Stay Wild, Child

The eyes of a child notice even the tiniest of critters. This inch worm was inching across a footbridge on a forest adventure. Inch by inch we all get to where we are going....

Few words are needed to share the magic of our week of camping and forest adventures with our ten year-old nephew. Pennsylvania is a magical place and the wilderness here is so full of wonder. Enjoy....

Newts love cool, wet mossy forests. Little boys love newts. 

Mushroom magic is abound during the wet summer storm season. Children are amazing mushroom spotters.

This heart mushroom!!!

Wild blueberries are everywhere now. Best blueberries ever.  I have missed their  sweet tart flavor for the last 13 summers!

Exploring the river banks with uncle Tanner. Snakes, frogs and crayfish are all around.

A happy boy rests on the shores of Conservation Island in Promised Land State Park, located in the Pocono Mountains of NE Pennsylvania. 

No wonder I love Vancouver Island! The resemblance is amazing. I have so much gratitude for all of the magical places I get to call home. 

A summer well spent. 

Trumped...but Still Beautiful

It's been an adventurous month crossing the USA. I have a few minutes while I await a dental exam (another one) to begin putting my thoughts into words here. To my dismay, a cavity that I had filled two months ago is very sore and so I wait for a seat in my least favorite type of chair....

On a lighter note, it's been a beautiful trek across America, and just so our Canadian and global friends know: America is the same place it has been for a very long time. It's not suddenly evil. The people are generally kind and friendly - just like in Canada. The land is gorgeous and the wildlife is abundant - just like in Canada. Everyone is doing the best they can. Occasionally, we have spotted red, white and blue billboards, signs and bumper stickers saying "TRUMP: Making America Great Again". In my humble opinion, America IS great, but it has nothing to do with the politics. It's simply another incredible place on this earth, and the abundance of amazing human beings is what makes it greatest. 

When we approached the border between southern Alberta and Montana, the guard looked at my American passport and said "welcome home". I smiled and said thank you, but also felt a bit funny because I haven't considered the USA to be my home in over a decade. 

We made our way south to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. The geysers were so beautiful and bizarre. It was tricky to capture the true essence of their steamy mystery in photos. 

Herds of bison grazed the foothills and elk and moose could be seen in the fields and forests. 

Heading into eastern Wyoming, we took a detour when we saw a sign that said "wild horse scenic tour". We drove for nearly two hours through the dry badlands on a high plateau overlooking prehistoric canyons with layers of colored rock shelves exposed from centuries of erosion. The roadside markers described what was believed to be a prehistoric ocean millions of years ago. Also we never saw a single wild horse...so that was a bummer. We had fun anyway!

We had to do a last minute route change, due to an avalanche closure of a Rocky Mountain pass through northern Colorado. Instead, we went a bit south through Denver. As soon as we drove into the downtown area, marijuana was in the air. We parked and found a hip Thai bistro and has a great chat with the young man, perhaps 25 years old, who was the waiter.  He had spent a year in Thailand and was feeling obligated to remain in the USA because he felt that he would be throwing away his winning birth lottery of being born American. We smiled and suggested that he just do what made him happiest. He said the legality of marijuana in Colorado was causing a crunch in housing availability. Everyone wants to be a part of the cannbis revolution. He mentioned that he was observing the current generation's new American Dream: have a career that allows you to be your own boss and live anywhere you want to. We said that is precisely what we are aiming for...

We downloaded an excellent audiobook called "Stop Saying You're Fine" by Mel Robbins. It's SO good. She is a no-bullshit kinda gal and is a former lawyer, who now has an inspirational radio show. It is full of great stories and tips to inspire even the most stuck person into just doing anything, rather than nothing to make a change in their lives. We took notes as we listened day after day while traversing the corn and wheat belt of the American Midwest. We found this gem of a park to camp in, right in the middle of Kansas. We saw the name on our atlas (yep, we have a vintage paper atlas) and just knew we wanted to camp there. It was beautiful. 

We had a lovely weekend with my older brother, who is an air traffic controller. He wanted to take us into his center and show us the behind the scenes of his job, but they said no Canadians allowed in there. So much for that. America's air security is seriously serious.

So we made it to the east coast. We are currently visiting my dad in rural northeastern Pennsylvania. It's so beautiful here. We have been getting up and going for a long morning stroll around the neighborhood where I grew up exploring forests and streams. We saw a family of red foxes and found this turtle in the yard today. A pair of robins built a nest on top of a Christmas wreath that I hung for my dad over a year and a half ago next to his front door.  

