Buckbean

    Back in 1975, after a couple of years teaching in the 1-room school in Takla Lake, BC.  I decided to spurge a bit with the money I had made and I decided to buy a new camera, to replace the very old Argus that I had bought at the Goodwill Store when I worked there as a conscientious objector.

    Joan and I were pretty much trapped in the logging camp and our only recreation was hiking and exploring the area that surrounded it.  Having the new Canon camera gave me a new focus when were were out on our daily walks.  The plants and animals of the Canadian wilderness were all new to us and we enjoyed the discoveries and photographing them, while out on our jaunts.

    One of the most thrilling “discoveries” for me was an aquatic plant that I found growing in a bog.  I didn’t know the name of it and all the information to be had on the internet was still decades away.  The remote camp we lived in was devoid of plant books so it was quite a while before I learned that the distinct frilly flower I had photographed was called Buckbean (Menyanthes trifolia).  

    Since my initial finding of this plant I have looked for it in the other places I have lived in BC without success.  About a month ago on the short hike into the Natasha Boyd Conservation Area, the group of us were down at the beaver pond and a white flower growing out of the water caught my eye.  When I got as close as I could, I was overjoyed to see that it was my old favorite, Buckbean.

    The photo above is taken of that original slide I which took on that first “discovery” I made of the Buckbean back in 1976.

You can view my paintings:  www.davidmarchant.ca