Back in early April we discovered that persistent, heavy volumes of rainfall had created an unstable situation in the forested ravine we immerse ourselves into on a daily basis for a stroll in the forest among trails that are hugged by a wide variety of coniferous and deciduous trees, and treat us to no end of natural seasonal 'discoveries' that delight us.

It is a ravined forest, and the prominent rises that give way to valleys and a creek below form the geology of the forest and protect it from urban development. It is a green jewel in the centre of a large urban metropolis and one we and many others value greatly. The forest contributes hugely to the quality of our lives; in a personal way allowing us the kind of recreational opportunity we hugely appreciate, and in a larger dimension, cleansing the air we all breathe.

When the first of the series of slumps occurred, as the clay base of the forest floor on the hillsides gave way to the destabilizing effect of constant rainfall altering the molecular makeup of the Leda clay, we hardly imagined it would continue and eventually threaten the structures built at the crest of the hillsides where decades earlier municipal authorities had given permission to builders to construct houses. Three of the houses backing onto the ravine at that juncture were evacuated. The home owners have not yet been able to return.

In the interim, the area of entry to the ravine at that juncture was closed off, and logging crews were brought in to remove the trees that had collapsed and snapped off the hillside, and to chop down the remaining forest, still intact, to enable construction crews to move in and begin the job of rehabilitation of the hillsides. That has been in progress for months. And now, finally, it appears that the entire, colossal job will be coming to an end.

The valley below the remediated hillsides has been lined with large granite rocks -- after bulldozers graduated the incline of the hillside -- as have about one-third of the slopes. The place looks desolate, deprived of their natural forested covering, a mere shadow of what once it was. There will be reforestation taking place once the work of pile-driving great metal stakes down to the secure level of bedrock is completed. The sound and fury of the huge construction machinery, the bulldozers and the cranes, shake the homes located on their periphery.

There is sadness at the state of the forested area, though the rest of the ravine remains accessible and appears as it always has but for the large pools of water that reappear each time another rain event or violent thunderstorm occurs, as they do on a surprisingly consistent basis quite unusual for this area. But there is the consolation that in due time nature will reassert her presence, the trees will thrive and mature, and the bottom story of the newly emergent forest will be restored to its former condition.