Editorial
Volume 12 Issue 3—September/October 2006
by Melva Armstrong

What an incredible summer! It is one of the longest and warmest I can remember. There has been lots of sunshine and lots of heat so I trust that folks here will feel blessed and will have no need to be grumpy about having a "too short" summer, as often is the case. So kudos to Mother Nature for giving us such gorgeous weather. It sure seems to have lifted the spirits of the folks around me and my own, as well.

My walks through the park, then down the hill, and along the path on the riverbank have continued to be grounding and inspiring, and over the last two months I have marvelled at the rapid regeneration of some of the wild bushes, trees, flowers, and plants after the Meewasin staff mowed them down with large tractor-mowers and, in some cases, drove over them with big trucks dumping top soil and wood chips on portions they had rototilled. One of the little hills I walk over had all the lovely green and purple-flowered shrubs cut and trampled down so it was brown, barren, and bald-looking. I was very sad and felt like crying when I first saw it. Then amazingly, with the abundant sunshine, some rain, and growing time, the green has begun to come back and flourish on that little hill and with that I was reminded how mighty and powerful is the will of Mother Nature—humankind can knock her down but she always bounces back. What a great lesson for all of us!

When I was internet searching for some images for this issue I came across the website of a small family-run organic farm in California and after communicating with them they agreed to let us use a photo of their daughter holding some turnips for our front cover. I think it is a charmingly expressive photo that captures the joys a young child must have when growing up in a farming environment where the parents and other adults around them believe in growing and distributing nutritious and healthy organic food. I wish and pray daily that more people on our planet will understand the extreme importance of keeping our food sources natural and safe from contamination, pollutants, pesticides, genetic manipulation, and all other manner of destruction. Therefore I believe each and every one of us needs to take some responsibility for ensuring that our food sources are protected and safe. This may be done in many different ways, so I encourage everyone who reads this to be mindful of how they are living on the planet and to make sure we are all keeping it the way Mother Nature intended it to be—natural. This way we can all live long lives that are truly healthy.

One way you can learn about the importance of good food is to read Paulette Millis's regular nutritional columns. Each one of them is extremely well researched and complete with many of her own tasty recipes. In this issue her article focuses on, Turnips or Rutabagas? (p. 8) These vegetables are similar yet very different, even coming from two different food families. She says that "although these are still uncommonly used vegetables, their great nutrition, easy preparation, and versatility make them superfood just waiting to become regular additions to your menu plans."

Something that everyone experiences in life is pain of some sort, be it physical, mental, spiritual, or emotional. According to anita chakravarti, MD, in her article, Integrative Pain Medicine (p. 16), one of the most rapidly expanding fields of health care is the management of pain because it has become so extremely prevalent. Because of this, she says, "One of the greatest philosophical changes in Medicine is that pain is now considered a separate disease entity." The good news is that dr. chakravarti believes and teaches "that Integrative Pain Medicine allows us to integrate not only conventional and Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), but also to integrate body, mind, and spirit; to integrate Eastern and Western healing traditions; to integrate the art and science of medicine—to integrate technology with the healing that comes from holding someone's hand with love, compassion, and positive intention." Finally we are bringing the best of all medicines together here in our province! Hallelujah!

And there's more!—Check out the inspiring and uplifting articles from Bruce Elkin, Andrea Niemerg, Deborah Kenney, Allyson Enns, Verona Thibault, and Donald Sutherland. Read them all, they are awesome! Thanks to everyone for another wonderful issue! Keep well!

I wish you all sparkling days filled with love, laughter, hugs, and happiness!

Namaste!
(I honour the Spirit in you!)