My earliest memories are of time spent on the prairie just out my back door on the outskirts of Saskatoon. It was a glorious place to play. There was a slough and several small gullies nearby rich in the muck of life. There was a lane behind the house where I learned to ride my first two-wheeler.
We did a lot of camping in during my youth. Camping involved a canvas tent and of course on rainy nights the worst thing that could happen was for anyone to touch the walls of the tent. It was like having a spigot attached to your finger if you touched the walls during a rain storm. Summer storms were a common in Saskatchewan. You could see the dark clouds rolling in for miles. Often there was lightening shooting out of clouds as they approached. Usually the clouds were dark but with particularly nasty storms they took on a malevolent dark purplish hue. To this day I love being present to powerful storms.
I love camping today as much as I did back then. I love waking in the night to crawl out and stand in jaw-dropping awe at the Milky Way. There is immense joy in waking with the sun, sticking my head out of the tent to catch that first breath of fresh air followed by a luscious hot breakfast with a lip-smacking cup of morning coffee.
These days it’s mostly mountain air for me at Douglas Fir campground on Mount Baker. Communing with the tall ones, hiking, listening to natures calling and feeling the ground beneath my feet.
Last summer I was blessed to take a summer trip through eastern Washington and Oregon states then down through northern and eastern Nevada returning up the eastern Sierra Nevada’s. Some of these memories are documented in Desert Camping video.
My three children were exposed to camping at a very young age (taking a new baby camping is truly an adventure) so I know of the challenges involved and have expressed deep gratitude to my mother for giving me this gift. Waking in Green Lake or Waskesiu Saskatchewan with snow on the ground or putting a soaking wet tent away and being soaked to the bones ourselves are warm memories for me. Although I can’t say for certain this was my parent’s intention, but it was during these times my love of the earth was forged. My videos above accurately reflect my feelings for the land.
Land Meditation:
Mount BakerLinks to an external site. – Base to Heather Meadows. I have been camping on Mt. Baker for over 20 years and never tire of her. Over 20 years a lot of life happens and she has always been a resource for my higher good.
Pic by : Pavl Polo
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