ALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTS

Episode 64: J. R. Booth Part II: Industrialist and Great Canadian

This the second of two episodes on the life and times of John Rudolphous Booth. Most of the content comes, with many thanks from Roderick MacKay’s second edition of a Booth biography called J. R. Booth Lumberman, Railway Builder, Industrialist, Great Canadian and Influence on Algonquin Provincial Park. 

 The musical interlude is called 'Master of the North' and comes from the Wakami Wailers’ Un, Deux, Trois Four album.

Episode 63: J. R. Booth - An Ottawa Valley Lumber King (PT1)

This is the first of two episodes on the life and times of John Rudolphous Booth one of the great Ottawa Valley Lumber Kings in the second half of the 19th C. Much of the content comes, with great thanks and appreciation from Roderick MacKay’s, newly published second edition of a Booth biography called J. R. Booth Lumberman, Railway Builder, Industrialist, Great Canadian, and Influence on Algonquin Provincial Park. 

 The musical interlude is called The Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Rail and comes from the Wakami Wailers’ Un, Deux, Trois Four album

Episode 62: Ontario Lumber Kings - John Egan

Up until recently, I’d always thought that anyone who cared about Algonquin Park human history was already familiar with J. R. Booth and so never put any energy into building an episode around his life experiences. However, last summer I stumbled upon a 2018 biography by Michael McBane on John Egan.. In so doing, I discovered a whole new aspect of lumbering in the Ottawa Valley that I knew nothing about. The end result is this multi-part series about two of the most well-known of the Ottawa Valley Lumber Kings, namely John Egan and J. R. Booth. In my view both are tightly connected in history because as you all know J.R, Booth made his fortune by buying at auction Egan’s timber limits in 1867. In this episode I’ll focus on the life of John Egan. I think though I have no proof that, though of different generations, Booth may have seen Egan as a role model in the lumber industry

The musical interlude for this episode is called Below a Towering Pine and comes from Dan Gibson’s Solitudes Breaking Through the Mist CD. It is brought to you with the approval of Digital Funding LLC. Solitudes music can be found wherever you get your music streaming.

Key References:

• Michael McBane’s John Egan: Pine & Politics in the Ottawa Valley, published in 2018

Episode 61: The Earth Caretaker Way - Being of Service

This episode is the last of a six-episode series on the Earth Caretaker Way Tim Corcoran, Julie Boettler from Headwaters School in Mt. Shasta California and focus on one of the most important aspects of The Earth Caretaker Way, which is to contemplate how to be of service in ways both big and small.

The musical interlude in this episode is called Silent Meditations and comes from Dan Gibson’s Solitudes CD 2024 CD called Mountain Magic  It is brought to you with the approval of Digital Funding LLC. Solitudes music can be found wherever you get your music streaming.

Referenced Books and Articles:

• Peter Mathiesen- Wildlife in America - Discusses the injustices committed by people against the North American wildlife from the first colonies to the present published in 1987

Episode 60: Earth Caretaker Way Philosophy & Spirituality: 

In this episode, Tim, Julie, and I focus on various aspects of Earth Caretaker Way earth philosophy and spirituality including:

• Acknowledging the mystery of nature, and greeting with gratitude sacred moments and peak experiences

We end with a short discussion of elementals and their role in protecting the earth. 

The two musical interlude tracks come from Dan Gibson's Solitudes  CD's  The Great Bear Softly Sleeps from his Sleeping Under the Stars CD. The second track is called  Mountain Tops from the MountainnMagic CD. Both are brought to you with the approval of Digital Funding LLC. Solitudes music can be found wherever you get your music streaming.

Episode 59: Building Confidence by Mastering Wilderness Living Skills

This episode is the fourth of what is now seven episodes on the Earth Caretaker Way a newly released book by Tim Corcoran and Julie Boettler from Headwaters School in Mt. Shasta California. In this episode In this episode Julie Tim and I delve deeply into Part 2 of The Earthcaretaker Way that focuses on value in building knowledge of Wilderness Skills such as shelter building, foraging for edible plants, tracking, building fire without matches and what to do if you get lost on a trail.

Another important book that Tim references  by Ben Goldfarb is called Crossings – How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of our Planet published in 2023.

The musical interlude in this episode is called Morning Stroll and comes from Dan Gibson’s Solitudes CD 2024 CD called Mountain Magic  It is brought to you with the approval of Digital Funding LLC. Solitudes music can be found wherever you get your music streaming.

