Silent phone in Ontario forest invites grieving trail walkers to talk to lost loved ones

Visitors walking through the Ausable River Cut Conservation Area may be surprised to see a wooden phone booth just off one of the forest trails in the middle of the woods. They may be even more surprised to pick up the receiver of the black touch-button phone and hear silence.

It's a wind phone, installed in early April by the Lambton Shores Nature Trails volunteer conservation group. A plaque invites visitors dealing with the loss of a loved one to pick up the receiver and speak to those they miss.

Trails volunteer Ross Atkinson said his group was inspired by an article about wind phones installed along a trail in eastern Canada.

"We fell in love with the idea. And as a board, we decided we've got to do this for our community," Atkinson said.

"We know the benefits of being in nature. Part of our group's initiative is to open up nature for people to explore. This just gives people another opportunity to get into nature, in this case for the purposes of grieving."

The first wind phone originated in Japan in 2010 when garden designer Itaru Sasaki created one to help him cope with his cousin's death. Replicas emerged around the world as a way for people dealing with a loss to hold one-way conversations with deceased loved ones. The website mywindphone.com offers a map of wind phone locations around the world.

Nathan Schoelier, the stewardship and lands manager of the Ausable conservation area, said the proposal from Atkinson's volunteer group fit into the current uses of the forest. 

"There's different groups that utilize our trails for grieving walks and whatnot," Schoelier said. "And so although the wind phone was unique and new to me, there are opportunities where different groups utilize their conservation areas for group grieving and community benefit."

LISTEN | Afternoon Drive host Allison Devereaux talked to Ross Atkinson about a wind phone at the Ausable River Cut Conservation Area:

Volunteers coordinated with the conservation area to choose a location set off a trail amid trees for privacy, that would be accessible for elderly people or those with limited mobility. Fabricated by volunteer Lee Main, the wooden phone kiosk and the bench were made out of recycled materials.

Atkinson said the only cost was ordering the wall-mounted telephone from Amazon. The group opted for a push-button model in case a rotary-dial phone confused younger generations.

Carrie Arnold, an assistant professor of thanatology at King's College, said wind phones in a natural setting give people a space and a means to cope with grief.

"I think when people are in nature, nature holds space for that. There's a grounding, a transformative element," Atkinson said.

"The very act of having somewhere to go to grieve, having a place to go and talk, maintaining some kind of connection to the deceased - for some people, not all people, but some - can be really adaptive in healing," Arnold added.