Thursday, August 22, 2013

Mamma bear and Pappa bear come to visit

So this week at our house it's been very busy and hectic, but in a good way. My sister celebrates her 50th birthday this week and so we had her's and my Dad's 80th celebration all at the same time, since his is in November and he's in BC so we decided to host them both at the same time.
What my parents didn't know was that we would be surprising them with our other brother from BC as well...and it worked out great!
What was even better was having all the siblings together for the first time in a looooog time......every time we tried to get it to happen something happened where one could just not make it and it never happened. So FINALLY it all came together and it was a riot.
So for the last couple of days I have had just my parents here with us for some quiet time with us after everyone else left and it's been nice. They leave tomorrow and I will be sad, but it was good to have them. Today my parents planted 6 hosta plants in my front yard that my Mom had transplanted a few months ago for me from her plants back in BC. This evening we had a small and short fire in the back yard but it was nice to smell that wonderful fire pit smell.
Tomorrow we have one last breakfast together in the city and then they head back to Calgary to spend a little more time at my big sisters.
This is my Dad's supervising stance lol

So my Mom yells to me..."Robyn, come tell me where you want the plants to go", and then she just plants them where she wanted to anyways LMAO 
I think we have totally worn out the parents....both napping on the couch tonight ;-)
Having a small but fun fire with the folks.
The whole family together again. 

The siblings together again!
Us kids lined up in order of birth and then held our number up lol.

Monday, August 19, 2013

Drug virgin

One of the things that seems to be quite prevalent at Shambhala is drugs. Not just one kind, but pretty much anything you can think of...and for me...well I can only think of a few...so for a drug virgin like me to be witness to ALL of them at one time in one spot at first was pretty overwhelming. The only analogy that I can come up with is that it's like going to Walmart for all your drug needs...some people have signs at there camps....others come TO your tent like carnival buskers lol...."anyone need acid, K, or weed" was a usual days visit to the camp lol.
But to watch the drug use is another whole ball game.....so after you get used to seeing it being sold as if you are at a farmers market then one has to get over watching it being taken and used, ALL THE TIME! For me the weirdest one to watch were K (Ketamine) being snorted up the nose....by everyone and anyone and the other bazaar one was watching people take a cartridge that one would use in a container for whip cream....but instead they use the container for blowing up balloons and then huffing the gas off of that.
So yes, for those of us not used to seeing it....at first it blows your ever living mind...but then if your me.....you tend to stand back and just watch and analyze the whole idea of what your witnessing. That part of it is what intrigued me....watching and analyzing the people who did all of this.
The other unique aspect of this little world is how everyone selling conducts their sale....what made me giggle is how they all have scales.....little mini scales they pull out of their pants all ready for the "deal" lol....and some that really made me laugh was how they transport their "stuff".....by far my favorite guy was the one that came to camp with Mason Jars full of "special weed"...with all kinds of different names...that truly was like being at the farmers market for that one...but instead of getting your canning....you got a different kind of canning LOL.


