Hello my fav Kung Fu buddies,
I hope that the rainy days aren't getting anyone down! I personally love the rain and am super excited for the first signs of summer! The flowers are blooming, the bees are buzzing and I am currently hiding in my basement from all the germs in the world.
Well not really.
I have found that in this " Stay home, Stay safe" it is getting increasingly harder and harder to do so now that the weather is getting nicer. My family has always gone for the camping trip on the weekend before the may long weekend to beat the rush.... not that there is a much rush to beat where we go!
Last weekend we went bush camping near Peace River. Not a person in sight and the weather was warm and beautiful. It was just my siblings and my dad for this journey. A thing to understand about how my family does hiking trips is that the end is always "just around the next corner" an voila! 8 hours uphill both ways to kick off you boots and take a nap.
This is usually the norm. But as soon as we started this trip I knew that it was gonna be fun. Down the first path, not even 50 steps from the gate, was a river. Okay I am slightly exaggerating, it was a creek, caused by circumstances of melting snow and dipping paths. But, in my defense, it was around 12 feet across and about a foot deep in the center. And COLD. Like, here, dip your feet in this freshly melted snow COLD. So I did what every sane person would. Take of my shoes and socks, roll up my pants and make my way across the sharp rock and pointy stick passing. As I got to the other side I could only hope that it was the last crossing like that we would cross.
And it was. (Small mercies)
The rest of was amazing. It is always amazing to see the forest in late spring. The trees budding and the green grass overgrowing the old and brown. The undergrowth with its thousand variations of moss, flowers and grass. (If its in my yard its weeds, but out in nature its flowers and grass K? It belongs out there, I just visit) We even saw wild life, like some deer and those bugs that crawl up from the depths of the earth to say hello. There were also moths. But I digress.
One of the most amazing things that we saw on the trip was the Peace River when we reached it. One might look over the bridges in Edmonton at the North Sask. and see the ice that looks like it is merely floating down the water with out a care in the world. Standing next to it is a totally different experience. You hear the rush of the water and ice, see the ice chuck that are bigger than some boats you've been on crash together and hardly make a dent in one another. You watch as trees that were over 30 ft high roll down the river, the roots that could not keep them from being dragged into the current fly high out of the water moving like a wheel being turning by the ice from underneath. You take a look at that and go... huh, looks cold.
Just kidding
I truly is amazing to be able to stand next to a force that powerful and be in awe of its strength. And to be honest, it wasn't the only river that had that strength.
I hadn't seen my family together for a while at this point and although we knew it was because of work and Covid 19, it was like a breath of relief to be able to this together. I got to talk to my siblings and find that they are not only surviving, they are thriving. They haven't given into the hopelessness and despair that I see so often at work and around the grocery store. The have projects and things to look forward to in there day to day lives. Taking the a moment to walk with them, shrouded by the tress and basking the rays of midday sun, will always make me happy. Knowing that I have them to lean on and visa versa, really gives me the motivation to keep trucking through the days that are yet to come.
So even if I have to climb mountains or swim in ice freezing rivers, I am always grateful for the time that I have with my family. And I know that these feelings will never go away.
So, thanks for reading guys. 'Cause, man, it really is rough not seeing you every week. Miss you all.
Stay safe, and find your strength around you. Its there, trust me.
Ta ta for now.
Well not really.
I have found that in this " Stay home, Stay safe" it is getting increasingly harder and harder to do so now that the weather is getting nicer. My family has always gone for the camping trip on the weekend before the may long weekend to beat the rush.... not that there is a much rush to beat where we go!
Last weekend we went bush camping near Peace River. Not a person in sight and the weather was warm and beautiful. It was just my siblings and my dad for this journey. A thing to understand about how my family does hiking trips is that the end is always "just around the next corner" an voila! 8 hours uphill both ways to kick off you boots and take a nap.
This is usually the norm. But as soon as we started this trip I knew that it was gonna be fun. Down the first path, not even 50 steps from the gate, was a river. Okay I am slightly exaggerating, it was a creek, caused by circumstances of melting snow and dipping paths. But, in my defense, it was around 12 feet across and about a foot deep in the center. And COLD. Like, here, dip your feet in this freshly melted snow COLD. So I did what every sane person would. Take of my shoes and socks, roll up my pants and make my way across the sharp rock and pointy stick passing. As I got to the other side I could only hope that it was the last crossing like that we would cross.
And it was. (Small mercies)
The rest of was amazing. It is always amazing to see the forest in late spring. The trees budding and the green grass overgrowing the old and brown. The undergrowth with its thousand variations of moss, flowers and grass. (If its in my yard its weeds, but out in nature its flowers and grass K? It belongs out there, I just visit) We even saw wild life, like some deer and those bugs that crawl up from the depths of the earth to say hello. There were also moths. But I digress.
One of the most amazing things that we saw on the trip was the Peace River when we reached it. One might look over the bridges in Edmonton at the North Sask. and see the ice that looks like it is merely floating down the water with out a care in the world. Standing next to it is a totally different experience. You hear the rush of the water and ice, see the ice chuck that are bigger than some boats you've been on crash together and hardly make a dent in one another. You watch as trees that were over 30 ft high roll down the river, the roots that could not keep them from being dragged into the current fly high out of the water moving like a wheel being turning by the ice from underneath. You take a look at that and go... huh, looks cold.
Just kidding
I truly is amazing to be able to stand next to a force that powerful and be in awe of its strength. And to be honest, it wasn't the only river that had that strength.
I hadn't seen my family together for a while at this point and although we knew it was because of work and Covid 19, it was like a breath of relief to be able to this together. I got to talk to my siblings and find that they are not only surviving, they are thriving. They haven't given into the hopelessness and despair that I see so often at work and around the grocery store. The have projects and things to look forward to in there day to day lives. Taking the a moment to walk with them, shrouded by the tress and basking the rays of midday sun, will always make me happy. Knowing that I have them to lean on and visa versa, really gives me the motivation to keep trucking through the days that are yet to come.
So even if I have to climb mountains or swim in ice freezing rivers, I am always grateful for the time that I have with my family. And I know that these feelings will never go away.
So, thanks for reading guys. 'Cause, man, it really is rough not seeing you every week. Miss you all.
Stay safe, and find your strength around you. Its there, trust me.
Ta ta for now.
