Adventures in Fern Hollow

Last night I got to hang out with a great friend, Autumn. She has been away in Jasper all summer working and is now home for a few days before heading back to college. She penciled me in for last night and I was so glad to be able to hang out with her. Of course, my idea of fun, walking through the forest on some beautiful trails (armed with cameras and a bear banger) turned into something more like an adventure. I have to say that adventure is something that I have come to expect, especially in the company of certain people!!

We hit the trails shortly after 8:00pm last night. It was a beautiful night, a little smokey due to the forest fires burning in B.C. and a little buggy; but that's just to be expected!

We saw and ate wild raspberries.

We chased a spiky porcupine.

We listened to some grumpy hawks squabbling.

We hugged a massive tree.

We swam in a fern-filled hollow.

We watched the murky waters of the Pembina.

We saw the track left by a black bear....and tried not to step in some other "fresh" offerings he decided to leave on the path.

We enjoyed each other's company as we walked aimlessly down leafy trails.

As it turns out one of our trails came to a dead end. Instead of turning around and taking the path back where we had come from we ventured on into uncharted territory along the river bank thinking that we would soon come upon the open "camping spot" just around the bend or the next bend or maybe it's the next bend??!! Autumn called this "off-roading". I called it adventure. We felt like we were walking in the jungle or what we imagined the jungle to be like. The foliage and fallen trees were very thick and at times hard to traverse through. Autumn kept wishing for her machete, a purchase recently made in El Salvador, to cut through the thick brush. And I kept wishing for a sight of the "camping spot".

After what seemed like an eternity, probably about a mile, of off-roading on foot through the bushes, hair full of forest-type things, snags and pulls on our clothes, pokes and prickles in our feet we finally came to a spot where we could see the opening along the river bank where the camping spot was located. It was getting darker by the minute. We gracefully (ha!) jumped down from the river bank to walk the rest of the way in the mud and see the frogs scramble out of our path along the river. We survived our adventure and didn't have to stay in the middle of the spooky woods all night long with the bears and the porcupines.

What I found interesting in all of this, was that the woods were intriguing and beautiful until we felt like we were battling them and feeling a teensy bit lost. That's when the fear came and took away our eyes to see the beauty that was still all around us. Instead, the woods became threatening and full of hungry bears. The woods were the same, our perspective of them had changed. Crazy. You can draw your own life altering conclusions from that!

The evening ended with laughter, of course, and banana bread. Which is how I think every adventure with a friend should end.

Horizons

I have this amazing and beautiful friend, Tatum. From the moment I met her fourteen summers ago, I have been inspired by the beauty that she creates and the way that she lives her life. She embraces it full on with compassion, humor, faith and wit. She writes funny notes, wears unique clothes, loves two little boys (and one big one!), listens to great music, embraces culture, tries to cook (he, he) and expresses her creativity with a camera. She is a photographer, business woman, wife, mother, and friend. Today as I read her blog and looked at her latest photos, I was inspired once again by the way she can capture a person's essence, charm and brilliance.

She has been struggling over the past few weeks to photograph grad students in the rain. Every time she's been scheduled to do a grad session the weather has not been cooperating....very frustrating to a photographer! But you should see what has come out of the struggle! Umbrellas, ominous clouds, breathtaking greenery, and truly unique photos celebrating this milestone in life. One photo in particular struck me. It is of a young man in a suit, standing on the railway tracks with these huge gray clouds hovering on the horizon.

We never really know where life is going to take us or what's in store. Sometimes the horizon looks like it's going to be smooth sailing...calm, peaceful, cloudless blue stretching for miles. The kind of skies that you can only see in the prairies. Other times you can see the approaching thunderheads and you tremble at what that cloud could bring into your life. But what I have realized today is that sometimes the most beautiful part of life, the improvisation and the creativity are brought to the surface when the storms are looming and the rain is soaking. Thank you dear friend for showing me, again, what to do with the mud and the muck that storms bring.... roll up the sleeves, put on the creative cap and make something beautiful in the middle of the mess.

Check out Tatum's blog and her gorgeous photos by clicking on Paper Moon Photography under my list of blogs or click on this link: http://www.papermoonphotography.com/blog/