Aging soccer mums seek same for on-field fun

Soccer moms seek other over-30s for spring women’s league

The Rosedale Rockers love their soccer, but they’d like it better if they could play against opponents their own age.

The Rockers are a team consisting of women from their mid-30s to
mid-40s. When they formed last year, most had never played organized soccer. They found themselves playing against much younger and more experienced teams in Chilliwack’s regular seven-a-side women’s spring league.

“We enjoyed the games and had a lot of fun and got better as the season went on,” comments team manager Cheryl Hagen, “While the regular league will continue this year, we’d really like it if we could inspire a few more over-30 teams to form so that we can have a separate spring league for older women.”

The Rockers didn’t win a game all season, but they scored some goals and won the team spirit award at the end of the season in recognition of their sense of fun, sportsmanship, and irreverence.

The Rockers are all soccer moms used to watching from the sidelines, but the tables were turned as their many kids cheered them on during their games, or they escaped their family responsibilities for mom’s night out twice a week.

In addition to the fitness, fun, and outlet for some healthy aggression that the experience provided, the Rockers say that they valued the chance to put themselves first for a change, make friends, and be an example to their kids.

“Being on our soccer team has been rejuvenating for my soul,” said Emma Blaschek. "I have treasured every minute of being a stay-at-home mom for nearly 12 years, but there have been times that I felt I lost a little of my own self. Now the kids are older and since I joined the Rockers I feel that I now have something that is all about me. There is something special about being on a team with such great women.”

“At first I laughed at the notion of putting myself first twice a week,” said Heidi Wiebe. “I didn’t think I could do it. But joining the team and getting back into sports has been a great self-confidence booster for me and it helped me get in better shape too. And our kids get to be proud of us.”

“I really enjoyed the adrenaline rush and the challenge of getting physical and playing against the other women,” said Trish Martin. “I also loved the team camaraderie and how our friendships grew off the field too. I used to see more of my friends, but after getting married and having kids we lost touch. It’s good to hang out with other ladies again. I’ve always loved sports, having fun, and getting physical. Now the door is open to all of that again.”

“The women’s seven-a-side soccer season was one of the best times in my life. It brought together lots of different women who are now even closer friends to me and each other, which is a wonderful thing to watch and experience,” said Cheryl Hagen. “At the same time I was doing something a little selfish for myself, which I have not done in many years. To add to it all I was getting exercise and having so many laughs!”

"I hadn't played in 21 years and didn't think I'd ever play again," said Anne Russell. "It was amazing and very satisfying to return to soccer over the age of 40 and find that I still had some of my old moves and could blast the ball up the field and have fun doing so."

The Rockers are currently recruiting players aged 30 and over for a proposed spring seven-a-side league. Each team may have one player under 30.

“We’re encouraging interested women to contact us individually, and we’ll place them on a team, or to form their own group of up to 12 players and join as a team,” says coordinator Tara Field. “All levels of experience are welcome, even beginners.”

Games will be Tuesday and Thursday evenings at Vedder Middle School, starting in early May. Game times will be 6 or 7:15 pm. League cost will be $500 per team, or $50 per individual player.

Teams can have a minimum of seven players and a maximum of 12. The season will run from April 22 to June 19.

Organizers are hosting an open house/scrimmage session on Sunday, March
30 from 1 to 3 pm, at Vedder Middle School. Drop by and ask questions or come in cleats and shin pads and kick a ball around.

For more information contact Tara Field at 794-9821 or ronkfield@shaw.ca

A Rosedale Annie kind of afternoon....

Talk about multi-tasking!

I took Miles to music for a 4:15 dropoff after pleasantly but quickly picnicking in the park (as his caregiver dropped him off at my work a bit early), stopping by the bank to sign some official papers, and popping in to register him for skating lessons (all between 3 and 4 pm). (And after working all day and badminton at lunch.)

Zoomed out to Emma's school for a 4:30 pickup of Neufeld Farms frozen food, ordered as a fundraiser. Rushed home and attempted to find space in my deep freeze and fridge-top freezer for all of it and was forced to admit that I'd perhaps been overly ambitious in my order as a result of being excited about having a deep freeze for the first time ever. Tried to fit in the salt'n'pepper chicken wings, dry ribs, four lasagnas, cookie pucks, calzones, and chicken cordon bleus amongst the quarter-side of beef and three roasting chickens already in there (and all bought from friends' farms -- buy local, folks!).

