New Shoots

The Easter Bunny and I at this morning's pancake breakfast. 

I’m sitting outside in the cool spring sun. The snow has melted from the sunny spots in town, its recession bringing back the robins, the chickadees, the blue jays to bathe in my little backyard pond. I welcome the rejuvenating power of the sun, and as the grass begins to sprout new shoots I feel as though I too am entering a period of rapid growth and change after a winter of self-reflection. Even a plant I have had for twelve years is starting to bring up new shoots after being frozen while I was away over the Christmas break. I’m glad I didn’t give up on it as a lost cause. It feels like a time of rebirth for much in my life.

The teacher I am covering for is coming back to work in September, which means I will be going through some big changes in the next few months planning my next move. I was originally considering taking a little time off, spending some of my savings on living while pursuing some of my alternate passions: writing, painting, playing music. A good plan, yes, and it would be great to check out some more areas in B.C., but with plans to pursue a master’s in creative writing, it might be a good idea to keep working and bank some extra funds to help pay for more education. I’m currently working on a manuscript to submit to UBC’s creative writing program for their fall 2014 intake, which I hope to complete by the end of July. Then I’ll wait to see if I even get in.

Some abandoned buildings standing in dark contrast 

to the snow fields surrounding them.

Prairie field from the highway. 

It’s good to start making some goals and plans for the near future, even if my living arrangements are quite open-ended. I’ll see what jobs are available in this district, but I am also open to moving, with a small list of pre-requisites for the next town to try out: must have access to skiing or surfing, must be a town, not a city, must have easily-accessible wilderness. This sums up almost every B.C. town, but I also feel like now is the time to be exploring my options and trying out different places.

I’ve stayed in the valley this weekend, and it has been wonderful. My good outdoor playmate is back for a couple of weeks from his stint away working for the winter, so we were up on Friday walking with our skis into the mountains. My back is still tender and sore, but moving feels good so that’s what I am doing. I’m tired of sitting around being in pain; might as well move.

Farm boy and his dog. We tried to walk to the other farm yard, but the cold of the evening sent us back before reaching it. The land here plays tricks on a person. Things look a lot closer than they actually are.

Farm on the outskirts of a town.

Leaving Regina and heading out to the family farm. What "blowing snow"/whiteout looks like. And this is actually good visibility compared to what it can be.

Things with Cameron didn’t really work out as either of us had hoped, although we are open to supporting each other as friends in the future. Long distance dating is just not my thing, especially when I am trying to figure out where I want to be this fall.

Even still it was wonderful to travel to Saskatchewan, to meet his family, to garner a deep appreciation for how wonderful it is to live in B.C., where spring has unfurled its wings completely even though the prairie landscape is still wracked with blowing snow and seems in the deep freeze of winter.

We stayed at a little cabin and cross-country skied in the lodgepole pine forests of Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park watching the deer swish their white tails at us as they fled our company, we played badminton and swam at the rec centre in Regina, we saw The Hobbit in 3D at the IMAX, went out for a wonderful fancy dinner, went to the art gallery, went to a reading put on by writers nominated for the Regina Book Awards. I experienced what “blowing snow” means in the weather forecast, a new one for this B.C. girl; highways closed with twenty foot drifts across them, semis and cars in the ditches. I felt what a winter walk was like, breaking through the hard crust of the frozen landscape as a coyote yipped at us and called for its friends. It made me consider a different type of isolation: living miles away from town in a house with just your own family and the fields of grasslands and wheat spreading out in a blanket under the sky. It seems like a much harder lifestyle to me than what I am currently living here, but everything is seen through the lens of our own individual experience.

The roads blew me away. So different from the sights I am used to living here with the mountains and forests.

Last night I went out to a local jam session, wandering there with my guitar in hand, although I was too shy to play until the night wound down and only a few stragglers were left to bear witness. A guy who lives next door has a real knack for strumming out popular songs; he’s here for another week so we plan on rocking out a little together before he heads back down to his working life in the city. I am learning a lot about music these days, building up my confidence slowly, learning the lyrics and strumming patterns to some popular songs.

Snow deposits itself almost like sand across the landscape.

This morning there was the famous Easter Breakfast at the Community Club. Tons of kids were in town, and it was the largest turnout at a community event I have seen here. There was an egg toss, egg rolling, egg hunt, and of course lots of chatter. It has been great to talk about my upcoming move with the locals here, many of who are into the same extreme sports as I am, and have often lived other places in the province that I have yet to visit. I’m feeling no shortage of options, which is exciting, but I am also trying to ground myself in the experience of the now. You just never know what opportunities will come up in this life.

I have been asked to travel down the Fraser River again this year as a facilitator in training. It means I go for free, and that next year I might be able to have a paid role in the trip! That’s an exciting opportunity for me, as I am keen to get more involved in facilitating outdoor education experiences, and getting some experience teaching young adults with a passion for nature, just the types of folks who apply for a trip like the SLLP.

Well, here’s to spring and to feeling positive and strong in welcoming all the opportunity that comes my way. Life is sure beautiful in all its complexity, and the dips and dives make the view from the heights all the more grand.