Some photos from my BIG Drive

Another kind of pilgrimage …

There’s something to be said for getting out of town to gain a little perspective. And there’s a lot to be said for travelling alone, for taking time out to reflect on what I’ve been doing for the past many years (a good thing to do on sabbatical), and to look to the future, to consider goals and changes that will be life giving for me.

So on February 2, day two of my sabbatical, I set out on a mid-winter western Canadian tour to visit family and friends, and to make a final pilgrimage to my mom’s house in Regina. Canadian musicians, The Arrogant Worms, said it: Canada’s really BIG, and I only drove through parts of our three westernmost provinces, a measly 4,000 km. The diversity of landscapes was absolutely stunning, from the rolling mountains and lakes of the Thompson-Okanagan, to the stunning snow covered Rockies, into the expansive brilliant blue skies, sunshine and crisp winter flatscape of the prairies, and back again into the high mountain wonders of Jasper and BC’s Cariboo.

Despite the Arrogant Worms’ claim that Canada is so big “we seldom bother to go see one another”, my trip was, among other things, about exactly that -- making time to see and check in with people who are important to me, to see how they’re doing, and in turn, to see how I am doing. It was an informal but intentional pilgrimage of relationships, a time to be with people I care about, and to check in with myself through sharing conversation and meals, and by just being with family and friends.

Here are a few things:

• My family is important to me …. Making time to see one another, and being intentional about how we spend our time together are important. Our babies and elders are precious.
  
• I caught glimpses of my mom and dad along the way. They are as close as my heart …
  
• Conversations with good friends have depth and meaning. Despite long periods of time and distances apart we can listen and talk with each other about what matters, trusting that the foundation of our friendship is strong.
  
• Making choices about how I spend my time is important – it’s the only thing that I cannot get more of. I noticed how much I enjoy and want to go more slowly.
  
• I love being outside. I feel better, more like me, when I walk. (And I really like my truck!)
  
• Going through my cupboard of childhood treasures in my mom’s basement was a nostalgic trip down memory lane – a road I don’t travel naturally or frequently. I sifted and sorted and let go of what I could, and brought home with me six boxes filled with scrapbooks, coin and stamp collections, animal and bird cards from Red Rose tea and Alphabets cereal boxes, letters and school books, swimming and sports awards, and memorabilia from the 1976 Olympics. I have an idea for a project …
  
• Seeing large animals living and thriving on the land (despite all we as humans are doing to damage and threaten our shared environment) brings me great joy and cause for hope. When I was young I used to go for walks on the farm with my Auntie Neanie and I would ask her to write down all of the animals we would see: “a family of skunks lives in the culvert at the end of the lane”. She nurtured my love for the natural world with gifts of field guides, and How and Why Wonder Books (which I found in my cupboard and brought home with me). So … for the record, on this trip I saw elk, white-tailed deer and mule deer, groups of 10, 40, up to 80 pronghorn antelope (which always give me a particular prairie thrill), big-horn sheep and mountain goats, and two moose!


• Spending time in Wells with friends Claire Kujundzic and Bill Horne (http://www.claireart.ca/), who are committed to living with simplicity, to creating beauty with a message, to working with integrity to make the world better, and to protecting what is sacred in life, stirs me to continue to ask hard questions, and to make good choices ….


• I want to live in hope that we are all doing our best, and that we can support one another in knowing what that is for each of us.


• While I was away, I missed Allison. It was good to get out of town, and it is good to be home.

I’m not in the habit of looking for my daily horoscope, but this one, read to me by my brother-in-law in Regina, seemed timely. I’m not sure yet what it means (if anything) but I like imagining the possibilities!

"Some people have a hard time letting the wind carry them where it will. That’s not your challenge. It’s way harder for you to stay in one place for any duration. You’re in luck. You’ll be asked (and maybe paid) to wander."
(Sagittarius, Regina Leader Post, Feb 6, 2010)