Women’s Rights March - Victoria, BC

I’ll be honest. I was not going to go to the March for Women today.  I’ve never been to a march. I’ve never had any desire to attend any march. Today was different. Today, I wanted - no, needed - to see and feel this march. As I walked downtown, I expected to see women and men streaming to Centennial Square. But there didn’t seem to be much action. And then I saw them. Pink placards - Rights for Women! And pink hats - ‘pussy’ hats, and just ordinary - but pink or purple - winter hats.

There were, apparently, about 4000 people gathered with some peering from the tops of buildings. This march was organized by five different groups, spearheaded by the Raging Grannies. There was music by local musicians and, in chorus, many of us sang along. Speakers included Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party, Carole James, MLA for the Victoria-Beacon Hill electoral district and Lisa Helps, Mayor of Victoria.

I could see the hundreds of people around me, but the crowd spilled down Douglas Street to Pandora a distance of several blocks. When the march began, we edged slowly out onto the street, filling it, blocking traffic on the cross streets as we wound down to Store Street and back to Centennial Square. Workers and staff coming out of their places of employment clapped and cheered as we passed.

I'm uncomfortable in crowds, especially big noisy crowds. This big noisy crowd did not scare me. The big noisy crowd told me that women, men and children in Victoria, as everyone south of the border and around the world, are paying attention. Paying attention to the threat to not just women’s rights, but to human rights, from the new leadership in the United States. People willing to stand up for their principles and to the source of these threats. Another disclaimer - I have not been clear about how a march will provide the resistance needed for change, however today I saw a critical mass of power. Visible and tangible. The power of citizenry that translates into votes and continued challenge to those who believe they hold all the power.

“I raise up my voice - not so I can shout but so that those without a voice 

can be heard…we cannot succeed when half of us are held back.”

~ Malala Yousafzai

Author's note: Edited February 03, 2024

On the Train

On the Train  

Lining the rail corridor, pines nodded their white caps in respect as our passenger train climbed a gentle incline. Aroma of fresh coffee made me smile. A newcomer to train travel, I was enthralled with the steady rocking of the car. My breakfast was served with professional aplomb. White napkins, stylish dinner wear and silver cutlery. Passengers chatted quietly in the early morning. Breaking through the conversations, a cheerful voice over the speaker had heads up and not a few worried frowns. A blizzard was forecast for later in the morning. Looking out my frosted window, I watched as the wind chased loose fine snow alongside the train. The beautiful landscape was blurred at the edges. Only shredded strips of gilded orange sky were visible in the building clouds. My joy of this first train ride in such a beautiful snowscape was juxtaposed with the principles of safety - principles I hadn’t thought of when buying my tickets. I relaxed when our porters brought to our tables the safety protocols to follow should the blizzard warnings hold true. I opened my leather bound journal, uncapped my pen and began to describe the story of my train trip.

“We all wind up drawn to waht we’re afraid of, drawn 

to try to find a way to make ourselves safe from a thing

 by crawling inside of it, by loving it, by becoming it.”

~ Holly Black, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

Springtime Silence

Sunlight filtered through tall drying old growth pines, dust motes defining it’s golden rays. There should have been sound on this beautiful spring day. The scratch and chitter of squirrels and chipmunks busily gathering and scampering.  Rat-a-tat-tat of woodpeckers echoing on high. Robins and wrens scouting the territory. Nesting should have begun. Weathered signage along cedar chip trails waited silently to direct absent guests deep along paths lined with ferns and overgrowth. The principle of any national park is to provide sanctuary for wildlife, for citizenry and yet there was only silence this day. 

“Only within the moment of time represented 

by the present century has one species -- man -- acquired 

significant power to alter the nature of the world.”

~ Rachel Carson, Silent Spring