Blog words to continue

Well... here Aja and I are back in Victoria... it was an amazing year on the road... so much to think about ... so many great people and places to remember ..... we had an amazing adventure and it has changed our lives in many ways.... now that we are back home please let us know if you would like us to continue the blog ... if you do we will continue blogging about our adventures here at home.... drop us a note at mrblackcarrick@yahoo.ca an email address that is a combination of streets I have lived on... black street in whitehorse where i was raised and carrick avenue where i stayed in victoria while going to university.... cheers my friends... i hope to hear from you....

Making the news

We traveled to Powell River to visit Noelle who we met in St Jorioz France. She was in Canada visiting her son Pierre. While there, we went to the one day will be world famous sand castle celebrations. Under the design of Sheila we built a mandala out of sand, shells, rocks and sea-weed which was finished off by having a crowd of people from the celebrations lay down and join hands. The whole thing was filmed for the local media and tv access programs.

BD cake

On my birthday we were still traveling in the Yukon. We went to a friends house and Aja made me a cake. An organic angel food cake to which she added wild cranberries. It was delicious and a perfect birthday gift. The only thing Aja realized is that it is hard to keep the cranberries on just one side of the cake even if you sift and stir and try and strain the runny batter with your fingers. It was, however, very entertaining to watch her try. The fact that she had so much fun making it was what made the whole birthday event perfect.

Celebration

Every two years dancers from the First nations around the Yukon and Alaska gather for "Celebration." My family and my clan, invited me and Aja to come along and take part in the experience and help the elders. One of the highlights was when my niece Megan sang her own song from the main stage. She wrote the song when she was doing her 4 day isolation at her coming of age ceremony. Three days of celebration in Juneau Alaska with dancing on the Grandstand, the stage and even overflowing onto the street.

Sacred Graves

To me the graveyard at Carcross is one of the most sacred places on the planet as so many of the hero's of my youth and childhood are buried here. I often think about these people and sense them in my prayers and feel their presence as I wondered the earth.

Reliving youth

Whitehorse is a perfect place for people who love the great outdoors, as there is a lot of the great outdoors to enjoy. I would like to say I was reliving my youth as Mike and I dirt-biked around Whitehorse, but as I never had the resources to afford a dirt-bike it was more like two old guys pretending to be youth while zooming at middle aged speeds. Because now it is not the zooming we appreciate but rather the views and the vistas. Because at my age in this beautiful country "look-out" means stop for some inward looking while enjoying the perspective of the pleasant panorama, not to warn other motorcyclists of a log or barrier on the path.

Four Story Log Cabins

Yes even after seeing the great cities of the world with their tall skyscrapers it is still impressive to see the three-story skyscraper circa 1947 in Whitehorse Yukon, built by a man named Berrigan who was in his 70's at the time he built it. They say this land has many stories to tell. None more interesting than the four stories in this log building. Ok there are only three actual stories, the fourth story is how, when, and why it was built.