Had to abandon task hastily in order to make it back to town to pick up Miles at 5:10 and spend five minutes holding hands in a circle and playing a variation of Duck Duck Goose with other mums and kids and the famous Mrs. Trish. Phoned three friends on way in searching for spare freezer space and was third time lucky, but had my problem exacerbated during second phone call when Cheryl informed me that I'd forgotten my 48 (!!) chicken pot pies and another friend would be dropping them off.

Meanwhile, was driving with the calzones and cookie pucks that wouldn't fit in our freezer and aware that freezer door is not quite closed properly so should really hurry home to address that problem after dropping excess food at friend's house with surplus freezer space.

BUT, it's a near full moon and I see it rising beautifully over our mountains and I have my camera with me. Plan to stop on Gibson Road but the manure truck is spraying poo and decide Miles might not like that so much (yes, he's trapped in the back as his crazy mother zooms around town, but he's got his new Musikgarten CD on).

Keep heading east to McElwee and zoom onto Cleggs' property to capture the moon rising over mountain (neat thing: it's already risen in town but as you head east it pops behind Cheam again). Then start heading north on McElwee to Nevin but see that it's poised perfectly to rise yet again right on top of Cheam. Pull over once more (much to Miles' chagrin, although he's watching the moon too). Get some great shots. Promise to send some to a woman walking her dog on the road (always meeting new friends!).

Then zoom to Alyson's in order to store the excess food in her freezer before beating Daryl and Emma home and dealing with the freezer door crisis. Alyson and Terry joke that perhaps I should get the dead body out of my freezer so I can fit in the frozen cookie dough.

Head home, and am met by the neighbour who tells me a woman was here delivering chicken pot pies (48!!) and by a groggy sick Molly, who vaguely refers to same pies, but not their location. Search the house for the pies, find them on Daryl's desk, remove food from boxes so it's easier to store, get freezer door closed properly, sell my neighbour seven chicken pot pies, and head upstairs to appear calm and collected, with frozen cookie pucks in the oven, before Daryl gets home from Emma's soccer with takeout dinner. Tell Daryl that if he's tired of soup for lunches there are 41 chicken pot pies in the fridgetop freezer.

Have a rushed dinner then head to my soccer where my (non-active duty) police officer friend tells me she brought the chicken pot pies to my house only to find what appeared to be nobody home and the basement door wide open, and did a second drive-by just to ensure everything was safe. Ooops! What can I say? It was a hectic afternoon! (Glad she's looking out for me.)

But the cookies are good and the photos are magnificent and we have enough food for several months, barring extended blackouts! Life is busy, but good.

See the photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosedaleannie/sets/72157603948488981/

PS: Emma just informed me about the package of stew beef that spent the night on the basement floor!

Me and my peeps

Me and my peeps, originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

A rare relaxing morning.

The local toboggan slope

The local toboggan slope, originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

It's nice to be able give the kids the opportunity to have a little outdoor snow fun locally when the white stuff hits, and since our friends have a hill on their property and it's just down the main road from us, I made sure they got out there during our recent powdery snow day. Our yard is a little too flat to be exciting in the snow, unless you can build snowmen. (Note: the scene in this photo is taken from roughly the same spot as the summer scene in my blog header.)

Fraser River at sunrise

Fraser River at sunrise, originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

Took a little detour this morning on the way to work in hopes of catching a beautiful scene. And I did. But was dismayed at the junk strewn about and burned on the ground. How some people treat their home!

A welcome break....

A welcome break...., originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

from the rain, slush, and snow. Jan 6, 2008. Cultus Lake.

Merry Ukrainian Christmas (or, our year-end letter is really late this year)

Jan 6, 2008

Dear Friends and Family,

It’s officially too late on in early to write a Christmas letter, but not too late to reflect on the year past and post it for all your dear ones to see! (And as a historical document for my own reflection in years to come!) And hey, it’s still Ukrainian Christmas. So indulge me, if you care to.

When we ended the Russell-Rose family chronicle last year we were poised to move into our newly redone beautiful house. And we did so on January 11, after kicking off the year with a family ski holiday at Sun Peaks with some friend families.

We quickly became accustomed to having lots of room for everyone – indeed, excess space – as well as a functional kitchen, a luxurious bath, one room for each kid for them to decorate and make their own, and a master bedroom where we couldn’t touch the wall from our bed. We enjoyed lots of light, beautiful views, and the fun task of choosing just where to put things. It was hard to believe it was us who were living in this dream home, except when we saw the mortgage payments being withdrawn from our bank account.

