1 July 2026 – It starts with moss. No. It starts with my desire — fresh from travels that have grounded me (literally) in realities of maritime and eastern Canada — now to ground myself once again in my temperate rainforest home.
I decide to visit the Camosun Bog, once again to spend time “listening to the moss.” Influenced by Gathering Moss (author, Robin Wall Kimmerer), I did this once before, and described it to you in my post of 3 February 2026.
Approaching the Bog, about to walk under that leafy arch and turn that pathway corner…
I know that, this time, it will be different. The February visit was at the height of winter rain; this July visit is full summer.
Now, the bog itself is dry…
and the mosses at the muddy edge …
are citrus green, not emerald.
Beyond, where moss beds mingle with bog plants, patches of moss are fast bleaching…
to the ghostly pallor of mid-summer.
“It is seasonal,” murmurs the moss. “Seasonal cycle, seasonal change.”
All around, all nature demonstrates that truth. As mosses step back, others step forward. Growth tips on the evergreens…
and riots of wildflowers along the paths — yellow…
purple…
and blue.
I sit on a bench, and let my mind drift with the pulse of change.
Drift past seasonal change to the open-ended, larger truth enunciated by Zen Buddhist monk Shunryu Suzuki: “Everything changes.”
Then, perhaps inevitably — this being Canada Day and I so recently immersed in so many components of this magnificent, fractious, generous, squabbling, exasperating, beloved country of mine — I let my mind drift into the possibilities of change in Canada.
Not just the risks. The possibilities.
What if?
Though constitutionally this country is a federation, we have confederation at our core — Canadian Confederation was “the process of federal union in which the British North American colonies of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the Province of Canada [both Upper and Lower] joined together to form the Dominion of Canada.” (The Canadian Encyclopedia)
Our self-image is a mosaic, not (cf that country to the south) a melting pot. We live this image through our evolving concept of multiculturalism, which currently has the support of 66% of Canadians, a support base that even includes people who’d like to see less new immigration (Canadian Diversity Study 2026, the Environics Institute and Global Migration Institute, Toronto Metropolitan University).
What if we were to look for new ways to embrace these multiplicities? Ways that, instead of shredding us into isolated fragments, could strengthen the whole as a supple, breathing organism?
Celebrations around me, as I head for home, both public and back-yard private.
What if?
WALKING WOMAN 
restlessjo
/ 1 July 2026It’s good to celebrate a nation and, in my experience, Canadians are very proud of theirs xx
icelandpenny
/ 2 July 2026Thanks for your observation — interesting to learn this, from someone in a position to notice the trend. Tricky balance, isn’t it? Celebrate, without smugness; recognize defects, without therefore condemning everything. Certainly the constant threats & predatory intentions from south of the border are an incentive to sort outselves out.
restlessjo
/ 2 July 2026Nowhere’s perfect but Canada doesn’t seem to be doing a bad job. Heart in the right place xx
Lynette d'Arty-Cross
/ 2 July 2026It’s a good thing to ponder the “what if.” In common with so many, I worry about what DS has not only started but actively promoted in Alberta and of course the constitutionality issues around non-consultation with First Nations is appalling. Then there’s PP in Québec trying to get the bullpen organised. So many negative possibilities. Then there are the positives. A national realignment that embodies the Carney mantra of “defend ourselves, feed ourselves, fuel ourselves?” The notion of standing on our own two feet and as a fully mature country, finally, finally taking responsibility for ourselves? There’s much to consider. But having lived in two other countries, I know this: that here’s where I want to be, part of, as you so accurately say, “this magnificent, fractious, generous, squabbling, exasperating, beloved country of mine.”
icelandpenny
/ 2 July 2026I share all your fears. This post was my deliberate attempt to force myself to think from another angle, to recognize that change is inevitable in life and that instead of being paralyzed, or tryng to make things stay the same, we might look for ways to quell the panic/resentment reaction and instead look for the possibilities. I’m not suggesting we turn Canada into an equivalent of the European Union, but… we do need to recognize how much we are indeed a mosaic of disparate elements , not a homogenous melting-pot, and keep figuring out how to structure that reality for everyone’s advantage. I was heartened to discover that Environics report: a 66% positive rating is solid, esp. when as the report noted it includes people who want lower immigration levels in future yet nonetheless support multiculturalism.
Rio
/ 3 July 2026In the end our individual conduct is the only ship we can navigate, and that despite being members of communities, cultures, provinces and territories and countries in broad geographical contexts.
A big change would seem to be the speed of communication and travel — faster than could have ever been imagined when all these definitions of nations were forming. Now there are communities that never meet except “on-line” that can put forth proposals for people they never have to meet.
A government still has to deal with physical aspects of the lines drawn on the geography of the large land masses while accomodating the larger histories, at least for our species on the planet. No government will ever move to constructive solutions quite as fast as the ideas that zoom around getting clicks.
Unfortunately some seem to move to missles quick.
I feel as I approach my 70’s that I don’t have to stress about trends, or identity or even gender. (I only wish I could speak more languages, I do love talking to strangers). “When the future is uncertain, take smaller steps” would not hold true for me because my future is fairly certain.
What is constant is that experience arises as “this body-mind”. Learning to recognize body-mind — as it arises and as it disapates — as sensations and thoughts, means finding freedom from contracted states that obscure understanding. The true nature of this “being” (noun and verb) arises within constant change.
icelandpenny
/ 3 July 2026Thanks for this thoughtful response, provocative in the best sense of the word.
Rio
/ 4 July 2026Thank you for all your posts. w
Would you mind if I reposted along with my response?
icelandpenny
/ 4 July 2026Of course you may! I am honoured.
Mary C
/ 7 July 2026I am glad that you made it back safely and that you seemed to have had a great trip. Canada is what it is, as imperfect as ever but still hopeful. She’s like an awkward teenager searching for her place in the world. Still a little wild and woolly around the edges. Still a little crazy. She doesn’t always get it right but she bounces right back.