An update with snapshots of the last couple of weeks. I have
been taking a much-needed and spontaneously-planned break from technology
lately, meaning the blog updates have taken a back seat to socializing, reading,
writing, and participating in outdoor sports.
At the moment I am with my family staying at a swanky place
in Uculet overlooking the winter surf crashing up against the black rocks of a
cove. I’ve had a great couple of days out surfing on my own, and with a new
friend today that I met while looking out at the waves. I think I’m going to
stick around in Tofino for a few days on my own instead of heading back to the city
with my family tomorrow. No more plans over the break, and I don’t have to be
back at work until the 7th, so just going where the adventure takes
me. With my future job prospects uncertain it’s nice to check out new places
while asking myself if I could live there. So far so good over here on the island;
perhaps a visit to ski on Mt. Washington on my way back will make it even more intriguing.
Skiing and surfing in the SAME DAY while living in a rural setting! What more
could a person like me need?
Before school ended for the break we hosted a very
successful Holiday Tea Party. The students showed our guests around the
miniature Santa’s village they had been constructing, handing out “Go through
ticket[s]” that they made themselves. There were roads, trees, a backdrop
mural, Santa’s sleigh flying through the classroom air pulled by candy cane
reindeer, the North Star made from those plastic six-ring things that hold cans
together in bundles of six, Northern Lights, a skating rink, waterfall and
river. The students came up with all of the ideas, and I just facilitated by
providing the materials and helping them where they needed a little more scaffolding
to figure out how to turn an idea into a material thing. I’m just loving this
project-based approach to education. I’ll post some pictures when I’m back at
my desk. We also showed our holiday movie which was filmed to the tune of “I
Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas”. Incredibly funny and adorable at the same
time. Gotta love kids! I’ll post that too once I get all the permission stuff
filled out by parents.
Photo credit: Mike Jensen
And living in a small town means that Santa can stop by the
school. He arrived in a Snow Cat to our front door, and his elf let us know
that the reindeer were tired and needed a bit of a break. On Wednesday morning,
the day of our tea, it started to snow and snow and snow, and it didn’t
actually stop or let up until Thursday night, so Santa arrived when the sky and
ground was all white with big flakes of it coming down for more than a day.
What a magical place this mountain town is, especially with a fresh
foot-and-a-half of powder covering absolutely everything.
Photo Credit: Mike Jensen
It’s a good thing that I was not trying to rush down to the
city for my 30th birthday, which was on Dec. 21, because I certainly
would have been snowed-in. Instead I went out ski-touring with a friend, and then went to a wonderful winter solstice party
in the Yalakom. Yalakom folks are notorious around this area for living a
self-sustaining, alternative lifestyle. The community was started back in the
70s by a group of like-minded folk who purchased a large piece of land and
started living a sustainable, communal lifestyle there. It’s about an hour from
my place towards Lillooet. I knew a couple of people there, but most faces were
new and what an amazingly open and welcoming group of people! The community is
now in its third generation and shows no sign of slowing down. I was warned
that I just might become “absorbed”, and after spending a night with these
lovely folks I can see why. There must have been over 100 people there at the
party, and we had a big welcome circle to introduce ourselves and say a couple
of words as we ate platefuls of the delicious potluck food guests had brought.
Birthday at the top of Sunshine.
Almost back at the sled, with the recently restored Sunshine cabin in the background.
There was a gigantic burning man constructed from bundles of
sticks tied to a frame, and we were each asked to write something down that we
would like to be rid of in our lives or in the world and to place it somewhere
in the sticks before it all went up in flames. There was also a gigantic
snowman and a huge bon fire around which was some drumming and guitar-playing
and dancing, but most important of all to me all of the wonderful conversation
about real-world and relevant issues. It was an amazing way to spend my 30th
birthday, and is perhaps an indication of my continual removal of myself from the
life that was once mine in the city. I just didn’t want to rush back to go out
to some restaurant somewhere, although I would have loved to transport some of my close city friends to join me. Still, though, even without them I would much rather spend the time eating locally
grown food around a fire in the fresh air.
The burning man in full flame.
Before the drive down to North Van I dealt with my wood
pile, splitting some of the large rounds that have been sitting there since
last winter and smashing my index finger in the process. A large bruise bubbled
up immediately and I had to stop work for a while to stick it in the snow. It’s
good to remember that I live quite far from medical attention here, and I much
prefer a reminder of this sort than something more threatening. Oh to be a
klutz in the wilds of B.C. Don’t worry, though, I will be more careful from now
on.
Have been doing a little writing here and there, but not
much work on “the manuscript” which is in rags of thought. I’m okay with this,
though, as I keep saying. No use getting too stressed about it at this point; I
already have a full-time job to stress about. I think I am realizing that I
need to write my own story, the story of how I came to be where I am. I’m
trying to force it into something else, to make it into a story of some other
person, because I feel like this will be more interesting, but it fuzzes things
in the process. A good friend once said that I should write a book about my own
life first. I think it’s what Margaret Atwood did, not publishing it, before
she started on her string of success. Seems like a good person to take
direction from.
Have been out on some beautiful B.C. coast walks with the family in between surfing and overindulging in evening dinners out. I just love the smell of cedar mixed with the faint hint of ocean air. I do love living in the mountains, but find that I vacation near the sea to keep my outdoor exposure in balance. What a great life. Here are a few pics from the beautiful coastline.
He-Tin-Kis Coastal Trail near Ucluelet
Out to surf again tomorrow. I’ll update you all if I get the
chance, but the computer is not high in my priorities until I’m back beside the
wood stove in my beautiful kitchen.
Happy Holidays all, trees and other life forms!
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