We kicked off a season of housewarming parties with a wild one with the grown-ups in our East Chilliwack circle where we danced like crazy teenagers and put the first dents in our wood floor by dropping bottles and glasses. All through February and March we were showing off our house to various friends and family.

Then, while hosting six of the Williams Lake Russells as our first family-stay visitors, we endured a week of heavy rain and our happy-house bubble burst. The deluge leaked into our basement, saturating most of it over the course of a day of non-stop downpour. The Williams Lakers quickly baled as the water crept over their stuff and their children. The next day, Daryl moved most of our stuff upstairs and we began a four-month stint of living again like the cozy family we’d always been.

Luckily, we were covered by insurance, but we didn’t want to proceed with fixing until the threat of the Fraser River flooding, which was very real and quite nerve-wracking in Chilliwack, passed.

We endured quite a lesson in patience as the predicted date for the peak of the Fraser kept changing. The whole community got quite stressed out waiting for something that may or may not happen, and the official contingency plans leaked to me by friends indicated that all levels of government were taking the threat quite seriously too.

The river was due to peak the weekend of June 8-10, right when we were going to Whistler for a Russell reunion to mark my parents’ 50th anniversary. Fortunately, we all learned late in the week approaching this weekend that the peak was going to be below flood danger levels so we were able to go on the trip with a little less anxiety. It was a great trip, with almost all the children and grandchildren together (minus the Australia Russells and Kellie-Ann) for a weekend of visiting, eating, family photo-taking, and lazing about. There were 24 of us there. Thanks Mum and Dad, for being married 50 years and setting a great example, and for the trip!

Our basement wasn’t completely redone until mid-August, so when Daryl’s sister Barb sent her kids Evan and Maya out from Winnipeg for a BC experience we were still all sleeping on one floor. I kept consoling myself with the fact that the new “one floor” was much bigger than the old “whole house”. Our kids were very good about the whole four-month ordeal, not whining or complaining at all, but the girls were very happy when they got their rooms back again. And I wasn’t really upset either. The whole ordeal was a drag, but my family was healthy and happy and together so I couldn’t complain too much.

I went into major tour guide mode with Evan and Maya, making sure they had a total BC experience (except we didn’t get to the ocean this time unless you count Rocky Point in Port Moody). We did Grouse Mountain, waterslides, Hicks Lake, hiking on Little Mountain, backyard marshmallow roasts, a Rose family party at our house, and just general lazing about, after picking them up at cousin Bonny’s in Kelowna.

We also hosted Yumi, a teenaged girl from Japan, in August. She was from a very urban background so we made sure she visited our friends with chickens, cows, sheep, and puppies. We spent a lot of time working on basic communication. (You like? Yes, I like!)

For our family summer holiday we spent a few days relaxing on Quadra Island, even going on a family kayak expedition one day, Miles included. Then we had the awesome (not a term I use lightly) experience of whale watching off Telegraph Cove for one morning.

Our spring and fall were spent in the typically busy family fashion, working and getting kids to activities. I added a new twist to the spring soccer mix by joining a women’s seven-a-side team put together by my friend Cheryl Hagen. We ranged in age from 32 to 49, were all mums, and only three of us had ever played soccer before. I hadn’t played for 21 years and most of our opponents were about that age! Needless to say, we didn’t win any games, but we had a hoot, really bonded as a team, managed to score a few goals, and won the team spirit award at the end of the season. It was tons of fun. But oh, my aching knee, back, thigh, etc!

I also continued to pursue my photography hobby this year, shooting lots of scenics from the beautiful world around me and portraits of family and friends and cats!

Molly completed a very successful first year of French immersion, graduating from Grade 6 as the top academic student in her class. She also went to the provincials with Destination Imagination and played Mr. Grimwig in the school’s production of Oliver. Throw in soccer, basketball, and volleyball, and she was a busy and very well rounded girl. I was most impressed with her diligence about schoolwork and her maturity. She’s now in her first year of middle school, and adjusting well to the changes that brings. I'm continually amazed how one can go from being a tiny newborn to an adult-sized, logically thinking being in just 12 years!

Emma was also named top student in her class along with a boy student, which surprised us because they don’t usually give such an award in Grade 3. She also did well with DI, placing second at the provincials, and played spring and fall soccer, improving very much along the way. She now gets a lot of homework in Grade 4, which stresses her out, but she is a very conscientious student and is doing fine.

