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| I saw this tree while hiking and immediately thought of a story that Chris had read once in a book about logging, where a fallen tree heaved back up and swallowed two men who had been resting against its roots |
For a place that's so politically conservative, the North Peace (the region in which Fort St John is located) has struck me as a place that is very open to spiritual well being. I think it's something about being so far north. There's lots of oil and gas exploration out of town so I can't say that the environment is "pristine" or "untouched", but there's something about air that's very calm and settled.
Last weekend I went on a retreat with the yoga studio that I practice with in town. For me, it was just as much an excuse to camp, hike and explore the outdoors as it was to practice yoga. I've been on a few short hikes around town but I've been told that it's rather dangerous without a friend or a firearm (or both) due to bears.
I had a wonderful weekend - it was on Gwillim Lake, which is a 3 hour drive south of here. I was in a frantic hurry to get there on time (not a great way to start a relaxing weekend) so I forgot my camera. On the drive down I tried to make myself feel better by saying to myself that it would be a chance to really look around, instead of always looking through a camera. In the words of John Mayer:
Didn't have a camera by my side this time,
Hoping I would see the world through both my eyes,
Maybe I will tell you all about it when I'm,
In the mood to lose my way so let me say,
You should have seen that sunrise,
With your own eyes,
Brought me back to life,
You'll be with my next time, I go outside,
No more 3x5s .
Of course I got there and just kicked myself. It was so beautiful. I put off writing this blog post hoping that I'd be able to get some pictures from the other women at the retreat. One had really incredible photos of the lake, and of us taking yoga poses in the water. It looks like I'll have to hassle her a little bit more, but here's a sketch that I did of the lake.
I've never been good at ink sketches, but it shows you the small mountain on the right side. Like James, I did some mountain climbing last weekend! Mine was by accident though ...
I had planned on going on a leisurely stroll around the lake. I wore my birkenstocks - the ground was wet from the rain and I figured that I'd be better off in sandals than hiking shoes. I couldn't find the path around the lake, but I did find a small wooden sign pointing upwards saying "to the top of the mountain". It looked like someone had written it with a sharpie so I figured, this must be a short hike! Like maybe 30 minutes! So I started up. Obviously, the logic was pretty flawed. Half an hour in I had been clamoring up this steep muddy slope holding onto whatever roots I could grab when I realized that I was in for a real hike. I considered going back down and getting real footwear, but I only had two more hours before the next yoga lesson and figured I wouldn't have enough time to go down and back up again. I considered calling it quits, but then I thought, "what if it's only 10 more minutes to the top? I'll sure regret going down if that's the case ..."
After thinking "but what if it's only 10 more minutes to the top?" about 4 more times (and an hour and half into the hike), I came upon a really amazing lookout. I managed to get a few photos with my phone before it ran out of battery:
I got a chance to sit for a while and write a journal entry before going back down. I thought about what an incredible view I had without a proper camera to record it, and what a great hike it was without proper shoes to enjoy it. I decided that it was a lesson in reality. I descended ass first as I slipped and slid my way down. Luckily the yoga afterwards worked out most of my aches and pains - I finished with pretty achey ankles and two dozen mosquito bites but it was pretty wonderful nonetheless.
We had four yoga lessons in total, focusing on hips, heart, hamstrings and solar plexus. There was a great fire pit and a wood burning sauna, which were very welcome on the cold wet nights. The whole weekend was catered by the owner of the only hipster cafe in town, and we were served delicious, hearty vegetation food (and I discovered she was from Victoria when I noticed her drinking a Fat Tug!). One of the most interest parts of the weekend was that one woman offered Reiki sessions - an alternative healing method that uses energy to balance the chakras. I had never heard of it before, but decided to be open to the opportunity. If you're curious, I'd be happy to share my experience!
The weekend seemed to really fly by. Before I knew it, it was Sunday and time to pack up my leaky tent and head back to work. My supervisor told me that good news and bad news always comes in waves, and it seems to be true. Because for once, we had a really calm week. I spent most of it organizing the filing cabinets - not the most enthralling work I've done so far, but satisfying nonetheless (you know the feeling where you shake a file folder and nothing falls out? It's awesome!).
This weekend was mostly uneventful, except that I went to a pow wow today. I find that once the weekend arrives, I'm usually exhausted enough to really appreciate cooking something delicious, watching a movie on my own and just spending time at home. I've really looked forward to alone time up until now. But I think I'm reaching a point where I'd really like some company. So today I decided to go to the pow wow in town.
A board member at the centre where I work mentioned that I would really enjoy it, and she suggested that I go right at the beginning for the grand entry. It was a really great experience - I think there were about 10 nations there in their regalia, and there were many dances and dance competitions. At one point, there was a men's traditional dance honouring the veterans (who fought in Vietnam, WWII) who were present. It seemed very strange to me. One of the dancers sat beside me when they finished, and I asked him if it felt strange honouring veterans who had fought for a country that colonized the first nations. Pretty loaded question huh!
He gave an interesting answer. He said that the veterans were people who didn't fit in with the soldiers during the war, and then didn't fit in with their bands afterwards. He said that it was kind of weird, but that the focus was to help them through their hard times now.
This struck up a conversation that lasted a few hours. He explained what was going on during the memorial ceremony and different dance competitions, explaining the different movements and rhythms that the dancers were trying to achieve. I asked if I could join in during a circle dance and he said certainly. It was a lot of fun - although he mentioned that in the future, it's customary for women to wear long skirts as a sign of respect. He pointed out that my skirt was too short. I happened to be wearing a skirt that cut just above the knee and immediately felt embarrassed and self-conscious. He mentioned that it wasn't a big deal, but I was fairly mortified and do hope I didn't offend anyone. That will be something that I will be sure to remember next time!
I did remember to take my camera this time and took many great photos. It occurred to me that I didn't ask anyone's permission to post them though, so I think it's best not to. If you'd like to see them though (and perhaps ask about Reiki at the same time, haha!) I'd be happy to show you!
So here we are, coming up onto week 7! Wow, has it been that long already? Let's see what this week brings ...
Cheers,
Sharon
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