 |
| Tiny treasures for the pendulum swing of your days. |
 |
Since my last penning, I have been asked two questions numerous times. First – what stood out in my peregrinations around Alberta? And the second – “Why, for God’s sake?” |
| Well, as Will Ferguson penned, to drive across Canada once may be regarded as misfortune. To drive across twice looks like carelessness. Guilty as charged. Ditto, Alberta for the most part. |
 Youngstown |
Thus, paraphrasing Rilke, dear Readers, one must for the sake of a few lines, see many towns, villages, hamlets and destitute granaries; know the spit of gravel, the feel of dodging potholes, and the heart-stopping sight of a black bear crossing the road. |
I like to think I’ve used curiosity as my life compass – a life of adding new strings to my bow, choosing challenge over compliance, and to boldly go where no man has gone before. Usually because I missed the exit. |
| Curiosity is the mother of finding out things. I ask questions. For example, why is there a handle on that log? |
 |
One can never be too curious. Only by continuing to open logs can we hope to garner an appetite for self-improvement, whether that means driving around Alberta, going to museums, or learning to stuff gophers and dress them as a cowboys. |
 Gopher Hole Museum, Torrington |
We should be curious; to question what is happening, how many people are now running for mayor and why; and to never lose that curiosity. We could be forgiven for having more modest personal expectations for our output during the pestilence of our time. But that doesn’t mean we should be content to curl up with Netflix, Doritos, and i-technology. |
| I know I didn’t, but that may have been because my cell phone had been tragically killed in a drinking accident the week before. |
| All things being equal, I’m hardwired to prefer peace and quiet. Solitude in dimly lit rooms is my preferred habitat. |
 Paradise Valley Museum |
There – the toothpaste is out of the tube. Take that Albert Einstone. |
| Curiosity makes me fluently and with ease, change my opinions, direction…and find out that to get onto the Mackenzie Highway from Fort Vermillion, you have to take the La Crete ferry across the Peace River, and to get home from Dorothy, you have to take the Finnegan ferry across the Red Deer River. And that there are four other ferries in Alberta. Who knew? |
  |
| La Crete ferry Finnegan ferry |
| We don’t necessarily need passion in our lives, but we do need curiosity. It’s what keeps us alive, as well as the ability to know when to gracefully let go of those things that no longer serve us. It also helps to not formulate a concrete plan, hang out in different places, push the boundaries, and pay attention. |
| Can I get a ‘Hallelu’ here? |
  |
| Armena Lomond |
  |
| Patricia Rochon Sands |
  |
| Saddle Lake Cold Lake |
It means you don’t have to always know what’s going to happen, you stop being embarrassed, and you listen better. I’ll admit, that part isn’t going that well. |
 |
Recent Comments