Maybe it’s just because I’ve been home for two weeks and seeing him a lot, but I really notice a lot of growth and maturing in Miles. He seems much more like a real boy (if that makes any sense) and less like a half-formed little kid. Our favourite milestone for him this year is that he finally goes to sleep in his own bed after you read a story and say goodnight and snuggle, instead of insisting that we lie there with him until he nods off.

He’s at preschool and music class, took swimming lessons this year, is just learning to ski, and continues to enjoy life. He’s quite curious about reading and the alphabet, a whiz at 100-piece jigsaw puzzles, and well immersed in the world of computers, knowing all about (he thinks) websites, and passwords, and "dot.com!"

He talks quite well, but still has some funny ways of turning a word – “abloon” for balloon, “pooter” for computer, “rosstraunt” for restaurant, etc. He continues to have a strong affection (perhaps no longer an obsession) for running his hands through my hair (a holdover from his hospital days) and has named it Hairy and insists on giving it a hug and saying goodbye to it separate from me!

He has an elaborate grammar system based on "to be" and "did", saying things like "thems did be there too, Mum" or "I did be tired" or "her did be better than me." It's very cute and clever but I guess we'd better fix it before we hand him to Mrs. Marochi and kindergarten in the fall.

He also developed a competitive side this year and loved to gleefully shout "I winning" even if he wasn't. And there was a memorable evening of his holding a dirty sock up to our friend Mike and telling him to "mell it, mell it!"

These days he and his friend Daniel have an elaborate imaginary land called Stuffy World for their stuffed animals, in which all the stuffies take on a new name and become a super-powered alter ego. So the boy has an imagination!

Daryl, of course, continues to refuse to let us say much about him. We can report that he is still a wonderful father and mate, and business is good. He still loves snowboarding, and continues to hit the gym for fitness and stress release.

In typical male fashion, he professes to not like cats, but when Moby the cat brought Neko the stray kitten onto the deck at one night, Daryl let her into the house and she’s been with us since!
We rounded the year off with another milestone Russell event: the first grandchild wedding. Bryden and Trista married 50 years after his Russell grandparents and 25 years after his parents. I was the wedding photographer (with the professional help of my friend Rick) and enjoyed the challenge of chronicling the whole evening, although it was hard work. It was great to be together with so many family members for the big event.

We’ve all enjoyed our Christmas break of visiting, hosting, and relaxing, and got to Manning three times for skiing and boarding.

As we approach one year of living in our new house this week I feel lucky all around!

Love to all,
Anne, Daryl, Molly, Emma, Miles
(and George, Sophie, Moby, Neko!)

Sunday priorities

So it’s one of those Sundays when I’m full of ambition but short on time.

Would like to:

• Get bulbs in the garden
• Read my book (The Birth House by Ami McKay – very interesting, especially in the context of the spouting off I’ve been doing about community-based health close-to-home)
• Read the papers
• Work on my photo albums, after making good headway at my first scrapbook crop on Friday night
• Take photos
• Go on a bike ride
• Do yoga
• Sleep in
• As always, keep up with my online scrabble games and other Web 2.0-type activities.

Should:

• Clean the house
• Do dishes
• Do laundry
• Clean off the big long desk in the great room that becomes a repository for everything
• Do some writing for work so I’m ahead of things rather than falling further behind
• Do more unpacking and organizing

Must:

• Procure lettuce for a salad I’ve promised to bring to Sandy’s at dinnertime
• Feed and interact with kids (two of whom have seen me plenty this weekend after a marathon soccer game in Abby, birthday party in Coquitlam, Bee Movie at Silver City, Ikea stroll from Hell, McDonalds on the way home in Langley kind of 12-hour outing).

Obviously, there’s not time for all of this in one day. Must prioritize. Notice that it’s not pouring rain out and it is early November. Decide this means that gardening wins out in the morning, with the added bonus of fresh air and a bit of stretching to make up for the lack of yoga (because I chose coffee, several chapters of my book, and newspapers and bacon and eggs over the very beneficial Sunday yoga session).

So, do I leave the kids be zoning on screens so I can be more efficient in my limited time morning gardening session, or force them outside too, as it’s good for them to get fresh air?

Decide on the latter, which I know will affect my productivity, but Miles spends enough time in front of TV and computer when he’s home while Dad is trying to work.

