#hsitorical

♫

November 3, 1946

Dear Journal,

As my fourteenth year passes by, I continue to be filled with the dread of what happened to father and Uncle Arthur. I cannot help but find myself trapped in my memories of my childhood days, playing in the fields with Uncle Arthur, or to remember sitting by the fire between my fathers legs. War brings death, but why did this second world war have to bring as much death as it did to my family? Uncle Arthur was only seventeen when he was called to Heaven. Father had so much left of life. It is sad to see that Shirley barely even remembers them. She remembers a man with blonde hair, but that is about it. She remembers nothing of his character, nothing of his deep laughter. Every time I take a drink, I do it remembrance of them. I sip at the whiskey, thinking of my father stirring the whiskey in his own glass. Mother does not realize I drink as much as I do. Sure a fourteen year old isn’t meant to drink the way that I do, but I see nothing wrong with it. The only time I am relaxed is after having a few. That is when the peace fills me and I can begin to think of the future. Oh journal, what does my future hold? Will another war break out and cut short my life as it has to my family? Or will I grow and have this house to myself one day? Will Dottie and I have children of our own? Or will death claim me before those dreams can be realized?

Mountain goat; Oreamnos americana; 1907; Banff, AB; Collected by Major Brooks

"I’m not exactly sure when or where my interest in Oreamnos americanus, more commonly know as Mountain Goat, came from, but it’s hard not to be intrigued by this majestic animal when you’re eye to eye with it at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum.

This specimen, a female, known by the bend in the horns at the tip, was collected on September 15, 1907 in Banff, Alberta by Major A.C. Brooks at 1800 feet above sea level. Mountain goats prefer steep rocky terrain within alpine and subalpine areas and are the largest mammals found in the high-altitude habitats. With a thick white wooly double coat made up of a fine dense undercoat and an outer long-hair hollow coat, mountain goats are able to withstand temperatures as low as -46 °C. Having recently driven through the Alberta and British Columbia Rockies, I can attest to the need for a nice coat to stay warm while touring the backcountry.

As you look into the eyes of the specimen at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum, for a moment you get the feeling you’re back to 1907 on a cold fall evening - the wind blows beneath your feet and you pull your jacket tighter to keep yourself warm."