Road fork.

The essence of Fall is in the air in northern Alberta (already???). The morning is gray and foggy and the furnace in the motorhome is taking the chill out of the air. Willie Nelson's newest album, Let's Face the Music and Dance, is keeping me company. "Sittin' here wondering if a matchbox will hold my clothes...". If by matchbox, he means a small motorhome, then yes. Hearing Willie brings back fond memories of my dread lock-adorned college roommate, who was a Willie fanatic. Back then I wasn't at all interested in old hippie-cowboy serenades. Today, I adore them. Funny how life changes us. 

I recently rewatched Slumdog Millionaire, a story of an orphaned boy on the streets of Mumbai, India. (I don't often watch or suggest movies, but this one is in my top 5 of all time inspirational films.) The story recounts all of his life experiences that had led him to where he was presently.  It reminded me that every single day is a gift and that we constantly draw upon past experiences to help us make decisions in the present.  

Over the last 5 months of living tiny in this motorhome, we have realized how much this lifestyle suits us. So the question we have been asking ourselves is "where will we go for the winter so that we can continue to live in our little rolling home?"  We certainly won't be able to stay warm enough or keep the pipes thawed in our vintage home here, where temperatures are well below freezing, often dropping as low as -30c or lower. We have considered heading southwest toward Vancouver Island for the cold season, where temperatures are rarely much below freezing. Maybe even California. Seems more practical, right?

However, Northern Alberta drew us here for a reason (in addition to being close to family). There's no nice way to say it.

We came to make money. To pay off debt. To free ourselves from the system. To end the old chapter of what has become widely accepted as "normal life", so that we could write a new chapter about an alternative way of living. So far, we have made strides in that direction. We have a ways to go yet though, and staying put for the winter would help see us through to the other side. Dilemma. 

Out of the blue last week, a cowboy preacher from the neighborhood stopped by. (I use this term loosely, as the neighborhood consists of hundreds of square kilometers of farm and ranch land) He asked us if we would be interested in housesitting his cozy log cabin for the winter. Appealing. Yet...being holed up 45 minutes from the nearest town in bitter cold temperatures with the shortest days having a mere 7 hours of daylight raises my skepticism flag high. 

To me, this is a perfect opportunity to relax, breathe and observe. If this option showed up, won't others come too?  Yes, they will. Be patient. Be open to the flow of life and hold up your butterfly net. Listen to your initial instincts. Follow the bread crumbs that life lays down every day. The messages are all around us. I personally do not believe in coincidences or accidents. I believe that we play a much larger roll in our daily experiences than we are led to believe, through the teachings of religion and society.  

During a bike ride the other day, I was listening to Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth audio book for the 6th time. Yes, it's that good. Everything he said was profound, yet, the last line I heard before getting off of my bike was the most powerful one. He said "we do not live life, life lives us." And as the cowboy preacher said to us last night, "you can make all the plans you want, but they will only happen if The Lord wills them to happen". In my own words, I prefer to think that the universe has our best interest in order and that we are presented with situations that will help us to grow our consciousness collectively as a species. 

"One thing we do know: Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at this moment. "

- Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose

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