So out we go, with the kids assigned the task of pulling out annuals, along with myself, while I prep for planting tulip and daffodil bulbs.

I KNOW I’ll get more done if I ignore Miles and try to hide the fact that I’m planting things, because he always wants to “help”, which takes way more time than me doing it myself. He comes over, holding a slinky that he’s found in his sandbox.

I decide that rather than fight with him or turn him away or divert him or (worst scenario) let him do the planting himself and really slow us down, I’ll incorporate him into the process. So, fifty times over, I dig a hole. He suspends the slinky above the hole as a tunnel. I drop the bulb through the slinky tunnel. It lands safely in the hole and I cover it. Repeat.

We talk about how beautiful gardens are. How the bulbs will rest for the winter and come out in the spring as beautiful flowers. How he loves tulips.

Together we plant faith in the future. That in six months we’ll still be here to enjoy those flowers. He feels part of the process. We work together, until Molly entices him away with a pile of leave to jump in. We have fun. Strike one task off my long Sunday list.

Whose Halloween is it, anyway?

This was written in reaction to a Facebook friend asking me to explain this status update: Anne is saying a society that pressures grownups to wear costumes to work and tells preschoolers not to wear costumes to school has its priorities mixed up!

(While I commend my colleagues for the creativity and energy they throw into Halloween at work, I just don't have the time or energy to do it justice most years. Really, this is all about my sense of guilt. Don't want to be a Halloween grinch or Eeyore, but I find it stressful enough to squeeze time into our busy schedule for outfitting three kids in costume without having to find a creative one for myself. I did pull off two pumpkin patch visits, a daytime tour through The Reaper's, and a theatre production (The Great Big Boo) plus some really fun trick-or-treating with our friends!)

There's a huge culture of dressing up for Halloween at UCFV among staff, especially on the Abbotsford campus where they have a huge party, but in Chilliwack too on a smaller scale.

(A lot of the people who get excited about this have grown children so don't face the Halloween pressures us working mums do.)

Sometimes I manage to throw something together out of our tickle trunk, but I just don't usually have the time or energy to do an elaborate costume for myself after tending to the kids' Halloween needs on top of the regular general chaos of our lives.

The one time we got to Value Village this month I had the four-year-old with me and it was his bed-time, so had to run herd on him while the girls tried to peruse in a leisurely manner.

My boss had a good-hearted idea for us all to be punctuation marks. My colleague Patty and I, the Chilliwack contingent of our department, were to be "en" and "em" dashes, since people often confuse us with each other.

But neither of us owned black clothing to put the white punctuation marks on, and Patty had a hippie costume already, so she wore that.

I dug through the tickle trunk this morning, but had one kid needing help gathering her science experiment material, and another needing orange clothes for Orange Day, and a husband with a 9 am meeting, so I ended up pulling out the old orange shirt for the token Halloween colours.

Was also going to be taking my daughter to the doctor at lunch time and thought I would feel funny talking about possible face fractures (she fell on her face) dressed as a clown, or hippie, or gypsy, or earth mama.

So that's it. Hunkered down in my office as the Halloween Eeyore.

But had fun trick or treating with my kids tonight, which is what it's all about.

Anne

Speaking out for community-based health care

(Written in reaction to stories in this week's Chilliwack papers about possibly downgrading our maternity ward so any mats with any risk would have to go to Abbotsford, which could have quite a domino effect.)

Dear Editor,

Your story about the possible closure of infant nursery beds in the Chilliwack hospital and the effects this could have is welcome and timely. It gives us the opportunity to ask, as a community, what kind of hospital we want for Chilliwack. I hope that most would agree that we want one that welcomes babies and children rather than turn them away.

Many in the community will be aware that it has been some years since we have had access to pediatric beds in Chilliwack. Children who are taken to the Chilliwack emergency ward and who warrant hospitalization end up being transported to MSA Hospital in Abbotsford.

The lack of pediatric beds in Chilliwack has made it hard to attract and retain pediatricians, since they can’t provide in-hospital care to their patients and must refer to colleagues in Abbotsford, and also don’t get sufficient challenging experience to keep their skills current due to the fact that all difficult cases must be transferred.

My son went through an eight-month period in 2004/05 as a toddler when he was hospitalized for asthma four times. Each time, after we were examined by emergency physicians or a temporary pediatrician, we were sent via ambulance to Abbotsford for admission (except for once when we were in the city when he went into crisis).

