Ahhh springtime. I love witnessing the vivid greens of the bursting buds of the deciduous trees. And walking into a hardwood forest where the forest floor is grandiosely carpeted by the delicate, and exquisitely beautiful white trillium. I particularly love going into a forest during or right after a rain. That piquant, musky “earth smell” emanating the air, and stimulating my olfactory senses. Revitalizing me. Each of the seasonal rhythms are so important to me. The forest becomes an air conditioned retreat on a hot summer day. A transformation takes place in the fall, as the leaves burst forth into vivid oranges, reds and yellows, before falling to a leafy death, that ushers in winter. The cool sereneness of winter. In winter the trees majestically stand bare naked. Appearing to be dead and lifeless, they wait, holding life in their silent presence, until once again in that seasonal rhythm, the bursting buds will again break forth.

As human beings, we need beauty in our lives. God has given us nature not only for our enjoyment, but also for our restoration. It is interesting when God created humans, he put them in a beautiful garden, not beside some crazy busy provincial highway with 1000+ cars and heavy trucks rushing through each hour. As a school crossing guard, Highway 93 is soul crushing. A scientific peer reviewed research article from National Library of Medicine talks about the connection of road traffic noise exposure and inflammation and oxidative stress. This includes the “progression of noise-induced vascular dysfunction, disruption of the circadian rhythm, accelerated aging, neuroinflammation, and changes in microbiome.” Plus I will get those impatient drivers who will blow through a red light because they don’t want to be inconvenienced for 20 seconds while I assist vulnerable children across the highway. Then there is the health hazards of standing by that highway. With each and every breath I am filling my lungs with highly toxic concoctions from tailpipe emissions, tire particulate matter and brake dust. This is all very concerning.

By the time I arrive home I desperately need my soul to be restored. The beloved Psalm 23 tells us how. It reads “The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.” One of the reasons the Psalm 23 is the most beloved Psalm is because we can visualize it. We can picture the lush green meadow and calm lake in our minds. We need beauty in our lives. This is such an important part of stress management. In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s when my mom was in hospital from mental health breakdowns I would read Psalm 23 to her. It really comforted her. Psalm 23 is so beautifully written, I’ll use it for words of comfort at funerals and graveside services. Beauty inspires. Beauty encourages. Beauty motivates. Beauty comforts. Since it is over a kilometer walk up to the nearest forest, the simplest thing for me to do for unwinding after highway crosswalk duty is sit in a lawn chair under my spruce trees at the back of my lot and soak in the beauty of this stately, spectacular maple tree in the field behind my property. The maple tree was affectionately called the Guardian Tree by several Hillsdale residents. This has been my routine these past number of years in all seasons since I have become crossing guard. The tree has meant so much to me I even have it as the feature photo of the home page of this blog website for a long time. But earlier in the spring developers destroyed it. The tree was a dear friend to me and it’s loss devastated me. I am still grieving with the loss of it’s destruction. One of the ways I’m trying to cope is by spending more time in my gardens.

Each year end I consider that maybe I should just give up my crossing guard duties. With each passing year more people are moving into the area. Because there is no option other than car dependency in this region, traffic volumes on Highway 93 continue to get heavier and with it a greater number of aggressive drivers. The highway is becoming more and more stressful for me. A Barrie 360 article posted earlier this week for Road Safety Week mentions that “In 2024, 382 people lost their lives in collisions on roads patrolled by the OPP (Ontario Provincial Police). Among the 344 fatal crashes, speeding contributed to 95 deaths, inattentive driving to 80, and alcohol and/or drug use to 53. This is concerning and scary. Plus the article also mentions “Of those statistics there were 35 pedestrian deaths and 12 cyclist deaths. Many of whom died through no fault of their own.” So far this year in 2025 (as of May 12th), the OPP has responded to 86 fatal road collisions that resulted in 99 people losing their lives.

And I ask myself, do I really want to do school crosswalk duties another year? But then I think of the children. I am very hypervigilant to try and keep them safe. As one who really tries to promote the many benefits of active transportation, I am very grateful to the many parents who entrust their children to me in getting them safely across the highway. The children bring me so much joy. The children are the one and only reason I keep working the highway crosswalk. They are so polite, courteous and respectful. I retired from Busch Systems in March 2019 to become Hillsdale’s crossing guard as a semi-retirement job to ease myself into full retirement. Children who were in Grade 2 back then are now graduating from elementary school this year. It is so cool to see them mature as they get older. There was this one girl in Grade 2 who walked with her mom in 2019. She was super extremely shy back then. Over the years, it’s been amazing to see her become more and more self confident and mature. Last week she shared with me she has been chosen to be Valedictorian for her graduating class. I am so happy and excited for her. And with the youngest children coming up there is one young kindergarten student who who wants to be a “crosser” (crossing guard), just like me. This is very touching.

My part in each young life would be quite small. One to two minutes max a day is not much. But when it accumulates over 5 years it does add up. When many people make a positive influence on young lives we can make a big difference in that person’s life. First Corinthians 5:11 reads, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” Personally, I can’t encourage and build up others if my own soul is crushed and empty. In order for me to be an encouragement to others and build them up, I need to be encouraged myself. I do that through reading the Bible, talking to God in prayer and having my soul restored by spending time in God’s creation. A quote from early conservation advocate John Muir reads, “Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike.” John Muir from The Yosemite (1912), page 256.

This blog post are some personal reflections based on a part of a sermon I preached on May 11th, 2025 at what I like to call The Three Churches. The Scripture for the sermon was primarily the first 3 verses of the 23rd Psalm. This article is compiled only from a small part of the sermon, my 3rd of 4 points. My 3rd point was “Recharge the Soul With Beauty”. This article written here has had some parts expanded from the sermon. Other parts more intended for the three church families were retracted. Though there are many similarities, this article is not verbatim as preached. Thank you for taking the time to read…Carl.