owls look in pools and see mountains

I grew up and lived for many years in the Canadian Rockies: publishing books, raising children, photographing mountains and wildflowers. I also work with the amazing photographs of my rather famous grandfather, Byron Harmon. Now I live on the Sunshine Coast, by a pond visited by friends, family, and wildlife.

then & now

• First I crawled through the grass looking for wildflowers—then I photographed them.

• First I roamed through the woods with coyotes, deer and bear—now I write about them.

• First I followed my terrifying aunt up trails, listened to her scold people for violations of nature, (as she saw it). Now I brim with my own realizations about the environment: things I’ve learned, things I surmise.

  

  Carole the mouse.

When I was five I was the youngest actress in Mrs. Greenham’s Merry-Go-Round Theatre in Banff, in the Canadian Rockies, (the first children’s theatre in Canada). I was cast as a mouse in the Pied Piper of Hamelin. (yeah, I’m an older broad)

Margaret Greenham was a woman who understood community. How to create a role for every child. How to leave no-one out. She produced and directed a play every year, regular as clockwork, until the year she died, (when I was thirteen). Our Dads built and painted the sets. Mr. Ness did the lighting. Our Moms sewed costumes and my Mom did publicity.

Margaret Greenham, courtesy Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies

Mrs. Greenham’s friend, sculptor Margaret Hayes, built props. Each spring she spread the forest scrims in Mrs. Greenham’s front yard to be painted.

The whole town turned out for the show in Banff Avenue Auditorium.

I was worried about getting my dress dirty as I crawled over the stage in rehearsals. Now I’m ready to get dirt on my skirt. Mrs. Greenham continues to be a force in my life.

an outdoor production (before my time), courtesy of Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies

subscriptions

I have no intention of charging for subscriptions. I applaud those who are able to support their artistic work in this way. For myself, it’s all about bums in seats. The more the merrier. It takes a lot of bums, (and voices) to build a community. It takes a lot of communities to transform a world.

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