While he received excellent medical care in Abbotsford, I as a mother found being removed from my community very alienating and difficult. I was removed from my support network. My friends couldn’t drop in to relieve me or bring me food. My husband could only visit once a day because of the time and distance involved and his work and childcare responsibilities. My general practitioner could not drop by on her rounds. We had a different pediatrician assigned to us every time we were admitted (based on who was on call) and I had to lobby each time to be reassigned to my “regular” Abbotsford-based pediatrician. My son has been cared for by 10 pediatricians in his short life. Not great for continuity of care. I spent long hours alone with my sick toddler, who was connected to oxygen and unable to leave the room. I was reluctant to leave his room because to do so I had to leave him in a “crib cage” for his own safety. Being isolated like this with nobody to relieve me made a very stressful situation even more difficult. We also had to endure a scary ambulance ride down the freeway at the height of his crisis each time. (Because of the health concerns and distance involved we were afraid to drive him ourselves and just head straight to Abbotsford from home.) Luckily the weather was always fair for this drive. That’s not always the case.

(During the times we spent in the Chilliwack emergency ward, being assessed or receiving treatment, we were in close proximity to people with stab wounds and head injuries due to fights, and people detoxing from drug overdoses. Not the most kid-friendly environment. The suggestion to create a kids-only area in our renovated emergency ward is a good one.)

While it may more efficient financially and organizationally to concentrate specialized pediatric beds in one community in a region, centralization is not the best model for a holistic type of health care that includes the family, community, and doctors who know the patient.

Since the time of my son’s health crisis, we as a community have been lucky enough to attract two new pediatricians to Chilliwack. This means that for his ongoing health monitoring, we visit a specialist in our own community, who will still have to refer us to MSA if he goes into crisis again.

Now I hear that our fragile situation of re-establishing the presence of pediatric specialists in Chilliwack is in peril again because the Fraser Health Authority may be closing infant nursery beds in the Chilliwack hospital.

Again, the excuse is being floated that we have a modern new hospital being built just down the freeway.

As I understand it after a conversation with my GP, closing these beds could have a domino effect:

Since most healthy newborns now room in with their mothers, the nursery beds are currently only used for babies who need pediatric care and monitoring.

• If we take a way the beds for newborn patients, any expectant mother with any sort of risk factor will be sent to Abbotsford.

• If there are no beds for newborns needing pediatric care, there is even less incentive for pediatricians to stay in Chilliwack.

• If the medium- and high-risk pregnancies are all referred to Abbotsford, there is less incentive for obstetrician/gynecologists to stay in Chilliwack (another specialty that we have had a hard time attracting and retaining).

• If the obstetrician/gynecologists leave, there is less work for anesthesiologists, leaving less incentive for them to stay in Chilliwack.

• If the anesthesiologists leave, the general surgeons won’t have access to them in order to do their work.

• If the surgeons leave, we are left with more or less a glorified residential care facility, not a small acute care hospital.

• If the specialists leave, it will also be very difficult to maintain the excellent relationship CGH has as a teaching hospital for UBC med students and residents (several of whom I encountered and helped to educate during my son’s medical journey).

• And if we allow only low-risk pregnancies to be admitted and deliver at CGH, there is less incentive and opportunity for local general practitioners to keep their maternity skills active.

How long before there’s no maternity care offered at all? I wouldn’t envy anyone who has babies as quickly as I do trying to speed down the freeway to get to a delivery ward, especially in the inclement weather we can get here.

We could face a future where we’re driving down to the big beautiful new hospital in Abbotsford for almost every medical procedure.

Is that the kind of community-based health care we want in Chilliwack?

We have one of the fastest-growing populations of young families in B.C.
We should have a hospital that reflects that status, one that provides a full range of health care and specialists commiserate with a community of this size, one where babies and children can be born and treated locally and hospitalized in their community when feasible.

If you agree with this vision, discuss it with your physician and ask what you can do to help us realize it. Lobby your MLA and make sure he’s aware of your concerns. Contact the Fraser Health Authority and tell them you believe in community-based health care, not a centralized model.

Regards,

Anne Russell

An AWEsome experience with our whale friends

I'm one of those who doesn't use the word awesome lightly. I save it up for experiences like the one my little family and 50 others had on the Stubbs Island Whale Watching tour off of Telegraph Cove on Friday July 20.

Daryl and I had taken this tour in 1991 and I've been wanting to take my kids -- although Disneyland or Hawaii would be nice, in many ways I'd rather spend the money giving them experiences like this!

