THE LAST WHY
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THE LAST WHY
  • Home/
  • the last why: the poem/
  • poems index/
  • poems/
  • ESSAYS/
  • ESSAYS INDEX/
  • Photos/
    • paying projects
    • bathroom
    • railing
    • our home and garden
    • catsnaps
    • welcome guests
    • scattered shots
    • fall colours
    • remembering mom 12/28/1915-07/27/2010
    • remembering dad 02/02/1915-04/09/2004
    • being me
Our home
THE LAST WHY

our home and garden

THE LAST WHY
  • Home/
  • the last why: the poem/
  • poems index/
  • poems/
  • ESSAYS/
  • ESSAYS INDEX/
  • Photos/
    • paying projects
    • bathroom
    • railing
    • our home and garden
    • catsnaps
    • welcome guests
    • scattered shots
    • fall colours
    • remembering mom 12/28/1915-07/27/2010
    • remembering dad 02/02/1915-04/09/2004
    • being me
Our home

Our home

the view from the street.

Our house

Our house

In 1980 I built a 30' x 28' square box cabin that followed the lines of the front walls that are set back. In 1999 I added an 18' wide x 10' deep section to the left side of the front. The addition gave me a front entrance, a wide set of stairs up the  living level, floor to ceiling windows and another 108 sq' of living room floor space.

Living room windows

Living room windows

The windows face east. The view is a picture that contains some very big trees against a background of snow capped mountains. When we are close to the windows we can see quite a bit of our garden.

Garden wall

Garden wall

The garden wall was a huge pile of rocks I dumped around the trees in the right side of the picture in the shade. I was going to cover the rocks with dirt; but I pulled a few out to retain the bank so I could plant a tree. They looked pretty good so I pulled out a few more. Eventually I had a wall and a wall needs a cap so I poured a concrete cap. I then squeezed mortor into the gaps between the rocks using a mortor bag. Some guys can make a project out of anything, even a pile of rocks.

Mom's garden 1

Mom's garden 1

I call it Mom's garden because had it not been for her persistent raking I probably would not have had a garden. click Angel 1 (to return, click on "photo album" then "our home"

Mom's garden 2

Mom's garden 2

I divided the garden into sections using paths so that Mom could cultivate more easily.

Mom's garden 3

Mom's garden 3

Another path, 2 more sections.

Winter scene

Winter scene

Scenes like this still make the shoveling worth while.

Winterlude

Winterlude

In the winter we grow snow.

Foxgloves

Foxgloves

Azalea

Azalea

This is in our indoor garden

Nasturtiums

Nasturtiums

Anemone

Anemone

with a visitor

Virginia creeper

Virginia creeper

in the fall

Doronicum

Doronicum

Leopard's Bane

Lily-of-the-valley

Lily-of-the-valley

Bleeding hearts

Bleeding hearts

Bleeding hearts too

Bleeding hearts too

More bleeding hearts

More bleeding hearts

Doronicum

Doronicum

For-get-me-nots

For-get-me-nots

These grew out of a pile of discarded dirt.

Red Flowering Currant

Red Flowering Currant

Iris

Iris

Iris

Iris

Violas

Violas

Bluebell, Wood hyacinth

Bluebell, Wood hyacinth

This one came with the dirt

Lupins

Lupins

Geranium (cranesbill)

Geranium (cranesbill)

White Siberian Iris

White Siberian Iris

When I first posted this picture I didn't know what this flower was because I didn't plant it. It came with the dirt. So I asked for help. A person named omeomy took the time to tell me the name of the flower, in my guestbook. Before I posted the name another visitor confirmed the identification in a comment she left else where. I was grateful for their time and the information.

Hollyhocks

Hollyhocks

2007 was a good year.

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Anemone

Anemone

Anemone

Anemone

Aemone

Aemone

Hydrangea

Hydrangea

Trailing Petunia

Trailing Petunia

Sunflower

Sunflower

This one just appeared on its own. Perhaps a Jay planted it.

Violet

Violet

At least I think it is a violet. It came with another plant and it has spread like wildfire. It makes an attractive ground cover.

Azalea

Azalea

The florist said potted Axaleas rarely bloom a second time. Apparently this pretty one didn't know it was not supposed to bloom a second time.

Monk's Hood

Monk's Hood

Asiatic Lily

Asiatic Lily

Roses

Roses

We cut these before the frost to enjoy them a few weeks longer.

Snow trees

Snow trees

They were particularly beautiful this winter of 07/08.

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webrose 3.jpg

"Mother's Healing Wall" 1 of 2

"Mother's Healing Wall" 1 of 2

I had torn down a retaining wall of loose laid stone before Mom died On July 27 2010. The day after I decided I had to rebuild it. This is a picture taken just before I began pouring the footing.

"Mother's Healing Wall" 2 of 2

"Mother's Healing Wall" 2 of 2

The completed, "Mother's Healing Wall".

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Previous Next
Our home
Our house
Living room windows
Garden wall
Mom's garden 1
Mom's garden 2
Mom's garden 3
Winter scene
Winterlude
Foxgloves
Azalea
Nasturtiums
Anemone
Virginia creeper
Doronicum
Lily-of-the-valley
Bleeding hearts
Bleeding hearts too
More bleeding hearts
Doronicum
For-get-me-nots
Red Flowering Currant
Iris
Iris
Violas
Bluebell, Wood hyacinth
Lupins
Geranium (cranesbill)
White Siberian Iris
Hollyhocks
img_0250.jpg
img_0256_1.jpg
img_0257.jpg
img_0265.jpg
img_0266.jpg
img_0267.jpg
img_0268.jpg
img_0269.jpg
img_0270.jpg
img_0271.jpg
img_0272.jpg
img_0276.jpg
img_0277.jpg
Anemone
Anemone
Aemone
Hydrangea
Trailing Petunia
Sunflower
Violet
Azalea
Monk's Hood
Asiatic Lily
Roses
Snow trees
webrose 3.jpg
"Mother's Healing Wall" 1 of 2
"Mother's Healing Wall" 2 of 2
  • Home/
  • the last why: the poem/
  • poems index/
  • poems/
  • ESSAYS/
  • ESSAYS INDEX/
  • Photos/
    • paying projects
    • bathroom
    • railing
    • our home and garden
    • catsnaps
    • welcome guests
    • scattered shots
    • fall colours
    • remembering mom 12/28/1915-07/27/2010
    • remembering dad 02/02/1915-04/09/2004
    • being me

THE LAST WHY

The explanation of life and related writings.

