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The Tree Graveyard
Recently, my wife and I drove from Vancouver up into the Kootney area of British Columbia to visit our daughter. She lives in a small town in the Columbia Valley which is itself in the Kootenays, in the foothills of the incredible Rocky Mountains. The weather the previous few months had been wet and mild and as a result, the countryside was lush and green, the meadows carpeted with beautiful displays of wildflowers of every color and shade.
Anyone who has visited this part of the west coast of North America is familiar with the miles and miles of forest that stretch from the coast to the rivers valleys and halfway up the slopes of the mountains that are snow-capped for a good part of the year. Driving from the coast to the Columbia Valley involves a drive of around 10 to11 hours including stops and is for the most part through mile upon mile of beautiful forests showing little signs of habitation but many signs of human activity in the manner of the scars of logging roads and clearcut electric transmission towers right-of-ways.
However, when driving through this part of the world with its great forests, it is hard to believe we are living in an over-crowded world with poverty and violence so prevalent in many…
