Urban Wilderness

These days I’m trying hard to get more exercise. It’s better for my mood, sleep, and of course makes me feel better physically…In the mornings, after a brief meditation, I do yoga stretches. Then in the middle of the afternoon I go out for an hour of biking, half of it sustained uphill, which is having the added benefit of getting me some relative solitude in nature. Lately I’ve been riding up the rue Rachel bike path to Park Mont Royal, and then continuing up the mountain. The goal is to keep my heart rate between 105 and 140 for at least 30 minutes, as I was advised a couple of weeks ago by an exercise therapist – what feels natural right now is 120-130. I can already feel myself strengthening with this more focused practice.

But the surprise is how lovely it is up on the mountain. The woods are quite thick and there are paths one can take and get totally away from the other people on the road, though there’s never a crowd and people are extremely quiet and respectful of everyone else’s privacy. Yesterday I stopped on the way down and went off into the woods and was standing by a big outcrop of granite and quartz, considering sitting there for a bit before heading home. A young man came down the path, and seeing me there, changed his course so as not to pass directly by me. This sort of thing happens all the time. The first time I went up, I stopped and sat for a bit in an out-of-the-way place, looking into the trees. Immediately three chickadees – which I never see in the park near us, dominated by sparrows and pigeons and gulls – flew into lowest branches directly over my head, and chattered at me, bouncing from branch to branch. That one simple thing did me so much good! I’m looking forward now to discovering more about the park and finding special places I especially like, and also to seeing what it’s like in the different seasons.

I had been kind of disdainful, or at least skeptical, about J’s claims that I would like its wooded areas; to me it was still an urban park (a beautiful one, for sure) and no substitute for wild nature. Of course it is in the center of the city, but Olmstead knew what he was doing. The sheer size of the park and the population’s insistence on large parts of it remaining completely undeveloped means that the deep woods are really quite wild and natural, and still hospitable to birds and animals – I’m anxious to see how many species reveal themselves. Right now most of the running water seems to be dried up, but in spring it’s cascading off the mountain... and the map indicates intermittent wetlands in the interiors of some of the wooded area. Obviously, I’m just beginning…

Comments

[Lorianne]

Frederick Law Olmstead was a god among men, in my opinion. I'm always amazed at how many places he (literally) left his mark.

I'm glad you're learning to love urban wilderness. Since most folks don't live in rural areas, I think it's important for folks to realize & appreciate the spots of wildness in their own neighborhoods (versus seeing "Nature" as something you either drive to or watch on TV).

[marja-leena]

And I see that there are cross-country ski trails in there - how wonderful that would be in winter! And good for you on getting more exercise, something I keep having to remind myself to do.

We're blessed in living on the North Shore here in Vancouver, with the mountains and wilderness right in our backyard. Plus there are many quite large natural parks around.

[Lucy]

Here in over-farmed and developed Europe, the importance of parks and gardens to wildlife is more and more recognised. good to hear about respectful fellow users of it too.

[Rana]

As much as I love the big habitats, I have a fondness for the local, overlooked, and more homely ones: sparrows perching on the letters of the grocery store sign, skunks rummaging through the garbage, wildflowers growing up along the verges.