Happy New Year Dear Ones!
Thought I'd jot down some of my reflections on this past year of 2008 ... & send out a few wishes to you for the new year ahead ... so here goes ...
2008
JANUARY - reconnecting with friends & family & rekindling loving long-distance connections
T's North American train trek from Edmonton to Santa Cruz, ... through Colorado & Utah
... & as far as Lincoln, Nebraska
... en route to D.C. where I got to reconnect with Margaret this time on the east coast & with my east family that includes my three nieces Carissa "Roo," Bailey "Boo," & Alexis "Lexie Loo," & my sister Tammie & her husband Jeff & my Mom, Doug, ... and Katrina, & Ronnie ... plus the 5 dogs (3 of them puppies, one in each of these 3 households!)
... & beyond to Syracuse
... then landing into Cow Town for -35 Celsius temperatures to search for housing
FEBRUARY - next chapter in T's outdoor education adventures begins, this time with Ghost River Rediscovery plus facing the reality of returning to an office environment
MARCH - still surviving Winter temp's again after my year Down Unda
APRIL - amid my grand plans to get some "work that Reconnects" activities going outside ... the big blizzard conditions led to the postponement of my Earth Day dayhike at the Cross Cons'n Area ... but I did manage to finally get out to try ice climbing with one of my OBA mates, Teddy the following week-end ... how AWESOME!
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MAY - rescheduled day hike at the Cross on Mother's Day
... fabulous May long week-end in Waterton with my girlfriend Margaret
...& Rediscovery Leadership training & Bronze Medallion recertification at Pearson College, what a splendid group, thanks Mike, Serena, Mutang, & Thom!
JUNE - birthday fun with family & friends ...
How splendid to reconnect with my California friends again in Santa Cruz ... Margaret, Kristin, Claudette, & Isabel, ... sorry we missed each other this time Cheryl Gleb, & Aidan.
chocolate/raspberry b-day cake, YUM!
Reconnecting with my sweetie ...
... & one of my Aussie Seed Mates kt on the CA coast ...
... plus new friends made at the NVC Retreat near Santa Cruz, CA ... thanks Kristin & Jean I hope I can make it again in 2009!
JULY - participating in the Rediscovery Wilderness Guide Training camp (finally meets Kim W. :) & teaching the Stnd. 1st Aid session too,
... participating in my 1st sweat lodge & having a great solo overlooking the Ghost River valley
... challenges in office mode return/continue.
... PATIENCE is a must!
AUGUST - Glacier N.P. camping trip & an amazing hike up to the Asulkan hut with my sweetie amid predominantly sunny skies along with a scary thunder & lightning show in the final 40 minutes of the climb!
... 2 amazing sweat lodges & my splendid 2 day solo during the Wolf Dreamers Rediscovery adult camp
SEPTEMBER - "no go" for funding on Letters of Interest I sent out to help me continue on with GRR except for one Foundation who did invite a full proposal ... dealing with the hoop jumping challenges of seeking funding has been quite a "shoe on the other foot" experience, yet one that I had not intended to seek out
... ironically, T's final day with GRR was the day after I got this news
OCTOBER - half-day deep ecology workshop at the U of C, job interview (via. Skype) with an outdoor education organization out on Vanc. Isl. ... movie & a speaker session at the Canmore Co-Op ... we watched Earth, Spirit, Action www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6jCpChUxOw & The Awakening Universe www.awakeninguniverse.com/ (related clip at http://awakeningthedreamer.org/ )
... wrote up & sent in funding proposal to The Calgary Foundation for "Rediscovery in the Rockies" project ... packing up my "Wombat Warren" basement suite in Calgary & shuffled my particles back into storage up Edmonton way
NOVEMBER - interview for TCF funding process went well, I "breathed life" into the proposal with this in-person meeting ... thanks to my Aunt Evelyn & Uncle Jerrold for their generous hospitality for extra week down in Cow Town after I moved out
... Barack Obama wins the U.S. election, AWESOME!!
... gypsy mode in full swing as I bounce about staying with a few different friends in Edmonton ... thanks heaps to Laurelie, Jill & Ethan, Sophie & Tom, & my family near Edm. :)
... reconnecting with my sweetie & some of my family near Washington D.C. while continuing the job search in cyberspace
... job interview for an exciting outdoor education position just outside of Victoria
... snowshoeing in deep, fresh snow in West Virginia over the U.S. Thanksgiving break with my sweetie
DECEMBER - regrouping after the BIG blow when the Pearson opportunity fell through :(
... oh, the ups & downs of seeking gainful employment ... what a test & work-out for the ego & the tender heart that sometimes arises along the journey!
This month, I also had to bid "farewell" to my sweet cat You-Jean ... she was definitely the best "depot find" that I ever brought home from my recycling depot attendant days!!!
... Dr. David Swann wins the Alberta Liberal Leadership race, congratulations David :)
meeting up with Seed Mate Rob and OBA mate Ruth in D.C., how fun!
... reconnecting with my Seed Mate Rob for a few visits was a real treat as well! Thanks for the great hikes & tour of D.C. Rob :)
... news that the TCF funding proposal was approved BUT for only half the amount ... & trying to figure out how things might look with only half the funds.
It was really nice to be able to connect with my east coast family on a number of occasions while I was in the D.C. area ... Alexis is now 10 & the twins are 7!
.. one week of sunset & sunrise walks along the beaches & around the marshes at the Chincoteague Wildlife Refuge on Assateague Island with my sweetie ... how splendid to see the wild ponies and the little deer/elk plus ALL the shore birds ... great blue herons, egrets, geese, ducks, owls, tree swallows, etc.
... scramble/hike along the billy goat trail at Great Falls N.P. with Margaret before a mighty fine NY's eve. dinner, thanks sweet M !!!
Teresa's wishes for 2009 ...
* a wish to embrace the comings & goings in my life, especially given the gypsy-like nature of my ways & my current state of flux (as well as the global transitions that affect us wherever we may be) ... so that I can more readily feel as if I am "Always Coming Home"
* a wish to seek out "my place in this world" & to find employment that feeds my being & my body & the same for others who are on similar quests,
* a wish to ride the winds of change as gracefully as I can,
* a wish to continue learning new ways to navigate these winds by understanding & communicating my needs & the needs of others along the way.
I am ever grateful for the abundance of GENEROSITY and LOVE in my life that is enabling me to keep moving through this latest transition. The generous welcomes & hospitality of my sweet Margaret & my family here on the east coast.
I am also truly grateful for the abundance of beautiful people & beings in my life and for my ability to explore the bounty of amazing places, critters, and ecosystems that invite me to seek out new adventures & feed my "shutter happy" ways! Especially for the little people & faithful companions with whom I love to reconnect with as well!
Most of all, I am sending heartfelt wishes to each & every one of you,
... to my family & friends around Canada & the U.S., to my Seed Mates, the great mob at OBA, the Rediscovery clan here in Canada, my NVC giraffe friends fr. the Santa Cruz Retreat, and to ALL the people and other beings with whom we share this planet, ...
(you can click on this picture to make it bigger so you can read it)
My wishes for ALL of you are captured in this "Earth Blessing" ... wishes for a truly happy, healthy, peaceful, and fun-filled year that finds you doing things that make your heart sing and your body & spirit rejoice.
Hugs 'n' Bugs & heaps of peace & love,
Teresa
aka "Sparkles in the Sun & Plays like the Wind (or "Spirals in the Wind")"