Teresa's Summer of '09 Adventures (pt.1)

Cougar Creek hike with Judy Stevens (April 2009)

G'daye my dear Friends & Family,

It's been quite a Summer of great adventures up near Lake Louise for me & somehow, we are already into November & I've not updated my blog to share any of my stories or pictures with you.

I am sure I'll need a couple of postings to fit everything in, so I'll recap the amazing hiking fun & wildlife encounters that I enjoyed as each month unfolded + a few of the other great things I was able to do along the way ...

MAY

In early May, Katrina, my little sister on the east coast in Maryland, got married to her beau Ronnie. It was quite the family gathering ... filled with many smiles, hugs, heaps of pictures captured by everyone, great food, and much love amid the rainy weather on their big day.

Katrina & Ronnie ... the newlyweds

Here's a few pic's from the wedding of my east coast family + a few of us from the western part of Turtle Island ...

Ronnie & Katrina's special day (May 14, 2009)

my new brother-in-law Ronnie & my brother Andrew, one of the groomsmen


Mom & Doug & their little girl ... all grown up & ready for a special horse-drawn carriage ride

Katrina Rose ... the radiant one

Katrina & all her siblings along with Mom & Doug ... what a mob :)

Ronnie with Roo, Loo, & Boo
Tammie, Jeffrey, & the girls ... Alexis, Bailey, & Carissa

dancing time ... great fun for everyone!

Katrina & Ronnie, the happy couple on their sunshiney day :)

me & my Mom ... so glad I didn't have to wear pink!!!


In the middle of May, Alberta had the tremendous pleasure & honour to host my teacher Dr. Joanna Macy for the first time ever to lead a few workshops around our fair province. The one day workshop at the U of C engaged ~100 participants who gathered for Joanna's teachings.

May 7-9, 2009 - EcoConference on Professional Helping (U of C)

panel session with Karsten Hauer, , Dr. Joanna Macy, & Dr. David Orr

beeswax sculptures that Nicholas & I made during one of the workshops ... note how uncannily similar Nick's green "koru" (fern frond) with the whale fluke looks next to my jade necklace ... that's my purple red cedar/great blue heron beside Nicholas' jade fish hook pendant

Nick had no idea of the similarity until I showed him my pendant that was hiding under my kayak shirt!!!

Mishka Lysack (U of C Faculty of Social Work) & Joanna Macy at the U of C


May 9, 2009 - Joanna then shared her teachings up in Edmonton on the evening of the 9th, along with the amazing Jennifer Berezan and her beautiful music. ~300-350 people gathered for this wonderful evening of inspiration & song :)

Jennifer, Anne, & Joanna (May 15, 2009) along the Marsh Lake trail

Joanna, Anne, & Jennifer enjoying a gorgeous day in Banff National Park (May 15, 2009)

May 15-17, 2009 - "Leading for the Great Turning" workshop - with Joanna Macy & Jennifer Berezan (with Leanne Allison & Joel Kroeker on May 15th)

How very wonderful to have Joanna sharing her teachings with folks in Alberta and to have Jennifer Berezan & Joel Kroeker share their musical gifts was truly a terrific comination! The Friday evening event at the Banff Centre brought a crowd of over 300 people out, who received the whole evening with much interest and gratitude. The workshop that carried forward on Sat./Sun. with Joanna & Jennifer
included folks from around Alberta (30 of which received scholarships to attend through the "ECO Healing & Rediscovery in the Rockies" project I was doing in Canmore) & a few other from outside the province.

Julian Norris (Outward Bound Canada), Kerry Longprè (The Calgary Foundation), Julia Lynx (Loving the Land), Mike Lickers (Ghost River Rediscovery), & Joanna Macy ... acknowledging the support from TCF for the 30 bursaries offered through the ECO Healing & Rediscovery project that I coordinated

Joanna Macy, Leanne Allison, Jennifer Berezan, & Joel Kroeker ... "Leading for the Great Turning" finale singing "Praises for the World"

What a treat to have both Joel & Jennifer share their music during the week-end workshop ... nap time with Jennifer singing her River Lullaby was one of the highlights as was Joel's acapella version of Hallelujah that he dedicated to Joanna before he left earlier on the Sunday. Here's a link to the website for this event for you to hear some of their great music ... http://www.lovingtheland.com/JoannaMacyWorkshopMay2009.html ... also you can listen to clips of Jennifer's music at: http://www.edgeofwonder.com/music-merch/ & you can hear Hallelujah on Joel's myspace page at: http://www.myspace.com/joelkroeker ... ENJOY!


JUNE

Here's one of my Facebook status updates from my trip down to Waterton with Margaret ...

"Teresa is grateful for the way things turned out after this evening's incredible encounter with a couple members of the charismatic mega-fauna in SW Alberta!!!"

TRANSLATION: I am truly grateful that Margaret & I were able to complete our evening hike last Monday (June 1st), when we first arrived into Waterton National Park ... we encountered a mama bear & her cub on the Wishbone Trail ... & upon finally seeing us, the mama bear decided we were a threat & she clamoured our way & "bluff charged" us 3 times ... huffing & snorting with teeth bared, ... before finally heading off into the trees!!!

(picture to be posted soon)
Margaret holding the big aspen tree trunk that helped her/us look bigger during our unforgettable bear encounter

I am very grateful to all my relations & the ancestors for helping us walk out from that trail fully intact & totally charged up with adrenaline, wonder, amazement, & GRATITUDE :) I continue to be totally amazed by overwhelming feelings of WONDER, AWE, RESPECT, & GRATITUDE for this mama bear and the close encounter we had with her!

(picture to be posted soon)
Margaret & I ... totally amazed & grateful for the experience we just had with our bear friends on the Wishbone trail in Waterton.


Nadia's U of A graduation - B.A. Linguistics

10 June - My youngest sister Nadia returned from her European adventures from Scotland to Greece in time to participate in her commencement ceremonies at the University of Alberta.
I was really happy to be there on her big day, to see her looking so grown up, very wise, and totally tanned!!!

Nadia hangin' out after all the pomp & circumstance was over :)

Nadia & the very proud parentals ... Cecilia & Tony

Nadia & Baba Rasko


Summer of '69 b-day party

I had a very wonderful time with a bunch of my family & friends in the river valley of Edmonton to celebrate my 40th b-day :) Ross brought party favours by sharing his Natural Dawn lip balm with everyone ... yummy lime & also mandarin! Maureen helped retrieve frisbees from trees, what a talent!

I had great fun with the little people who came along for the party too ...

(pic's to follow when I have my ext. hard drive with me & I am on the Internet)

Sonja & Violet ... Sophie, Tom, Evan, & Olivia ... Mary-Frances, Gerard, Alisdair, & Finley ... plus my folks & my Aunt's family ... & of course what's a party without a few hard-core "band geeks" ... so glad that Laurelie (in spirit) & Colleen were able to join in on the fun too!

13-14 June - great 2 days at the Pachamama Alliance AtD facilitator training ... even with the sleepy, early morning start on my birthday (add link to AtD stuff)

"Wild Rose Dreamers" - the name of our lovely little group of AtD Facilitators