Image by J. Stephen Conn via Flickr
The Cremation of Sam McGee
by Robert W. Service
There are
strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic
trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern
Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that
night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.
I'm quite familiar with Lake Leberge.
It is just a few miles north of Whitehorse.
I've been out on the lake and I've driven by it more times
than I can count.
It always gave me a tingly feeling up and down my spine.
Maybe it was the coldness of the water.
Maybe it was the history - it was on the route thousands of
prospectors took to Dawson City during the Gold Rush of 1898.
Maybe it was the way the roiling storm clouds gathered so
quickly.
Maybe it was the souls of the indigenous people who live in nearby
spirit houses ...
Whatever it was, it affected me deeply, (no pun intended).
Or I did until today.
Today I found out that by 1991 the lake had been poisoned by a pesticide called Toxaphene.
Toxaphene can damage the lungs, nervous system, kidneys and
can cause death.
EEK
And all I can think about are the days when we were told to
stay inside our houses because 'they' would be spraying mosquito larva.
And a plane would roar over Whitehorse and drench the town
in a pesticide and being young and fearless,
(i.e. dumb),
I wouldn't always wait the prescribed amount of time before
I went outside again.
Excuse me while I go and get my kidneys and lungs x-rayed.
Note: The ban on eating fish from lake Leberge has recently
been lifted.
1 comment:
Did they use malathion on the skeeters? That's the chemical that Winnipeg always used, for the 22 years I lived there. In fact, I believe they still use it. Eek, indeed.
Post a Comment