EDMONTON AND LAKE WABAMUN, ALBERTA

We drove from Grasslands Park to Edmonton, Alberta where we stayed for a few days with my brother John and his kind wife Peggy. They were so welcoming -- I love them dearly.

Each time I visit Edmonton, I am young again, free, a pseudo-hippie student living in a co-op house in Garneau. It is as if I am transported back to 1970 when the world was a gentler place and possibilities were endless. This visit was especially poignant because there was a Wake for our old friend Eric who died a couple of weeks ago. He was a draft-dodging Californian, a tipi maker, a back-country camper, anti-establishment, opinionated, and he resisted all labels. He left an indelible footprint on our lives. The Wake was a time for meeting old friends we hadn't seen for 35 years. We told stories, laughed a lot, and drank way too many toasts. Eric would have hated to miss it. Thank you Sarah for arranging it.

After spending three days with family and friends in Edmonton, Tarjei and I drove West to the 1928 Folinsbee family cabin at Coal Point on Lake Wabamun, and Sarah came out too. Sarah & I used to paddle Alberta rivers together every summer, joking about how we hoped to still be doing it when we were 60 (an incredibly ancient age when you are 22.). So we got the old Thompson canoe out of the boathouse and paddled around for the afternoon. Boots ran and swam frantically behind us, afraid of being abandoned. Jabba watched from shore, unperturbed.

We woke this morning to find the weather had turned cold and stormy -- high winds and driving rain, which we hope will help extinguish the Western fires. I am hunkering down by the fireplace inside, thankful not to be canoeing on Maligne Lake. The cold windy rainy weather is expected to continue for the next few days, so we have changed our plans. Instead of canoeing and camping on Maligne Lake, we are hiking and staying in a cabin in the Rockies. As the Norwegians say, "De finnes ikke dårlig vær, bare dårlig vær!" -- "No such thing as poor weather, just poor clothing" (And, I must add, appropriate planning).Leer más