Letters, Oct. 28

Thanks for cleaning up

A good deed goes noticed. While at a recent training session at Garbage Hill, I noticed members of the Manitoba Geocaching Association gather on Wellington Avenue. I assumed they were there to find some or hide some caches, but they were not.

They were doing an apropos garbage cleanup of litter in the park. I was out of breath at the time, but wanted to pass on gratitude for your efforts. Thank you.

A.J. Hunter

Winnipeg

A safer option

Re: Tragedy strikes high school football player (Oct. 21)

I was saddened to read about the totally tragic injury that pulled down Sisler Spartans high school football player Darius Hartshorne — while he was attempting to run back the opening kick-off during the Oct. 17 football game against the Tec Voc Hornets. The heart-wrenching, life-altering prognosis that Hartshorne will likely be totally paralyzed from the neck down makes one question whether or not contact sports such as high school football should be banned.

Most high school students are too young, innocent and inexperienced to make the fully cognizant decision to participate in such potentially dangerous contact sport. When something of this tragic dimension occurs so many people are affected — including family and close friends of course, school administration, coaches, teachers, students and the community at large. Most especially, for the student football players involved, there may be trauma, unforgettable trauma.

Would flag football not be a better, far safer option?

B.W.A. MacKinnon

Winnipeg

What happened to awe?

In a world where we have all but abandoned sincerity and we are addicted to tiny boxes in our hands that we rely on more than a smoker relies on nicotine, we have completely lost the art of being in awe of something.

Every moment of our lives is boiled down to a picture or video, memories stored not in the mind and soul but in gigabytes on SD cards. When we begin worshipping idols who do not care for us, when we begin casting stones when we ourselves would be stoned to death too, we are lost.

I fondly remember my Grade 11 trip to Italy and France. I remember the Eiffel Tower, I remember cheap trinkets, and laughter. I remember having fun. I remember the food. Most of all, I remember the Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze. In Florence, there is a museum that holds one of the most famous works of art known to man — Michelangelo’s David.

The only word I can use to describe this work of art and the feeling that I felt as I gazed up at him from below his feet, was awe. I was rendered utterly speechless, such was the magnificence of such an incredible work of human ingenuity and art. A work of preservation and passion. A dedication that felt unreal to me at the young age of 17.

My friends wandered the museum wondering when we would be able to leave to go shopping or have more food but I was stuck. It is the memory I hold clearest in my head from that trip. A memory that hasn’t faded from age. It is a thing of beauty to be moved so deeply by a piece of art like this.

I tried talking about this with my friends at the time and their responses were lacking for me. I had a young mind eager to dig into this feeling of utter appreciation and my friends had little to no thoughts on the subject which was fine. We were teenagers after all. My disappointment followed me though. It was echoed in distinct moments through my life. Moments where I was struck by the esthetic beauty of a film or piece of art or a song or a book and trying to practically inject a piece of media into my subconscious while my peers or friends giggled and laughed.

That’s not to say I don’t find things silly or that I take everything seriously but I think we have lost the art of sincerity when appreciating things. Whether it be music or film, fine art or literature, people are unwilling to set aside their jokes and phones and really just be in a moment and appreciate it for what it is.

It is not cringe and it is not boring to fully immerse yourself in beauty and art. Like the statue of David — standing proud and true in representation of the Florentines as independent and strong — I hold fast in my belief that sometimes we need to set aside the surface-level enjoyment of things and dig ourselves in, tooth and nail, when we want to truly appreciate the world around us. With such appreciation, I find that the mundane suddenly and expeditiously becomes effervescent; and life is much more enjoyable when it is beautiful.

Sabrina Yasmineh-Nawas

Winnipeg

Disappointed in MMF

Re: Time to return to discussion and debate within the MMF (Think Tank, Oct. 27)

Merci, thank you Laura Forsythe for the article that summed up the sham of the MMF’s General Assembly from Oct. 17-19.

As a franco-Métis elder and long-standing member of their organization, I do not feel at home anymore. I had high hopes when the federation was reborn in 1967 but since then much has taken a turn for the worse despite some positive aspects of their work that must acknowledged.

However, Laura is right when she says, “The only time this will change is when we have a new president. Until then, we will need to share our opposing thoughts subversively.”

I believe what we need above all is financial transparency. Their audit should be scrutinized if we are to call them a government.

Watching from afar, I was glad to have downloaded the bingo card that was available at www.insidemmf.com to have something to keep me occupied. Way to go Anonymous, may the truth be with you.

Georges Beaudry

Dominion City

The European example

I realize that one cannot directly compare European and North American cities. However, I am in a European city at the moment and not far away is a square which is packed with activity — shops, cafés and other businesses.

It is also the central point for catching the bus to various parts of town.

Robert Foster

Winnipeg

School-zone traffic

I have noticed that on school in-service days there is much, much less traffic on my morning commute. I would estimate that as I make my way through across River Heights and down Pembina to the University of Manitoba there are one-third to on half as many cars on these days.

Can it really be that as much as half of the morning traffic is parents driving their children to school? I like to joke about the “Precious Darling Drop-Off” creating a clogged curb lane that stretches 10 blocks down Stafford, but never realized it extends throughout the entire area. But the issue here is that parents do this because they perceive driving is the most convenient and safe way to get their darlings to school.

But in light of the recent MPI data showing more kids are being struck by cars, isn’t it ironic that the likely lawbreakers are other parents taking their children to school? How could we change this?

My immediate response is to make life on the sidewalk or bike lane much, much, safer. We could spend money not on new road upgrades but on existing road improvements to slow traffic down and to build separated bike lanes that together would make walking and biking the safest way to get to school.

Joe Ackerman

Winnipeg