I'm thrilled to write that our first workshop date has been confirmed!  We will be giving a one-day workshop in Smithers on Sunday, July 19.  Tamara Macleod, who lives just outside Smithers, has enthusiastically taken on the organizer/promoter role for our Smithers workshop, and we are grateful to have found her.  We have also made connections in Creston, Invermere, Mcbride, Vernon, and the Queen Charlotte Islands.  Momentum is building for the Road To Compassion.

So much time has gone into making connections, creating posters, and writing articles and press releases that it has been difficult to find time to update our blog.  Fortunately, Melody has created a beautiful poster and an incredible system for tracking the flow of information between us and workshop Organizers.  Our intented departure date is still for mid June.  Once we establish a workshop date for Creston, we will set a more firm depature date.

More good news: We have found a couple to sublet our home!  There was no shortage of response to the classified ad for subletters we posted on ilovenelson.com.  We are confident that our home will be well cared for while we are away.

There are two main reasons that I am inspired about our Road To Compassion.  One inspiration comes from the opportunity to visit BC communities and meet people through sharing our passion for Compassionate Communication.   The other is the opportunity to explore more of the outdoors.  I love the outdoors. My hope is to find time to write about past experiences I've had in the outdoors, especially the ones from my time up north, and include them with my blog posts.  Writing about my outdoor experiences will keep me fueled to do all the indoor plannning work for the Road To Compassion.  And I hope these pieces about the outdoors will also bring our trip more alive for others as well.  The following piece is about my time as an expedition river guide up north.

Bear??!!

We were two or three days, many kilometers of floating, down the Tatshenshini River, camped just below Sediments Creek.  It was late June and each night the sun was reluctant to go down - who wants to go down when it's summer in the north country and there is so much to see.  It was 12:30am and all the clients were tucked into their tents for the night. Fiona, one of the other guides, and I decided to take advantage of the lingering dusk and go for a hike up Sediments Creek. 

We hiked right in the creek bed in our rubber sandals as there was more light there than in the forested shores.  In order to stay upright, I kept my eyes on my feet, making sure to be careful of slippery rocks and faster currents.  After picking our way along for awhile, I looked behind me to see how Fiona was doing.  I turned around to see Fiona 15 meters behind me, arms gesturing like a panicked mime, eyes wide, and mouth forming silent words that I guessed were, "Bear up ahead! Look out!  Bear up ahead!"  Expecting to have to actually use the bear emergency tactics I had mostly just read about or imagined while trying to fall asleep at night, I turned around to find the largest, most relaxed looking Bull Moose I had ever seen sauntering across the creek maybe 40 meters from where I stood. 

It took me a couple of moments to let go of my bear emergency survival state.  What helped was that the moose didn't seem to be aware of my existence or, more likely, didn't seem to care about my existence.  He was out for a stroll and in no hurry to cross the wide creek.   I relaxed and took in his magnificence as best I could.  Somehow my life had gone from the paved world of my Kitchener Ontario upbringing (the entire field behind my elementary school had been paved over) to the inconceivable privilege of sharing a piece of this moose's life, in his home, during his waking hours, many miles and mountains from civilization.

Eric

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