Do You Know Your Boreal?
- Mar 26
- 4 min read
Mother Earth in the Land Down Under: A collection of quaint, connecting coincidences involving Aussie firefighters in the Peace Region
On July 8, 2025, I headed to Java Domain in downtown Peace River to have lunch with Bob Mazurik (retired Provincial Fire Behaviour Specialist) and Jan Mazurik (musician).
When I walked in, the owner, Jason Fukushima, said, “Sharon!” and pointed to his phone. “I was just calling you!”
He introduced me to Leigh Bishop from Perth, Australia, the leader of 100 Aussie firefighters, who were based out of Manning.
“He wants to buy your print of the Canada flag granary,” said Jason.
Leigh had just seen this granary in a field of canola on his way back from Edmonton and stopped to take pictures. When he later stopped for lunch at Java, there it was again!
He said, “I’d love to take it home as a souvenir of our time here.”
It was a canvas print of a work of art I had commissioned Shannon Brown to paint in 2019 for Chrystia Freeland’s office in Ottawa. The tag includes the history of this iconic landmark, first christened “Canadian” with red and white paint by a farmer’s 15-year-old son, Marcel Johnson, in 1978.
Leigh purchased the print, and I gave him a copy of our book, Mother Earth: Boreal Beauty of the Peace Country, with the inscription: “Thank you for coming halfway around the world to help us fight fires in our beautiful boreal forests.”
I asked him to pass this message on to the other Aussie firefighters, along with a link to a PDF of the Mother Earth book, and I sent Dōna Bōna Cards of fireweed, northern lights and grizzly bears to welcome them with gratitude.
I introduced Leigh to Bob and Jan. Bob has been involved in forest fire management in Quebec, the Yukon and Oregon.
It’s common for firefighters to be deployed elsewhere to help where needed. Some Peace River firefighters have gone to Australia because they’re fighting fires when we’re shovelling snow.
I told Leigh about Australian musician, Tom Richardson, who fell in love with a Peace River girl. Richardson had performed several times at Java Domain when our daughter, Jessie, and her husband, Dan, owned the cafe. Then Jan wondered aloud, “Is Tom teaching at guitar camp in Manning?”
I messaged Tom and sent Leigh a link to Tom’s music, which he listened to all the way to Manning. He and Kelly Rash (the leader of the other group of 100 Aussie heroes) stopped in at the guitar camp, and Tom and his band performed for them, “Down Under.” Leigh told Tom his music reminds him of one of his favourite musicians in Australia, Garrett Kato, and Tom said, “He’s one of my best mates!”
A couple of days later, one of Leigh’s crew members, Ian Dunne, suffered an eye injury, and they arranged to come to the Peace River Hospital. Some of the crew wanted to purchase Mother Earth books, so he sent their names, and I inscribed a note of thanks to each one.
When they came to pick up the books, our friend, Joseph Mwihaki from Kenya (see Move Up May 2025, p. 96) had just finished picking Saskatoon berries, and we offered these to our Aussie guests. ’Twas a triple-nation snack experience!
Leigh said he used to work as a chef. He noted the nutty flavour of the seeds and offered a creative cuisine tip: “I’d use Saskatoons to create a savoury glaze to accompany a beef steak.”
We went up into the hills behind our house so Leigh and Ian could pick some wild berries right off the bush.
About a dozen Mother Earth books flew over the Pacific Ocean to the land down under.
I received an email from Peter Berney, who worked on the Slim’s Creek Fire: “Coming to Canada was a career highlight for myself and the other four members of my crew. We were so impressed by the beauty of the forests and, while our task was to put the fire out, we all enjoyed exploring the forests and getting to know the flora and fauna we encountered.
“...your book has been so helpful in identifying the various species in the many photos I took…
“Where we were based at the Green-zone, near Keg River, reminded me very much of the northwest plains of New South Wales…I hope to come back to Peace River again one day and travel through Alberta and head further north.”
I recently texted photos to Leigh Bishop of our Peace Country Snowmageddon—hikers bundled beyond recognition trudging through thigh-deep snow, my husband Terry raking the huge pile of snow from our roof and a photo of Joseph’s -30℃ tea toss.
Leigh responded, “certainly a contrast from your white Christmas to ours here in Perth. We experienced 41 degrees and are unfortunately busy with fires. Lucky enough to start the day with a swim down the beach with the kids, which was great.”
As I write, it’s -41℃ here with the wind chill (opposite sides of the world; opposite sides of the zero).
I hope all this snow makes it unnecessary for firefighters to come from halfway around the world to help us again this summer, but it would be great to see these heroes again—maybe as tourists in the Peace! On the other hand, Leigh sent a photo of a Quokka. Oh, my heart! We may have to go to Australia!
To see the music video/slideshow “Come by the Hills” by Peace Country musicians and photographers, go to MotherEarthBook.ca.
To see over 1,200 photos of boreal wonders, you can purchase a Mother Earth book (below) or ask to see the copy donated to your local library. If they don’t have one, ask them to contact me:
Sharon Krushel 780-625-6324 krushel@mac.com
At MotherEarthBook.ca, you can order the 288-page coffee table book, or find a retail outlet in Fort Vermilion, Grimshaw, Fairview, Manning, Peace River, Beaverlodge or Grande Prairie.
For a personalized autograph or bulk purchase, contact Sharon.
By Sharon Krushel, author of Mother Earth: Boreal Beauty of the Peace Country
with Flora, Fauna, & Fungi ID, including Latin, French, Beaver, and Cree
Photography by Sharon Krushel, Terry Krushel and Submitted
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