If I Had Known All This…..

….when I was 15 years old I would have leaped 10 feet into the air and hit the ground running.  Running west across the ocean towards this great country called Canada. Of course, 15 years of age is a bit young, but I’m just saying.  Driving a coach through the wilds of this country is the dream which has been lingering for so long. When I am driving north my thoughts are wandering way back into the past and I can see myself turning the pages in that great book of Canada, I can see myself how I left reality by diving into a world of my own where nobody else, yes nobody, had access. And nobody would understand. So I didn’t really talk much about it to others. My parents knew, of course. What they really thought of it…..I have no idea. And the dreams were extensive. They stretched far up into the north where winter lasts 8 and more months, where wild animals still ruled.                                                       The Liard     The Yukon                                                The Athabasca My dreams led me down mighty rivers like the Liard, the Nahanni, the McKenzie, the Yukon, and yes the Athabasca. I was living in a tent or a solid log cabin during the winter, scouting out the wide-spread wilderness during the days. At night I was listening to the howls of the wolves and during clear winter nights I was watching the mystical Aurora Borealis, the dancing Northern Lights, which had always held my interest since I read about them in A.E. Johanns travel tales.  No, I have not gone down all these rivers – not yet anyway, but when I cross the Athabasca with the bus I can’t but remember all this and imagine myself down there in a kayak or canoe. My tent is set up for the night and I just come home from a long excursion. And who knows, maybe I never will do all this, but my dream brought me into this country where natural diversity is so overpowering and so vast that a life span will never be enough to see it all. Powerful dreams can lead us places and make us choose a different path through our lives. I have taken turns in my life I wouldn’t have done without my big dream.