Pictured here is an Alberta couple holding some of the wonderful work from carver Ted Ohlsen, who now lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. His work has touched so many all over the world. He keeps creating amazing carvings like those pictured here, which The Emily Dahl Foundation then gives out to friends of the foundation.
Both Ted and this Alberta couple have been kind supporters of The Emily Dahl Foundation since inception. They carry Emily's love with them at all times. It was a real joy to be able to spend time with them at their ranch in Alberta. It’s astonishing. All this is in the countryside not far from the heart of the City of Edmonton - the home of The Edmonton Oilers. Not much human habitation in sight anywhere, compared to the city. In fact, one of the homes that was the most impressive was that of the Canadian Beaver pictured here. Equally stunning was a lone tree waiting patiently for someone to enjoy its shade. This ranch was lovely to visit and to absorb an atmosphere that is so much different from the city. One should inquire: what is the essential difference between the world of nature and the world of man? The well-known philosopher Allan Watts once said it this way: "Nature is wiggly. Everything wiggles: the outlines of the hills, the shapes of the trees, the way the wind brushes the grass, the clouds, tracts of streams. It all wiggles. And for some reason or other, we find wiggly things very difficult to keep track of. And, you know, we say to people, keep still so that I can see you. Keep still for the camera. And we say, well, let’s get things straightened out, “let’s get it ironed out,” “Let’s get it all squared away.” And then, somehow, we think we understand things when we have translated into terms of straight lines and squares. Maybe that’s why they call rather rigid people squares. But it doesn’t fit nature." Alan Watts goes on in his immense writings to remind us that human beings are just as wiggly as nature. And our brains are an incredible mess of wiggles, and that’s the part of ourselves that we understand least of all. What we call things—the plants, birds, trees—are far more complicated than neurons of the brain, and there are billions of them. And they are all living together in a network. Just as there is an interdependence of flowers and bees: where there are no flowers there are no bees, and where there are no bees there are no flowers. They’re really one organism. And so, in the same way, everything in nature depends on everything else. So, it’s interconnected. And so, the many, many patterns of interconnections lock it all together into a unity which is, however, much too complicated for us to think about except in very, very simple, crude ways. It is so true, as the rancher pictured here said, as we strolled down the cow paths: "If it wasn't for these beavers, the cows would have no water to drink. And it is the cows that pay the rent." What a magical World!! The Emily Dahl Foundation May 31, 2024
