moose sighting – Forests of Memory. Forests of Learning. Forests for Life.

WALKING THROUGH TIME AND TERRAIN: A Pilgrim’s Journey Into the Heart of the Wild City

Forest Gathering Walk 50th Anniversary #NationalForestWeek and the 30th anniversary of Maple Leaf Day and #NationalForestWeek

People walking and talking in the forest

Today, at one o’clock sharp, the soul of Saskatoon will stir.

There in the whispering grass and willow-thick shadows of the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, people will gather—not to build, pave, or take—but to listen and talk and join the conversation. We’ll join the walk called “Walking Through Time and Terrain”, one thread in the great tapestry that is the Jane’s Walk Festival. It’s a festival born not of fanfare or flash, but of principle—Jane Jacobs’ principle—that cities are most alive when we, the people, are fully present in the places we call home.

We’ll be there, boots dusty, journal in hand, walking not just through the marshes and woods of the West Swale, but through eras, stories, and ice age adventures. This is no idle stroll—it is a pilgrimage through past and present: a chance to hear how glaciers sculpted our land in the Pleistocene, how leaders like B.T. Chappell and Richard St. Barbe Baker shaped its meaning, and how, even now, a moose once quietly moved through the trees, as if summoned by our collective memory.

Yes, moose.

Because alongside our musings on infrastructure, wetlands, and community planning, we will take time to honor the silent sentinel of our woodlands. She had no voice in meetings or maps, yet she reminds us, more eloquently than any city planner, what it means to coexist. Meadow, Shadow, Maggie—what shall we name her to retain her memory? The people will decide. The children will dream. And together, we’ll remember how to live with wildness at our doorstep.

That is the gift of this Jane’s Walk: not just movement through space, but a deepening of place. You’ll leave not only with wind-kissed cheeks and soil on your shoes, but with a new sense of belonging. Of stewardship. Of awe.

So pack your repellent. Tie your laces. Bring your questions and your reverence.

And if you should meet the moose? She is gone. Bow your head a little. She was the keeper of an ancient truth we’ve nearly forgotten:

We are not the masters of this land. We are its guests.

📍 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
🕐 Today – Saturday, May 3, 2025 – 1:00 PM
🌐 Learn more: janeswalkyxe.org | friendsareas.ca
📬 Name the Moose entries & moose encounter stories: friendsafforestation@gmail.com

Let’s walk together, and remember what it means to be human in a living world.