The Faithful Witness: Paul O’Hara’s Enchanting Story of the White Pine in Southern Ontario
Many of us have seen the great Redwoods and sequoias and the Douglas Firs of the west, and been awestruck by their majestic and ancient vigour, and yet we tend to forget that Southern Ontario was once home to its own gigantic and long-lived trees, the white pines. Greatly desired for ship-building and construction, they were logged nearly to extinction when Europeans first came here. Only a handful of the eldest now remain, and the younger generation of this species faces intense pressure and hardship. Hamilton-based botanist and landscape designer Paul O’Hara shares his botanical passion, science and talent for story-telling to lead all of us to a deeper understanding of what has been lost, and what may yet be gained.
We were fortunate to experience his presentation at the Richmond Hill Naturalist club meeting on Feb 15th. Beginning with a painting of Oakville from the middle of the 1800s, where a host of white pines can be seen towering above the forest canopy, O’Hara led the naturalists on a surprisingly gripping vision quest centred on the life cycle of the White Pine. But “The Faithful Witness” goes much deeper than a typical life cycle story. Lighting the way with a series of beautiful photographs of the many plants who share space with the White Pine during its long decades of childhood and adolescence, he both teaches us about the natural cycle of change and makes us viscerally aware of the crossroads where we stand in time and space.
If you have even a passing interest in nature you won’t want to miss O’Hara’s multimedia presentation. He’s due to tell the story again at the Halton Eco-festival March 31-April 1. You can find out more at his website www.blueoak.ca
White Pine Photo by emrld_cicada