Sunday, August 18, 2013

When you give....you receive

The things I experienced at my Shambhala week are ones that surpass many I have had up until that point. The feeling and atmosphere that bestows over the community of over 10000 people is mind blowing. To have THAT amount of people in one spot, stuck together for 6 days is just astounding. But what's more astounding is that everyone comes there with the same attitude....the attitude of LOVE...no judgement, no preconceived notions of who anyone is.....everyone just comes with an open heart and open mind.
Things that amazed me there: No one gives a shit what your occupation is...there is no conversation of "so..what do you do?"...that question is never asked....this is the one week for many to leave all of that behind and be equal with EVERYONE!
Everyone is LITERALLY equal with one another....whether you are a man and dress in a tutu, or a naked female prancing around or wearing a one piece body suit in the print of a zebra. No one passes any judgment. It really makes you think about life when you are in that world for 6 days...what if the WHOLE world were this way....no judgment, just acceptance. WOW.
So before I left I madly sewed together a little gift to giveaway and so did my sister...she stitched some Hootie patches for me too. So while I was there I gave these items away...I always made sure that there was a reason why I was giving that particular person my gift of my self. There is a story behind every single one of them. I have posted a pic of two above that really stand out for me. Here is THAT story.
So before I left I found many people on the Shambhala FB page who had seen my Hooties and wanted to connect at Sham....but when your there, finding people you have never met is pretty much IMPOSSIBLE lol. How do you find someone who you don't even know what they look like? So this particular fellow in the pic with me and the other girl had said that somehow he would find me...didn't know how, but dammit he'd find me and he had a present to trade with me.
Sooooo.....now it gets good. lol. I had gone to a tent in one of the musical villages....it was called the "Quest Tent", where you go and pick from a deck of cards and choose your quest and full fill it. The man at the quest tent video tapes you picking and reading your quest and records the time...once completed, you go out and try to complete your quest. My quest was to find a stranger, buy them a meal and talk to them for an hour. NO FREAKIN PROBLEM.....I love strangers...so how freakin perfect for me. So I headed down to the main "town" part where all the food is in search of my perfect stranger...I wanted to find the perfect one lol so to speak....so I waited and waited and waited....NOTHING....no one that stood out to me that would be "the one". So I headed back to my camp and while walking back I thought I would take some video for the hubster back home so he could see what I was seeing. So while walking and videoing this girl stops me and says "what are you taking pictures of?"....it caught me off guard. I told her what I was doing and why...she replied and then we just stood there looking at each other. So I asked her if she ate today. She said no...I asked her if she would mind if I bought her a meal and chatted with her for a while. She said she would love that. So off we went....we had to go back to our camps first though to gather some stuff.....so while on the way back to camp with my stranger friend....this guy see's my owl purse and says "HEY...where did you get that Hootie...I am supposed to find a girl named Robyn, I have a present for her!" So I pretty much shit my pants and said "WTF...I am Robyn and I have a Hootie for you"...to which the new stranger friends looked at me like WTF is happening lol. So we explained to her what we were talking about and we all had a great laugh at the crazy coincidence that was happening before our eyes. So we headed back to camp now and they both chose their new found Hooties to take forever.
After that I went with Rebeca my new stranger pal and had a treat and was amazingly informed by her about perma culture for the next hour!
It was things like this that happened DAILY....it was impossible to not have a day filled with some type of profound inspiration or impact. So I really did feel like I had died and gone to heaven.....strangers that all love and accept each other and freakin awesome music and kick ass food!!! Ummm does it get any better then this?....ummmm NO...not until it comes around again next year for six days!!!!!!


Saturday, August 17, 2013

Sweet score

Today I went to the "Transfer Station"....or in other words....THE DUMP! Julie who works there is very adamant about it being called the Transfer Station......anyways...I went there because I was taking some garbage we had here and thought that would be the end of it. The thing about the transfer station here is that it's NOTHING like back in BC where it's usually a free for all at the dump....here you can't take anything back....that is unless you are very nice to Julie and ask for permission. Well while I was there taking my junk there I happened to notice that someone had dropped off a bunch of old windows...and really good old windows too..ones that I plan on using to make cold frames from for longer gardening opportunities. So I was able to leave with approx 7ish or so lol.
Here is an example of what I plan to do with them :-) 
I had made several of these back on the farm in BC but did not want to transport them here and so I left them there for the off chance I might use them there one day again. So when I came home today and I opened up the back of the SUV...my hubster just roooooooolled his eyes LOL.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Dear son

Long before my existence the universe had a plan, a plan that I will never fully comprehend nor fully understand. But in 1972 the universe decided it was time to execute this part of it's plan, and it brought me in to this world. Then again, in 1990 the universe and it's infinite wisdom executed another part of it's plan and it brought you to me.
I had no idea what I was doing, and I still to this day have no clue if what I did or am currently doing is right...and quite frankly....I'm okay with that. To have all the answers to everything would be to easy and I would learn nothing and there for I believe would defeat the purpose of this life, and that is to learn.
There are things I have always known without a shadow of a doubt, and I knew this from the moment I became aware of your life, and that is that I would love you unconditionally without failure. I knew that this was going to be something bigger then me and something that would teach me til my final days on this particular planet.
I knew that I could not be your everything, but I tried to be the one that know matter what, loved you most! You have given me more then you could ever truly comprehend, and as long as I am here you will continue to feed my soul with your existence.
It has been such a blessing to watch you over the last 22 years in every stage of your life and this last week you once again blessed me two fold. You allowed your Mother into an experience that most kids would want to hide from their parents, but you embraced the experience and allowed me to see it all.
I have steadfastly always stated that I wanted to always keep an open mind with my children, to not judge, but to just be, even if I don't agree with it all, and I have tried my hardest, but yes, I have made mistakes and I have judged and for that I am sorry. I am sure that there will be many more times I will say sorry to you, and again, I am okay with that, because when you say sorry, you learn, you learn a lesson in a difficult situation.
I just wanted to thank you for opening my eyes to life once again, I want to thank you for being my mentor in life and I look forward to many more years of mentoring from your amazing spirit!
I love you.
Mom

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

My Shambhala 2013 experience of a lifetime!

