Meadow Lake is the inspiration for a new children's book by a Maple Ridge author celebrating the quaking aspen tree.
'Mother Aspen', by Annette LeBox, pays homage to the aspen tree and the critical role the trees play in the ecosystem.
The book tells the story of a 100-year-old Mother Tree that, from her spring awakening and throughout the seasons, takes care of the forest, above and below the surface.
Above ground the tree is a shelter for animals. She sends up sprouts from her roots, which are the Mother Tree's children, and makes sugar from the sun's rays. And below, the Mother Tree protects the fungi that wrap their threads around the tree's roots to feed on sugar and then deliver messages warning of drought, disease, and infestations, to other trees.
The story came to LeBox after reading 'Finding The Mother Tree' by Canadian scientist and UBC professor Dr. Suzanne Simard, who works in the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences at the university. LeBox became fascinated in the science of the forest that Simard wrote about.
"The more I learned about forestry science and what goes on below our feet, it just amazed me," she said.
After reading the book LeBox started looking at the forest surrounding her cabin on Meadow Lake.
LeBox and her husband Michael Sather bought the remote cabin on the Cariboo lake in 2007. They had been camping there for more than a decade and always looked longingly at the cabins, hoping one day, somebody would sell.
They now have two cabins right on the lake, located around 40 kilometres down a partially paved road.
"It is a wild place," said LeBox, with all sorts of birds, animals, bears, wolves, moose, deer. "You name it."
The cabins are surrounded by a grassy meadow with all kinds of wildflowers, and a pine and aspen forest.
"I thought there's aspens growing by all of the cabins, but they are fairly far apart. So, these roots must be connected and there's probably one mother aspen tree in this whole area," she said.
The combination of forestry science and the beauty of Meadow Lake led to 'Mother Aspen'.
Illustrations by Victoria native Crystal Smith, document experiences LeBox has had at Meadow Lake over the years.
"It's a place of incredible biodiversity," described LeBox.
"The aspens attract all types of animals and birds. It gives them winter food, it gives them shelter, prevents fires," she explained, noting aspen trees are not as flammable as conifers.
One of her most thrilling moments was cross country skiing during the winter and a moose and a calf walked in front of her, not that close, but close enough to see them.
This experience is captured in her book along with the drumming sound of the grouse which she hears while walking the trails.
There are a lot of foxes in the book as well because of an experience when she was digging out roots of a water birch.
"There was nobody around, just me, my shovel," she said. When she turned around and discovered a young fox, around five feet away from her rolling in the sand, scratching itself, looking at her.
The book also contains blue jays which LeBox sees in the spring eating the catkin fruits from the quaking aspens, and bears, and her favourite red and white mushrooms. And bats, as they have a bat house in the front of their cabin.
"At night you can see them going after the dragonflies," she said.
LeBox noted that the most difficult thing about writing a children's book is is coming up with the form and structure. Once that was done with 'Mother Aspen', her fun began.
"Then I get to play with the words," she said the talented and award-winning poet.
LeBox prefers the art of slant rhyming instead of end rhyming, which can be found throughout 'Mother Aspen'.
Slant rhymes are not perfect rhymes, said LeBox, describing them as gentler, with a more subtle sound.
As an example the story reads, "In early spring the Mother Tree wakens; her name is Quaking Aspen," with the words "wakens" and "Quaking" as the words in the rhyme.
LeBox tears up when the Mother Tree dies in her story, but the forest moves on. One of the other trees will shoot up and then take over, she said, and Mother Tree will become a nurse log.
"So her legacy continues," noted LeBox. "There's some comfort in that."
LeBox will be launching 'Mother Aspen' from 2-4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21, at A Celebration of Forests at Haney Presbyterian Church Hall, 11858 216 St., Maple Ridge.
The free event will have special guests performing including: Maple Ridge Dance Circle; Bergthorson Academy of Musical Arts; musicians Peter Tam – who was inspired to write an original piece by the book – and Holly Arntzen, and Garibaldi artists.
All profits from the book sales will be donated to the Friends In Need Food Bank.