Lillooet, Round 2

I start this post sitting on a friend’s couch in Lillooet. A second weekend in a row out of Gold Bridge. It's the first time this has happened since I moved there last August. I think I needed the double-dose of “civilization” to get me through this lonely January stretch, if you can call a town of 4,000 that. Even though there is not a single stoplight in the whole town there are enough people living here to keep Main Street flowing with a steady trickle of cars during the daylight hours. The best part is that the drivers of the vehicles are, for the most part, strangers. There is something transpersonal about being anonymous. Something relaxing. I don’t have to wave. I don’t have to stop and chat. Although I don’t mind doing this in Gold Bridge, I do appreciate the contrast.

This week my upbeat persona was burning at full heat. I’m back to optimal health, and the skiing last weekend was phenomenal, as were my walks this week with Sanford and my time in the school with the kids. Life feels sunny and bright, like a spacious white room with blank walls, rather than a dingy darkened hallway; instead I am faces once again with an open canvas that I am inspired and have the energy to paint. We have been getting more snow in Gold Bridge, which is SUPER exciting for this backcountry girl. I also had a wonderful chat with my uncle who works in an alternate education program for teens in Ontario, and he gave me some great ideas that I am keen to use in my classroom. He also sent me some interesting titles on using Restorative Justice practices in the classroom, which I am keen to tuck in to. A little breath of fresh inspiration; just the type of thing that I need every so often as a new teacher working on my own in a one-room school.

Today I spent the day hanging out with a very spiritually-minded, earth-loving friend. We hung out by the river for hours upon hours, leaning into the wind, resting our backs against trees, staring down at the murky Frazer, its edges frozen in opaque white, its cloudy brown liquid pulsating up from the depths in waves slapping the rocks at the edge of the ice. We watched silent ice chunks riding the surges downriver, we threw rocks. We philosophized about purpose and energy and spirit. It was fascinating, although after such in-depth thinking I feel exhausted, and I must get some rest because I’m going touring again tomorrow.

Here is a parting image for you visual types: my favourite picture of the week, although there were a lot of interesting ones. It is an image of my snowy Tuesday walk with Sanford. It was snowing LIKE CRAZY while we walked. Trucks and cars were sliding and stuck on the roads in town. A logging truck had to be pulled from the ditch by another as we made our way down the hill, past the “Welcome to Gold Bridge: Population 43” sign. Tree braches and the bowing power lines were covered in thick ropes of snow. Streetlamps glowed in a fog of diffuse orange light. It was fantastic, and I ran back home to get my camera when I saw how this tree looked silhouetted in front of the soft orange lamplight illuminating the bridge out of town. I’m glad I made the second trip with a camera in hand, because by the morning the wind had swept all the snow from the trees, and the sky was once again a vacant blue.

And here's one of Sanford, since he featured so prominently in my after school activities this week. Such a great dog to have around. This picture is taken outside of one of the abandoned shacks in a deserted jade mining site in town, just a 10 minute walk from my house. There's a bunch of history to this particular place, but that is for another post.

I’ll post some more pictures in the coming days, once my social calendar opens up in the solitude of my wintery home.