Guarda Forestal YEG-GA was sculpted out of a rock first encounted by the School of One Carver just below "Mile Zero", on the eastern edge of the Pacific Ocean, during a huge gale in November, 2015. The name of the carving draws inspiration from two sources and locales: Narratives about female forest rangers in Mexico City, Mexico, and memories of forest-ranger-family lore in Western Canada recounted to the School of One Carver by H.W., now an Honours Student in English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta. In addition to her personal passion for Mexican Culture and History, H.W. recalled to the School of One Carver how both her father and sister are experienced National Park Rangers. The vocational trajectory of dear kin certainly helps explains H.W.'s deep-seated love for the Natural World and the Environment. Her personal, patriotic connection to the Western Canadian wilderness has been further shaped by her life in Jasper before university and annual pilgrimmages to white-water rapids flowing in conspicious parts of Kootenay National Park, British Columbia, during the Summer. H.W.'s unique perspective is also characterized by her refreshing determination, and she decided to pursue her educational and professional goals after a few years of marriage which ended in divorce. As further seen in the first vignette found below, H.W. chose to mark and illuminate a visit to an important provincial park through a literary turn, and thus, clearly addressed her appetite for writing.

Elk Island Provincial Park, Alberta
June 22, 2016. 27°C

She breathes deeply of this place.

We know these waters.
We know these hills.
We keep them forever in the base of our skull. Here,

Buffalo gave us the gift of his sharp horn,
Splintered with blunt force,
Sailing through the air to land noiselessly at our feet;

Remember, you are strong, you are mud. Here,

Great Horned Owl gave us the gift of her screeching embrace,
Pointed at us,
Filling the world with the vacuum of her wings;

Remember, you are hungry, you are meat.

We know this dappling down light:
This bubbling up from underneath.
We keep it forever.