After several idyllic days camping (and kayaking -- even Miles -- but that's another story) on Quadra Island, we drove in torrential rain up Vancouver Island to Telegraph Cove, a well-preserved coastal hamlet that serves as a tourist base for kayaking, whale watching, and fishing.

Sprung to stay in a suite in a nice old house since it was still raining buckets and our camping gear was soaked from the previous night. Saw the folks coming off the afternoon whale watching tour and asked, "See any whales?"

A glum guy said, "Couple of humpbacks." You could tell he was disappointed at not seeing orcas.

I tried to shut down the rational materialistic side of my brain that said "pay hundreds of dollars to go see killer whales and we might not see them." Was already feeling slightly foolish for dragging us so far out of our way in the rain. But the kids loved the quaint village and funky digs in the heritage house (as did we all), we had a great seafood dinner, and went to sleep with tempered but optimistic hopes.

Upon boarding (with shipmates from Holland, France, Germany, US -- this was when it became more apparent to our kids that this was something pretty special), the captain and the naturalist emphasized the holistic approach to our cruise: it's great just to be out on the water, you'll see lots of natural beauty, and the whales, if we see them, are a bonus.

Pretty soon after launching we pulled up and stopped in the midst of a bunch of bald eagles. We see these a lot at home but most of the folks don't! And they are still magnificent to behold, especially in a west coast setting of cedars and rocks and water.

Then we pulled up near some seal rocks and enjoyed watching them slither into the water. Again a magnificent sight. We'd been lucky enough to see some a few days prior while kayaking too. It is such a joy to let routine slide away and just commune with these creatures out on the sea.

Soon after we saw the spray of humpbacks and spent quite some time revelling in the company of Houdini and her baby Ariel. This mother is leading a resettlement scheme for humpbacks in this area in the past decade -- a real environmental success story -- three babies in three years and seven in all! Very neat to see them spouting and their tails in the air.

Each of these successive experiences really could be said to be "enough" in terms of a way-cool wilderness excursion.

But then... the captain said, "If we want to see the orcas we'd better move along." They had mentioned earlier that they had been sighted that morning so we were all hoping!

Cruised along for awhile until we were adjacent to Malcolm Island. I was chatting about the history of saving the habitat (which I've been following for a couple of decades) with the naturalist while she kept her eyes peeled for the orcas.

And then she saw them in the distance and pointed them out. And they were magnificent from far away. We had been briefed that all boats should keep a respectful distance and that's where we expected to be viewing them from. Then she started to count, four orcas, no, eight, and let us know that this was quite a treat.

And then... they started swimming right at us. "This is not how it's supposed to happen!" she said, but then we all just surrendered to the majesty as eight or so orcas swam directly at us and surrounded the boat, swimming within meters on either side and UNDER it!

Even the naturalist experienced shock and awe. "Oh my god" was the phrase of choice among us all (Molly overhead the Frenchwomen saying "c'est pas vrai!") and I think most of us were on the brink of tears of joy, just for the unexpected experience of such a close communion.

"You realize you'll all have to pay more now," the naturalist joked, another way of letting us know that this was no ordinary whale watching! A Swiss whale devotee who's been on 300 expeditions said this was one of his best ever!

We then followed the whales at a respectful distance back in the direction we'd come from, and saw them do a similar swim-by of a lone fisherman in a tiny boat!

Our naturalist said that they were in a semi-sleeping state so they weren't vocalizing. This was a meeting of family groupings and we saw 26 orcas in all.

I was overwhelmed with positivity at having communed so closely with these beings. Molly had been right at the pointy front of the boat (the bow?) so got the full-on experience. Emma was with me standing up so got a great view and was in enthusiastic agreement when the naturalist suggested this was pretty cool. I think both girls truly had a transcendent experience. Miles was in Daryl's arms at the back and while enjoying the view got momentarily scared when they swam right by us. He took in a lot, remembering after that the baby humpback was named Ariel like his friend!

(Later, however, he got bored and wanted a story read to him while dozens of orcas continued to swim outside the boat window! Four-year-olds!)

We had an eco-talk on the boat about the PCB-levels found in whales and how we've got to get a handle on pollution, and were invited to adopt a whale.

As we drove south in the rain after I drowsily half-napped and let the magnificent whales seep into my consciousness again, enjoying the recent memory that will fade when the demands of the everyday world encroach again!