35000 Feet up in the air... As I gaze out the window of this 747, I realize how big and glorious Canada is. Down below there is no lack of lakes, valleys, rivers, mountains...great wide open...it's a wonder any of us feel threatened by close proximity when there is so much land protecting us, surrounding us, giving us life, breath and ultimately, freedom. My parents moved me out of Bermuda when I was around four years old, and although a warmer climate year round sounds delectable, moving to this part of the world was the best thing Mum and Dad could have done. I just spent the last two weeks on the West Coast of Canada in massive British Columbia. The mountains, the rivers, the lakes, the cities, the ocean, the forest fires, the gigantic trees, the bike rides, the white water, the fresh fish, the sweet country air, the bears, the bald eagles, the big horn sheep, the wild horses, the brand new French song, the new friends, the old friends, the music playing, the story sharing....The list goes on and on, and I am so very blessed to have been a part of it all. The first time I ventured out to B.C, I was nineteen, I stayed in Whistler for the month of August, sat on a porch lit by candles and gazed at the mountains in awe. It was a place I knew I had to return to and that, a promise.
Perhaps one of the best gigs of my life, this trip, I had the pleasure of being the hired songstress on a white water rafting / camping trip with the best adventure company; R.O.A.M (rivers, oceans and mountains) Facing my fears isnt' something I do hastily, but facing fifteen foot waves in an eighteen foot raft filled to the brim with a weeks worth of supplies for sixteen people, now THAT is fast. It was a thrilling adventure, and we even got to see a DOUBLE RAINBOW!!! There were Chinook salmon, making their way home to lay eggs, only to die at the end. It's crazy, they head home, to where they were born/hatched, only to swim from river to river to river to ocean, they grow up in the ocean, if they make it, swimming freely for four years, then returning, against the current, fighting all the way upstream to lay eggs, and the journey begins again for their sons and daughters. Watching them swim with such force, was a miracle in itself. I am sitting on this plane, revelling in all of lifes beauty, and am most certainly refueled for the cooler days to come. I can't tell you how thankful I am to be here right now, but know that there is certainly a piece of my heart left out there in the West. xo