We harvested a ganoderma tsugae mushroom, a type of reishi that grows on hemlock trees here. We dried a big one for tea and Tanner sautéed a chunk to enjoy fresh also. He said it was delish. 

We made a visit to the Himalayan Institute last night for supper and a kirtan, Indian devotional chanting. It was a wonderful visit and in one week we will begin the 200-hour training to become certified yoga instructors. We are very excited.

Front entrance at the Himalayan Institute in Bethany, Pennsylvania

Welcome to Loveland

Lucy the Coon Hound.

The sun finally just broke through the clouds after a chilly morning in the wild, green foothills near Salt Lake City, Utah. We were invited by some new friends to join them and all of their dogs at their rustic getaway cabin for the weekend. It's finally allowed me to take some time to catch up on my writing. Another beautiful place on our earth! More beautiful people to connect with!

Our final days in Mexico were really special. The great people we encountered made it difficult to cross the border and trek back into the "real world" of the USA. The kindness and generosity of the Mexican culture is something we can all take a lesson from. They give and give almost to a fault. We felt like we were treated as family everywhere we went.  On our last night south of the border, in Los Mochis, we Couchsurfed with a wonderful man with whom we shared our final Mexican sunset and a bounty of beautiful conversation. We were sad to part ways, as this has been a common theme for us for many years in many places. It's hard to sever the ties that we create with each special spirit that we cross paths with...though those invisible ties seem to remain forever intertwined within our soul memories.

We crossed into the USA in Nogales, Arizona. We hoped that our huge cacao stash wouldn't cause any issues as we passed on through. We were thoroughly searched and had to surrender our mangos and a half-rotten cacao pod. The guards questioned our boxes of cacao. They informed us that it's necessary to have all food items labeled with contents and point of origin. They then proceeded to shout "CA-CAO! CACAO!" As they made finger guns and pretended to shoot each other. Hilarious. And so very American. We always keep a decorated glass Mason jar with us, for the last couple of years at least. Of course, we brought it on this trip. It contains our positive intentions, affirmations and loving requests to the universe. It really works. As a border officer dug through the trunk of the car, he asked what the jar was. We simply said "it's our good vibes jar." He laughed and said "Cool. That makes sense." I said "I put some good vibes into that jar that would help us get through this border crossing smoothly. Let's see if it works...." Just then, his partner came back from consulting with her supervisor and gave us a packet of papers. She smiled and said we were just getting a warning. Next time, we should follow the rules.

We headed for Tucson, Arizona arriving at nightfall and found a quaint and very affordable motel room. The man behind the desk was not so friendly. Somehow it came up that we just crossed back into the USA after 5 months in Mexico and Central America. I was feeling like I just stepped out of a spaceship onto another planet being back in America. I said "I am glad we found this sweet motel. I feel..." And he interjected with "a lot safer?"  I paused and looked at him with a bewildered stare. I shook my head no. I felt like a fish out of water. On a unicycle.

So this is culture shock.

For the record: Mexico and Guatemala are both beautiful, welcoming countries full of regular people just like you and I. For many decades, North American media has portrayed these places, and much of our planet, as dangerous, violent and "out to get you".  It's simply not true! There was never, ever a single moment in the last 5 months that we felt we were in a hint of danger. The scariest thing is the USA border crossings! The worst thing that happened during our trip was that some of our favorite bumper stickers got peeled off of our car in Guatemala. (So we are replacing them slowly.) 

A bumper sticker from our 2013 USA trip 

We got used to all of the Mexican police and military check stops after passing dozens of them. We often got waved through with a smile. When we did get stopped, we felt like they just wanted to chat for fun. It was fun. We realized quickly that these people are just like us. Only it's their job to look intimidating and ask a lot of questions. It is definitely true that there is some corruption, crime and poverty in every place on the globe. The USA and Canada are no different. The biggest difference that I noticed in the Mexican and Guatemalan people is that they have an inner determination and self-sufficient attitude that many (certainly not all) Americans and Canadians just don't have. They aren't waiting around to be taken care of. Especially in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. I whole-heartedly support the stance that the indigenous (and other) people of that place continue to take. Independence. Freedom. Equality. Respect. Peace. Love. That's all any of us desire. Let's make it happen. Our future can be in our own hands. Grab it by the reins!