Episode 58 Earth Caretaker Way Part 3: Nature Awareness - Building Connections and Relationships

This episode is the third of what are now seven episodes on the Earth Caretaker Way a newly released book by Tim Corcoran and Julie Boettler from Headwaters School in Mt. Shasta California. In this episode, I continue my discussion and storytelling with Julie and Tim on the importance of nature awareness and how becoming more aware can help build meaningful connections and relationships with plants and animals.  This art of building a personal relationship with nature by awakening your senses and rewilding your heart helps generate purpose and meaning to our lives.

Several books that Tim referenced include:

• Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird’s 2004 book  The Secret Life of Plants: A Fascinating Account of the Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Relations Between Plants and Man

The musical interludes in this episode come from Dan Gibson’s Solitudes CD 2024 CD called Mountain Magic  They include one called Spring’s Caress and a second called /Quiet Moment. Both are brought to you with the approval of Digital Funding LLC. Solitudes music can be found wherever you get your music streaming.

This episode is the second of what is now seven episodes on the Earth Caretaker Way a newly released book by friends Tim Corcoran and Julie Boettler from Headwaters School in Mt. Shasta California. In this episode I’m going to introduce you to Julie, one of the key land Earth Caretakers at Headwaters. Over the next six episodes, she and I with Tim’s help are going to delve deeper into the four key elements of the Earth Caretaker Way beginning with Nature Awareness, which is the art of building a personal relationship with nature by awakening your senses and rewilding your heart.

The musical interlude in this episode is called Silent Contemplation and comes from Dan Gibson’s Solitudes CD 2024 CD called Mountain Magic  It is brought to you with the approval of Digital Funding LLC. Solitudes music can be found wherever you get your music streaming.

Episode 56: The Earth Caretaker Way Origin Story with Tim Corcoran

In this episode and the four-part follow on, I’m going to take my podcast in what I hope you will experience as an innovative new direction. Nearly 20 years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Tim Corcoran, leader, and owner of the Headwaters Outdoor School near Mount Shasta in California, who has just released a new book called The Earth Caretaker Way. 30+ years in the making, Tim with co-author Julie Boettler, have synthesized the essence of all of their learnings and teachings into an absorbing guide filled with stories to tell around the campfire or in a meadow. The Earth Caretaker Way is designed so that you can choose your own adventure by opening up to any page and do as Tim often says, Walk Backwards into the Future and Remember What We Already Know.  But The Earth Caretaker Way isn’t just a book, we want it to become the beginning of a global movement. A movement designed to amplify this knowledge, reconnect with our past through nature and use that wisdom to personally help heal the earth and reverse some of the negative impacts of climate change. In this episode I’ll be focusing on Tim’s origin story and then explore at a high level his views on Nature Awareness, Wilderness Living Skills, the keys to opening your heart through learnings about Earth Philosophy and lastly how to integrate the Earth Caretaker Way into your life through a Life of Service to the Earth.

Some additional links for those interested:

• The Earth Caretaker Way Website: https://www.earthcaretakerway.org

The musical interlude for this episode is called  “A Purposeful Life” and comes from Dan Gibson’s Solitudes 2024 CD entitled Mountain Magic.  It is brought to you with the approval of Digital Funding LLC. Solitudes music can be found wherever you get your music streaming.

This is the third of three episodes on archeological activities that have taken place in Algonquin Park  since the late 1930s. The focus in Part III  is  to share insights into the archeological work that has been done in the Park since the 1990s. Most of the investigations have been initiated by private archeologists with permission from the then Park Authorities. 

This musical interlude is called Algonquin Provincial Park and comes from Dan Gibson’s Solitudes National Parks and Sanctuaries CD. It is brought to you with the approval of Digital Funding LLC. Solitudes music can be found wherever you get your music streaming.

For this series, I’ve relied on a number of key sources including:

• Rory MacKay’s Algonquin Park – A Place Like No Other and Spirits of the Little Bonnechere

 Several ‘thought leadership papers by William Allen including:

• Importance of Archaeology re Species at Risk: Eel Focus William Allen Nov 2007

Several ‘thought leadership papers by Rory MacKay including:

• Potatoes in the Pines - Looking at the Material Culture of Nineteenth Century Logging Camps: An Algonquin Park Perspective and beyond April 2014

Ontario Archeological Society’s ARC Notes Vol 12 Issue 5 Sept-Oct 2007

Pukaskwa Pits: Rethinking the vision quest hypothesis, by Nancy Champagne

Ontario Archeological Society’s ARC Notes Vol 14 Issue 6 Nov-Dec 200

• The Aarel Site Camboose Shanty in Algonquin Park by Rory MacKay

Ontario Archeological Society’s ARC Notes Vol 16 Issue 2 Mar-Apr 2011

• The Nesswabic (Petawawa) River Watershed – Zone of Political Tension Over the Centuries by William Allen