Yesterday I went for a mountain bike with a friend and then
went solo skinny-dipping in Kingdom Lake. I had brought a bathing suit, but
when I arrived at an empty forestry campsite there were no social norms
impelling me to wear it, so I didn’t. The water was cold, the view of the
mountain spectacular. Life is great here. Quiet and calm. It’s like I have a
direct line to the mountains, to the natural world, and this bond is what keeps
me connected to the core of my being and keeps the fire inside from burning out
of control. The city makes me feel frazzled and jittery, the overload of
choice, social stimulation and noise pollution just too much for my attention
system to pack in.
The view during my swim.
I spent a couple of hours at the school thumbing through
Kindergarten teaching resources, as I’ll have two K students in the fall and
this will be the youngest age group that I have taught. Thankfully I started to
get excited about coming back in the fall, a feeling that has been fleeting up
until this weekend. It really does take a month of time off to decompress, and
I suppose I am now on to phase two of the summer holidays as a teacher: the
ramp up. Slowly things will come to mind about how to structure my days in the
coming school year, especially considering the range of ages I will have in the
room. I’m going to have to stagger independent activities so that I can be
available to do guided activities with the students at each of their
developmental levels. Thank goodness I am excited again, and am I ever!
On Thursday I leave on the 6:30 am Greyhound bus from
Vancouver, which will take me to the start of the Sustainable Living Leadership
Program (SLLP), the headwaters of the Fraser River at Mount Robson in the
Rockies. It is a place that I know, as years ago Mike and I spent four nights
backpacking along the Berg Lake Trail on our way back from Edmonton, on our
second attempt. (Our first attempt was abandoned as I picked up the stomach flu
and spewed my guts dry out of the tent we were sleeping in at the very start of
the trail. Thankfully this happened before we had set out and not while we were
out in the mountains.)
Myself and a group of other keen outdoors folk will travel
for twenty-five days down the entire Fraser River by raft, canoe, and a small
portion of the way by shuttle van while hiking some of the last remaining old
growth forests in the province. We will be sleeping in tents every night, and
will also be developing our vision of the sustainable project we hope to
implement in our home communities upon our return. The SLLP is a program
supported by the Rivershed Society of BC, a non-profit organization that was
started by Fin Donnelly after he swam the entire Fraser River not just once,
but twice. He will be one of the facilitators on the trip and serves as MP for
Coquitlam, Port Moody and New Westminster.
Upon my return I am going to pass along the knowledge I have
gained about the Fraser River to the students and to the community. I plan on
putting on some slide shows here in Gold Bridge and in North Van, writing
first-person accounts on here and in the local newspaper, and passing along my
learning to the students at the community school. We are raising fish in our
classroom this coming year, which will be another way to connect students with
first-hand experience in learning about river ecosystems. There are a number of
rivers in town that we can visit as well, giving students an experiential
portal to deepen their understandings of the natural environment.
While much of the cost of the program is supported by the
Rivershed Society, I am on the hook for $1,350, and as a new teacher still
holding some debt I was hoping to do some fundraising. Then Oregon took hold of
my heart and a free place to stay and free waves held me hostage longer than I
had anticipated. So, this is my last-ditch fundraising effort. If you would
like to support me on my quest down the Fraser, please send me a cheque
(address below). Any amount helps, and of course you are under absolutely no
pressure or obligation. In a sense you are also donating to the school, because
the knowledge I gain will be passed along to the students, and to be honest, as
it is I tend to spend a lot of my own money on teaching resources that I would
like to take with me on the path of my career.
More information on the Rivershed Society and the SLLP can be found by clicking here.
The sustainability project I am hoping to implement upon my
return is to start a community garden at the school. During the trip I will
come up with a more solid plan for this, but it is a great way to get community
involved with students, and growing food is something that is intensely rewarding
and is a solid step towards living a more sustainable lifestyle. I’ll post the
plan on here when I return.
I won’t have access to a phone or to the internet while I am
away, so please accept my advance thanks for the support and I promise to send
a personal note upon my return. Be sure to send your return address as well. This also means that I won't be able to post on the blog while I am away, but I will be sure to transcribe some entries from my journal when I'm back in "civilization", if you consider a town of this size to be such a thing.
My address:
Jacquie
Lanthier
General
Delivery
Gold Bridge,
BC
V0K 1P0
Well, I must get back to packing. The river waits.
Sounds like a good time in Oregon. Been there some time ago, rode my motorcycle down in the late 60s to San Francisco, Awesome ride. Went all the way to Haight and Ashbury. Things were really hopping at that time. Ladies in long print dresses,everybody with a peace message, very idealistic and innocent time. Later, some of them ended up in the Bridge river valley, Illidge and Menhinick can tell you some stories. Many of them were nice people, if a little naive. The good old days?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, maybe catch you in late summer for a short time. Maybe can get all you ladies out for ahike. Have an awesome river trip, longest trip I have ever done was the Moose River to Hudsons Bay, that was long enough. Sounds like fun
Take care, and God bless John K