.
No bicycles, really important. Bicycles go very fast, eat up the trails and frighten the wildlife. Woodhaven is a walking park that is easily accessed by people with mobility issues. It is a sanctuary of sorts and provides gentle walking trails for children and the elderly. No bicycles.
The Front Gate & Fence
There are three signs here. One dishes on hours of operation, help numbers and the like, while the other two concern animals. I’ve covered the dog angle above but the other is worthy of note and that’s the bear sign. This one you might want to pay attention to.
The bears show up just like any other critter. There is access through the canyon and down Bellevue Creek. They come for the berries and sweet grasses and wander in from surrounding orchards often leaving scat along the trails that is easily recognizable by the seeds, pits or peels of seasonal fruit as a marker. Always assume there are bears and act accordingly. Make a noise and listen for them. Be alert and watch for scat. If they see you first they will either run away or just keep doing whatever it is they’re doing. The bears are generally people shy; nevertheless always assume there are bears.
Phew! Now we can be here.
Woodhaven opens to the public April 1
Mar
7
A Braided Spiral of Time and Living Beings
Posted by: lmairs | March 7, 2010 | 2 Comments
I’ve been searching for an appropriate welcome to Woodhaven, and it seems an image and a thought might cover it.
Welcome to Woodhaven
This is just about the first thing you’ll see when you come through the gates. The Woodhaven sign got a fresh coat of paint last year but beyond that it’s been here for as long as I have and by the wear on the wood grain before it was painted, I’d have to guess that it’s seen a few winters. It hangs on a fallers stump complete with wildlife habitat and is surrounded by snowberries and Oregon Grape ubiquitous to the land here along with a gadzillion other species of flora and fauna, mammals and reptiles, and insects and birds.
This is the sign post that leads you onto 22 of the loveliest acres I’ve ever had the pleasure of living on. You see, Woodhaven is land that sets itself apart by its mere presence, it need do nothing.
In Okanagan, the word for land is tmxwulaxw. This word is an amalgam of “time/living beings/here (this exact place)/ and a word for braided/spiralling or one thing that can be seen as many things, like a braid.” Nancy Holmes, who brought this word to me from her indigenous studies class, pulls it together like this, “this very place in its braided spiral of time and living beings.” This describes the land of Woodhaven.
And here is the thought I would offer as a welcome.
That when you come, that you are here, in this place, and no other. That you come and taste the air fresh and new, smell the dirt and the flowers in spring and whiff the mustiness of fall while singing into the dry hillside just to hear it to echo back. Come to be silent and contemplative or cry out loud into the forest. Whatever you come for and however you get here, when you are here, be here and no where else.
Woodhaven opens to the public April 1
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