Lorna McIlroy | President , ARTA

“ Watch any plant or animal and let it teach you acceptance of what is , surrender to the Now . Let it teach you Being . Let it teach you integrity — which means to be one , to be yourself , to be real . Let it teach you how to live and how to die , and how not to make living and dying into a problem .”

— Eckhart Tolle

Clop , clop , clop ! My old plow horse , Baldy , plodded the mile and a half to my one-room school , ready for a day in the school barn , confident that my school bag carried oats for him as well as my own lunch . I was almost six years old and gripping those reins , I was as proud as any sixteen-year-old with a freshly minted driver ’ s licence . Baldy was my transportation and my confidant as I recounted my daily tribulations .

Our homestead was alive with animals . Almost every vintage photo shows my brothers and me clutching cats , dogs , lambs , goat kids , chicks , goslings , ducklings , or piglets . From an early age , we were there for the hatchings , the birthings , and even the dying . I was the one who was given runt piglets , lame poultry , or orphaned calves to nurse back to health . It was not unusual for me to have a clumsy pen behind the woodburning cookstove for convalescent animal babies requiring round-the-clock care .

My gentle father did not hunt , so the deer and moose were a constant source of wonderment to us , along with numerous bears , coyotes , rabbits , groundhogs , beavers , muskrats , weasels , squirrels , chipmunks , partridges , and prairie chickens . We captured baby magpies and tried to teach them to

talk but had a healthy respect for the other animals .

Years later , my Grade 1 classroom was alive with animals , most of which were adoptees or donations . Students came early and stayed late to cuddle rabbits , guinea pigs , and gerbils . Fish and turtles were fed . Students would beg for silence while working in hopes of hearing the quiet munching of our red wriggler worms as they ate apple cores and other lunch scraps in their vermiculture tub .

As a gardener , I have great respect for the multitudes of insects , birds , and animals that live in our soil and on our plants . Unfortunately , when we kill insect pests , we might also kill the animals , birds , and insects that are their natural predators . Therefore , I resist the use of poisonous pesticides and herbicides that have the potential to harm them .

Throughout the years , I was always a cat owner . I admired their independent spirit and mysterious demeanour and felt that we were a perfect match . Then , arriving home one day , as I opened my car door , a frightened chihuahua leapt into my car and into my heart to escape his barking assailants . When I was unable to locate his owners , I became a dog person . Two dogs later , I now willingly serve as a seeing eye person to my aging , visually impaired , adopted miniature poodle . It is just one more life lesson learned . news & views WINTER 2020 | 5