02/02/24

RHYMED REASON

DONALD TRUMP
CLIMATE BREAKDOWN
AGE of ASININITY
LIFE: a reaction to the void
ANALYZING CONFLICT
ABORTION
DEMOCRACY: the death of us
ECONOMY
ARRESTING CLIMATE CHANGE
KNOWLEDGE and ESSENTIAL FACTS
DEMOCRACY: a debacle

PROSETRY
$$NATURE’S NUTRITIONAL IDEAL$$
CANADA’S NATIONAL ANTHEM (x3)
CANADIAN ELECTION 2025
OUR LIFE LINE
OUR HISTORY and THE LAST WHY

INTRODUCTION
Like everyone, I inherited an existence. Mine collapsed circa 1970 while I was at McMaster U, Hamilton, ON, Canada, getting a BA(math) and B. Phys Ed, so I could teach. While sorting through the rubble of my life I noticed, though not as pervasive as it is today, a continuum of varied and increasing conflict permeating our existence. I wondered why.

Though wondering for myself I thought I should find the reason for conflict before a student I might teach asked me. I couldn’t deduce the reason with math; nor did I think I found it in the 5 major religions and their thousands of offspring, or in the 11 volume history of philosophy I skimmed for electives.

So besides my formal degrees, I graduated with a major degree of motivation to find before I taught, the reason for conflict. I never taught. By the time I discovered the answer to why increasing conflict pervades our existence, I’d become, with the help of my brother, a self-employed carpenter.

I tried and failed to share the answer at least three times and each time I vowed to quit trying. The last was in 1998 when a friend of a friend, a philosophy professor, wished me good luck on other projects. To help keep my last vow I started an addition to my house. I received even more help in 2000 when I began caring for my parents.

But then, when my father died in 2004 I was motivated to try sharing my analysis one more time before I died. I was still thinking of a hard copy when a friend suggested I publish on a website. I’d never heard of websites nor could I type but with more help from my Mother I bought a computer, learned to type, and with expert help, created a website. 

I first thought I’d bury the reason for conflict in an essay. But having already experienced web attention deficit disorder I decided to highlight the essence of it in my website logo and add context with blog posts.

Since there is no answer to “Why am I?”, attempts to answer it, such as the myriad religions and philosophies I skimmed, and a variety of other responses I found, are tries to fill the void. Though we can mix them, some may be similar and even have identical names, because we direct them to the void within us, our tries are all opposed and so cause conflict to the extent of our belief in them.

But, conflict is not inevitable. We can diminish it and resulting death to the degree we empty the void. Now, if we choose to empty the void, our lives are not then devoid of activity, on the contrary! Because it is essential, we each possess some remnant of “reaching out to the limits of our capacities, to others and to Nature’s God”, the natural activity that creates and tries to maintain all life.

So, even though in the 200k years since the birth of humanity we have replaced almost all our inherited natural activity with the human made unnatural, self-destructive activity of trying to fill the void, if we choose to empty the void, the remnants of our natural, self-creative activity will at least refill our lives and possibly answer “Why am I?”

I have been trying share these basic facts of life for a few years by advertising. Last year (2023) I bought 8 million page views with half the value of my home, without effect; but this time I won’t quit. The warnings about fatal climate change by hundreds of climate scientists over many more years have also been ignored. 

However, I do have to reduce my advertising. If it is too late to prevent it, I’ll need a place to live where I can watch the increasing conflict within us, between us and with Nature, causing at least the death of us and maybe all of Nature, possibly even before I’d have died in peace.

If you feel moved to help me share these facts you can by using the share icon at the end of any post, notably my most recent piece of rhymed reason, “Analyzing Conflict”, or any other way of sharing. If you also click on the like icon you will see an explosion of hearts, an expression of my gratitude. 🙏 Doug E Barr.

Read: Nature’s Nutritional Ideal

Part 1.Nature’s ideal diet: It was designed to maintain our immune/ maintenance system at its optimum operating condition to protect us from both pathogenic and autoimmune diseases. It protected our predecessors from conception to the birth of humanity when they realized the mental capacity to choose. It can still protect us but over the millennia increasing numbers of us chose to ignore ’Her’ ideal, and thus our increasing disease. Specifically, ignoring the overlap causes, it could save the $34 billion cost of weight loss drugs, about $800 billion cost for treating type II diabetes, and many billions more in other healthcare costs.

Part 2. Nature’s ideal life: It protected our predecessors from conflict until the birth of humanity. It can still protect us but over the millennia increasing numbers of individuals chose to ignore ‘Her’ ideal and thus, our increasing conflict.

Part 3. The integration of parts 1 and 2

Part 4. Existential risks: They are the result of our ancestors increasingly choosing to ignore Nature’s nutritional ideal. They may be reduced by expanding our mental capacity beyond what was realized at the birth of humanity. It would only take an instant, but the time we have to make the necessary choice is quickly running out.

Part 5. Appendix: Mostly diet related math that may have caused the mathematically challenged to quit reading in the middle of Part 1.

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