-Earth Day 1993 with Norah. We woke at dawn and walked the eight miles to school. Took turns sitting on the yellow line of lonely Highway 97.
Well’s Gray Provincial Park
-May long weekend camping trips with Norah, Avalon and Gen. Wearing all of our clothes at night to keep from freezing, but roasting during the day.
-Av trying to strain the pasta and dumping it all in the campfire. We had to eat granola bars (in the dark) for dinner, and in the morning the crows woke us up as they dug for leftovers.
-Making lemonade with the water from a natural mineral spring. Watching Norah smear the red mud from the spring on her arms, legs, face.
-Gen and I having to wear big bin bags to keep the rain off. We looked like raisins.
-Six women, three canoes. Enough food to feed 47 people.
-Moe’s 1970’s camping gear, complete with oversized rubber boots and exploding plastic yellow trousers
-Kate driving her Honda through the biggest puddle, water erupting over the hood (bonnet!) and roof.
-Being attacked by ducks who thought we were invading their territory
-Having to drag the food-laden canoes through rocky portages and mosquito-infested swamps
-Giving up and sticking to the largest lake
-Writing about the trip for the paper; seeing it played up beautifully over two full pages.
-My grandfather using one of my photos as inspiration for an oil painting.
-The hours spent wandering aimlessly around the valley near the log cabin where I lived for almost two years.
-My own “witches grove” where I often went to sit among the young poplar trees and look out over the lake. Sometimes I tied small gifts to the branches, feathers dangling from red ribbon, twisting in the breeze.
-The time I watched the cow moose and her calf eating willows by the blue light of a winter’s moon.
-Waking at dawn to go down to the lake and swim, because I was too embarrassed to swim with others there to see me.
-Being alone in that quiet place, with the morning sun burning the mist off the lake’s surface, the only ripples made my body's slow descent into the water.
-standing naked, waist deep in the freezing water, stones underfoot, trying to will no one to drive past.
-JP on the shore behind me, threatening to start throwing rocks at me if I didn’t dive in already.
-Diving in, the beautiful shock of the cold water covering me. Paddling furiously for awhile before stumbling to shore.
Good planet. Good times.
3 comments:
(o)
ah this was a glorious read. had me guffawing out loud and sighing in wonder...thanks! xxx j
ps: what is Dale saying? what IS that? (o)?
I think Dale is saying "oh." But maybe it is a punctuation portrait of a cat's butthole. I'm sure you mean no offence, Dale! None taken.
Janelle - I love that you use the word guffawing. I should guffaw. We should all guffaw. And eat treats and take photos of flowers.
Post a Comment