we're heading out of town for the coming week, travelling south and east to see my family. all nearly 30 of them. They'll be birthdays to celebrate and babies to be to bless. Knitting, reading, long walks on the beach and lots of visiting. More from down South ... if we have internet connection otherwise, perhaps a few shots of Northern Florida flora and fauna when we get back.
Have a great week!
For those who know me well, they know that Neil Young is one of my music heroes. His songs are beautiful the lyrics, the music. I'm one who isn't so adept at remembering words of songs. Usually, its the music of a particular song that gets me....As I sat by the lake on our last morning at Mahood Lake, I could hear Neil singing "See the Sky About to Rain". Though I didn't know all the words that morning, I could hear him sing....
See the sky about to rain,
broken clouds and rain.
Locomotive, pull the train,
whistle blowing
through my brain.
Signals curling on an open plain,
rolling down the track again.
See the sky about to rain.
Some are bound for happiness,
some are bound to glory
Some are bound to live with less,
who can tell your story?
See the sky about to rain,
broken clouds and rain.
Locomotive, pull the train,
whistle blowin'
through my brain.
Signals curlin' on an open plain,
rollin' down the track again.
See the sky about to rain.
I was down in Dixie Land,
played a silver fiddle
Played it loud and then the man
broke it down the middle.
See the sky about to rain.
Leaving is often a little hard for me. Though our vacation was not yet over, I knew it soon would be. Maybe part of my morning melancholy can be attributed to the fact that I'd not yet made coffee or maybe it just was the fact I didn't want vacation to end. I had to get a hold of myself before I rejoined my family posse who were feeling rather chipper, at this point on this cloudy morning. Vacation was not over. One more full day to explore and another night to go. Be in the moment. Be here Be now is what I said as I looked at the sky about to rain. I sank into my seat by the lake for another few moments and listened to the song in my head and in my heart.
We hit the road and though it was time to go to see more of the Park, this was not the first choice of my girl. She was not ready to move on and let it be known loudly I might add. Her Papa and I let her be, let her wind through whatever it was she needed to work out. We listened to one of my all-time favorite Cds, Greg Brown's Further In and kept on going up the road. She ended up falling asleep. Rest and great music soothed our souls and proved to be the best fix for the rough start in the car this particular morning. Our girl woke up refreshed and happy and now ready for the day ahead. We stopped in a little town called Little Fort and found a playground. The kind that reminded her Papa and me of playgrounds from our day. Metal slides, steel monkey bars. See-saws with wooden seats and swings, one for each of us. We played for awhile the three of us and then picked up the litter around this area. We figured it was our thank you to this little Park for being there just when we needed a break from the car.
Just a short while more and we hit the Clearwater area of British Columbia to explore another side of the Wells Gray Provincial Park. Magnificent waterfalls abound. The rains came for sure but that didn't stop us from short walks to Dawson and Helmcken Falls.
I snapped photo after photo trying to capture the grandeur of these Falls. Not easy. The sound was incredible. Loud and constant but all the while peaceful. The roar of the water washing down. Cascading into pools and flowing onward. Swift and powerful.
After awhile we meandered on to the end of the road to see Clearwater Lake. We saw a Black Bear crossing the road, our second viewing of the day. Excited and grateful we were to have a chance see this creature make his/her way safely back to the woods.
This rainy day would turn into a rainy night and this Mama decided a wet tent may not be quite so fun after such a long day so we splurged for a motel at the campground in town. Luxury. Dry. Comfy beds, a warm shower, and yes cable to watch the closing ceremony of the Olympics, and a pool for my girl to swim in the morning. Worth every penny on this chilly, wet night. We fell asleep I know with smiles on our faces.
Homeward bound after four fantastic days. I felt grateful that even though this vacation was coming to a close we were returning to a our home, our neighborhood, our town where we feel happy.
I cannot deny though there is wanderlust inside me. And it ignites just about every time we travel from home. I dream of what it would be like to live here or there. I picture it, even feel it. Winding along these gorgeous roadways through such vast landscape makes me want to try at some point a more rural lifestyle. I can see living on more land, creating a big garden, building a studio to do what--I guess explore, and centering more of our life around home. Keeping it simple. Creating what we can from what we have. I know we are working to do this more and more right where we are. But I think outside of this and beyond. Maybe I'll keep wandering in this dream for awhile and all the while working to ground down and be right where I am, we are.
For this sweet time together in such magnificent beauty, I am grateful.
We are just back from a wonderful 4 days of our little summer getaway. For 4 days and nights we camped and played in this magnificent Park in British Columbia. We left home last Thursday and drove for nearly 6 hours (with stops) to Mahood Lake. By the time we arrived, we were ready to get out of the car. The weather had called for thunderstorms but as we approached we were greeted by clear skies and this,,,a sign that we just missed the rain.....Talk about grateful....
We were lucky enough to find a site with a lake view and after setting up camp, my girl and I walked down to the shore to see what we could see....
I love so much waking up and having no plan. No rush for a morning shower. No heading to work. Just quiet. On our first morning, we set up our chairs and wrote in our journal, painted and in my great hope I'd hoped to knit but I ended up untangling a huge knotted mess in a hat I'd planned to work on. Oh well, there is something about untangling that was very relaxing and for nothing else a good exercise in patience.
We spent our days taking short hikes to spectacular waterfalls inside the Park. My girl was proud and feeling strong for hiking just over 2 miles this first day. I loved seeing her hike up the trail. She imagined also sorts of adventures as part of the very one we were on. A magician she was for a time, changing this forest into a zoo and off we were to see the Giraffe or up ahead the lions and tigers. We walked in the lush green forest and saw all sorts of beauty.
We hung out. Chilled out. On a little outing on our second day, we found an organic vegetable garden and brought back fresh beets, potatoes, onions and greens and made a hearty stew.
We played with our camera and found all sorts of knew settings to change color, replace color, remove color....oh my that was addictive. Thank goodness for digital cameras, no film to waste.
We hit the playground and made all sorts of new friends from all over British Columbia.
Together my girl and I knit a scarf for her friend. I held the needles she wrapped the yarn and took of the stitches.
These days were quiet, slow and relaxing. I love this slow-down, the time together for the three of us. The freedom. The time in nature and away from distractions.
I take some time by myself our last morning in Mahood Lake to think about how to bring a little more of what we feel and create here home.
Now its time to break away as I have to get ready for work. I'll take these images with me and the memories of our sweet time away and know I can keep working on creating this calm and slowdown at home. I will soon post more photos and bits from the rest of our trip as we head our last day or so into the Clearwater region of Wells Gray. Be back soon....