There are not enough words in the English language to describe what happened and what I saw and experienced. Maybe in a few days I will be able to try to encapsulate in words the experience, but for now...here are a few pictures :-)




Tuesday, August 6, 2013

The trek begins......

GOOD BYE NORMAL WORLD....HELLO DIRTY HIPPIES AND ALL THINGS ALICE IN WONDERLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!
The first leg of my journey starts today....going to Calgary to spend the night at my sisters, as she will be driving me in the wee morning hours tomorrow to my ride share. From there the real insanity starts! I will be taking my journal with me, so I can capture the true feeling of what I am experiencing daily at this music fest, so that I can post all about it here when I get back.
See you all in 8 days :-)


Monday, August 5, 2013

Cherry madness

So I am about to embark on my music festival trek....but then the neighbor comes over and tells me to come and pick as much cherries as I want...well crap....I can't pick them I'm thinking cause I am leaving and they will just go bad.....BUT....then I had an idea....wait a second....I have a really great SISTER....and she is gonna process the cherries!!! YEAH!!!!
I am freezing some here but I am happy to know that someone will get to eat some of these yummy things!







Saturday, August 3, 2013

Small village, big heart

Our little village we moved to had Carmangay Days today. We had no idea what to expect or what was happening....so this morning when we woke up I said "well let's just drive around til we see a large gathering of cars and that's where the pancake breakfast will be" LOL...and I was right! So at our local curling rink they had the breakfast followed by a parade! Yup...a freakin parade in a village of less then 300 people. So amazing to me....we came from another small town who could NEVER pull this type of event off......even the next bigger town from us back in BC stopped organizing parades cause no one could get their act together to do it.....so I have to say it's rather nice to be in a place that is community minded again.
Also tonight I was invited to join the local library committee....so starting in September I will be on the local library board! Yeah me....anything to do with books is right up my alley. I should bring them the 3000 books that I have in a shed back on the farm LOL.
Here is a few pics from today's fun events....including grown men running on to the street to get candy that was thrown from the different parade floats lol.








Friday, August 2, 2013

The system

I had to make a trip this week....to this crazy one room court house in a small town.....all paid for by the BC government! Why you ask? Why let me tell you.....all because some bone head a year ago thought he'd steal three sub sandwiches. Yes.....I too asked the same question that your asking your self in your head right now "why would they pay for someone to travel from Alberta to BC for some stupid sandwiches".
Well as part of the little "oh, I'll just take these and shove them down my pants" episode this moron had....there was a confrontation between him and I....which has led crown counsel to charge him with a wee bit more.
This particular person had done time previous for this type of thing and they want him to do more. I have not seen this person for a year but I got to see him a few days ago. Funny how it just all floods back to you when you see the "perpetrator" again after a year....he's such a dork too.....he showed up at court in jogging pants, wearing a baseball hat.....I think it's the same jogging pants he wore a year ago when he shoved sandwiches down them LOL..in fact....as I saw him when he walked in the building I thought to my self.....maybe in fact he has a small penis syndrome and he wanted his wanker to look bigger in those ridiculous pants and that's why he was shoving subs down them!
Anyways.....when I showed up for court on Tuesday, there were two trials slated for the day. Well the crown counsel had to argue with the other trail lawyer for the other case as to why they should take the day for their trial....well the other lawyer won out and I was told I was free to go.....FREE TO GO.....ARE YOU F'ING KIDDING ME......I just drove 10 hrs for you to tell me I can go after being there for 20 min in the lobby!!!!! Sooooo, I now have to wait for a "new trail date".....could be 4 months could be a year....who knows....but once again....the gov't will be paying for my little vacation back to BC. RIDICULOUS waste of tax payers money is all I can say!!! But thank you tax payers....I ate some wonderful meals on your dime while I was out :-)