with outstretched wings

...and white drifts once again softened the streets of pemberton. this time, however, it's not snow but cottonwood fluff. the bushes are dripping with berries, the sun is shining and i only have 3 shifts left of work. i spent last wednesday volunteering on an organic farm out in birken (a loosely defined area with some houses about 30km from pemby) and ate the best cherries i've ever had, warm in the sun while sitting in the upper branches of the tree. life is good. i remember once again how glorious this country can be and how lucky we are for the wild things that still remain. and lucky for the beautiful places that people have made here as well- the orchards, the cabins, the meandering trails. these are precious things and they're right in our backyards! it may not be the overwhelming glory of the back-country, but even just a few hours away from a major city like vancouver there is so much available. i wish that every city-dweller i know would come out to enjoy this, even just for a day. most of the time there are no sounds but birds, wind in the trees that sounds like crashing ocean waves and periodic train whistles in the distance.

so it will be with happiness that i leave this place. happy for the peace, solitude, friendship and beauty that have blossomed here. it is my hope that these things can stay with me as the adventure rolls along to new things. a month of who-knows-what and then to india again. it has been over a year now since i left india and in many ways it is strange to conceive of myself in that life once again. i will be very interested to see what things will feel like this time around in the wake of new lessons learned and those lessons that are being learned again and again.