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Looking Forward to Adventure
September 1, 2010: It’s
September, and soon I’ll be climbing aboard the Columbia III once again, this
time to kayak into the Great Bear Rainforest of northern British Columbia, in
search of the elusive white spirit bear. I fly into Bela Bela, where I board the
boat, and fly out of Prince Rupert nine days later. It’s a voyage into
wilderness, one I yearn for with longing and anticipation, mainly for the calm
and challenge such a sea adventure brings.
Ross Campbell and Fern Kornelsen own the Columbia III and run Mothership
Adventures (www.mothershipadventures.com)
from their remote West Coast island. With water access only, boats of all sorts
are a daily part of life for them year around. Their hand-built house, workshop,
and office with satellite connection are powered by solar panels and a micro
hydro Pelton wheel. These people are living the life I dream of. Ross and Fern
are more at home in nature than anyone I personally know.
I toured the Broughton Archipelago with them aboard the
Columbia III in July. That five-day trip was a rare lifetime
experience where everything—interesting company, nutritious
food, challenging hiking, wise education, wild nature,
ancient culture--came together in almost perfect harmony.
Time out of time. Ross, Fern, and daughter Miray are
delightful, peaceful, knowledgeable, talented, well read,
and fun. More importantly, they are deeply connected
to the natural world morning noon and night, and they pass
this connection onto their guests with each trip out into
the sea.
I continue to get blown away by how they live their lives.
The contrast is startling—me, continuously plugged in and
chasing my tail in a hectic city, they unplugged and calmly
putting one foot in front of the other on their quiet
island. As an example, Fern sent me this photograph of she
and Ross “on a little walk.” Accompanying the photograph was
this poem, by Mary Oliver:
Meadowlark Sings and I Greet Him in Return
By Mary Oliver
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Meadowlark, when you
sing it’s as if
You lay your yellow breast against mine and say
Hello, hello and are we not
Of one family in our delight of life?
You sing, I listen.
Both are necessary
If the world is to continue going around
Night-heavy then light-laden, though not
Everyone knows this or at least
Not yet,
Or, perhaps, has forgotten it
In the torn fields,
In the terrible debris of progress. |
Bon voyage. |
 PROJECT:
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