mother theresa time ...

On this journey I was not on a fixed schedule. I didn't have to be anywhere at any certain time. I had four days from Saturday to Tuesday where I was free to engage with the process and allow the experiences to emerge in their own time. My Spiritual Adviser told me later that "Indian Time or how Mother Theresa time" isn't an excuse for being late for appointments. It is time to allow the divine to connect with you in the present like a stream making it's way back to the source.

I had a loose agenda but I was trying to allow the circumstances to be my guide. I had a few things that I wanted to do and I wanted to savor each intersecting moment of memory.  Where we filled up for gas, where we stopped for a break, or grabbed some snacks.

Here are a few pictures of these places. On the surface they may not seem to be attractive or beautiful, however when revisiting a memory they take on a whole new perspective. Kind of like seeing an old friend after losing touch after many years ...

At each spot I consciously tried not to be rushed. I wanted to take in my surroundings at each spot in my journey.

The other influential component was the weather. I had been watching the long range forecast and found it interesting that the only places that had weather reports were Williams Lake and Bella Coola. There was a gap between these communities and if you understand the space you realize that the geography changes dramatically within the space of five hundred kilometers. There was no way to plan or revise your plan based on the forecast. You would just begin and see what happens. I had rain gear and all my camping stuff on board so I could adjust accordingly.

Last year I had learned on my bicycle trip that sometimes feeling discomfort and cold would be part of the experience. The old man who met me at the beginning of my journey spoke of the Sun Dance ceremony. In this experience hardship is expected. I knew that while I was not going to pierce my skin with bone and tie myself to a pole,  my hardship would take on a different form.

The other narrative that was in the back of my mind is that when I was on motorcycle trips with each of my boys, in direct contradiction of the forecast, we almost never experienced rain. This trip it looked like I would experience rain, the only question was when it would come.