Long Time, No Updates...

Sorry for the lack of any updates! The unexpected hiatus has been mainly due to:

- I suddenly moved back to my parent's house. (And I MEAN 'sudden!' I spoke to my folks one day and moved the next - a move of over 600 kilometres, back to the Okanagan!)
- Almost immediately after I arrived in the Okanagan I got not just one, but TWO part time jobs - due to my lack of luck job hunting in Vancouver, I guess this means it was meant to be that I came home here!
- Due to those part time jobs plus a regimen of cooking meals for my night shifting parents (so that they don't have to eat nasty sandwiches at work) I've been really busy and tired. This doesn't mean I haven't been working on my manuscripts though!
- I kind of hit my photo capacity for blogger and I like pictures in my posts. I tried buying more space for my pictures, but somehow that didn't work, so I dunno. I still have photobucket, but it's a huge pain in the ass re-coding every single picture that I want to upload!

So, as you can guess, lots of stuff has gone on. Here's a summery of things which have happened beyond the stuff keeping me super busy.... (as usual; do I EVER truly take a break?!)

- I've been hiking THREE times since I moved here! All have been pretty great hikes. The last one was a 9 kilometre hike and I didn't feel a lick of pain ANYWHERE in my body until the last kilometre (the tendon in my left arm that likes to act up - it's some stupid genetic thing I got from my mother that kind of ache-hurts) and I was never out of breath the entire hike. What really helped with controlling my speed was letting my Dad take point, instead of galloping off ahead of him and using all my energy way too fast. (He's not slow but he takes like 10 billion pictures when we hike - which is awesome - but it means we stop a lot, which is sort of a good thing I guess!)
- I'm slowly, slooooowly, getting sound. My irritable bowel syndrome has been acting up because I've been eating blacklisted items (like too much cheese and eggs - all animal products are no-nos) but because I walk up to 8 kilometres every day, I'm starting to build up my wind again, which means that I'll possibly be strong enough to do some backpacking next summer!
- My cats like it here! They're getting along okay-ish with my other older cat Smoky. Unfortunately, they gave her fleas, but I'm working on that. (How two indoor cats got fleas sort of escapes me, but they did and they got them back in Vancouver. I couldn't afford any flea treatment back then.)
- I'm still mourning Sunny. I'll probably be mourning him for the entire rest of my life. (He was just that special!)
- I'm getting some more solidified ideas about my future, living here. I've learned a lot about myself in this past year and I'm really hoping that I can apply all of it to making the right choices from now on and ignoring that damn Coyote! (I'll explain Coyote.) I've got several demons to take on though before I can get anywhere. Luckily, they're identified demons!
- Speaking of Coyote, I had a medicine card reading in which I learned that I have more totems than previously thought. Some were unexpected (like Coyote, which is a double-edged knife) and some were previously known or expected (like Wolf and Dog - yep, I am both a Wolf AND a Dog!) I'm not going to mention all of the spirits who follow me here, because I hear you're not supposed to, but among the spirits who govern me, there are Dog, Alligator, Wolf, Coyote and Rabbit, the evil one. (There is absolutely NOTHING good about having a rabbit totem because they represent Fear.)

Thanks to the medicine cards, I've gotten some good ideas about how I should proceed with my life. Wolf is my Teacher and because he's been known to me all my life, I feel this means that I am meant to teach others too - and Dog reaffirms that - dog is Loyalty, the servant. I must do something that serves and aids my beliefs to be happy as Dog. Because I am also Wolf, I have the power to teach people, so I must assume that I will serve through teaching - I am meant to be a teacher. No, not a classroom one. I think I need to do something with nature, such as the biology thing or working for Parks Canada in a national park or educating people through eco-tourism. Thus, right now, my goals look like this:

- Learn to drive. (Currently studying for my Learner's license or 'L.')
- Take a NOLS course. No matter what I end up doing, be it guiding on horses, being a warden, a field biologist, a ranger or just a park interpreter, getting trained with NOLS will help me survive in those fields as well as get a job in those fields.
- (Possibly) Learn French (because French is Canada's second language.)

I can't do anything about my future loneliness (when I move out from my parents') right now. It's impossible to know what will happen with me socially in the future. For now I'm home and because of that I'm emotionally stable (aka not lonely) because I'm getting the social interaction which I so desperately needed from my parents (like Dog, I desperately require companionship and cannot live or thrive without it). Right now the only idea I have for my future predicament is to get a dog, because dogs, unlike cats, can go hiking with you and go on trips with you. A dog would keep me active, which is important, because I need to stay sound and the only way I will will be through excersize. Right now, the breeds under consideration (also which I just plain like the best) are:

- The German Shepherd - there aren't many disadvantages to this breed. They have been known to do just fine in apartments (provided they get enough stimulation and walkies) and they've been a favourite of mine for probably my entire life. I love GSDs, plain and simple, but some stuff to consider are that if I have a GSD, I would like to give it a job (such as teach it Shutzhund or tracking) as these are extremely smart animals (third smartest breed in the world) and I would have to make doubly sure that I socialize it well as a puppy. (And I think I would get a puppy, because I want my dog to be fine with my cats and to my cats to be okay with it, which I think would be better if they meet it when it's still a small size close to their own so that they're less intimidated by it.) Some considerations are that GSDs can be prone to hip displacia (damn you improper breeding!) so I would have to make doubly sure to get my dog from a reputable breeder using German working stock. (NOT crappy American show stock!)

- The Canaan Dog - I never even considered this bloody dog before I started getting it as a suggestion on almost every 'breed selector' test that I've taken. Reading up on them, there's some pretty great aspects to this breed, such as them being a very healthy, ancient, long lived breed with almost no health problems. They're also extremely smart (like the German Shepherd) and have been used as herding dogs for thousands of years in Israel (aka Canaan) while in more recent years, they have been employed as war time sniffer dogs, sniffing out landmines (again, like the German Shepherd!) The only real disadvantage to this breed as far as I can see (its temperament being similiar to a GSD but its health being sounder) is that it's pretty rare, so a puppy would be hard to find. Also, it's not really recommended for first time owners, but really, it doesn't seem like ANY dog is recommended for first time owners! (I think, judging from my personal studies of canine psychology I have a leg up over most first timer people who are thinking about getting a dog.) Another good point for these dogs is that they're a spitz, (like a husky or an akita) so they look cool. Also, they might be pretty easy on the wallet in regards to feeding; they are easy keepers, expense wise.

- Swiss Mountain Dog - big, lovable and completely gorgeous! Sweet tempered, they love people and would probably make the best first time pet of my list (according to most dog people anyway) but disadvantages abound for them, despite their beautiful nature. Firstly, they don't live long with a projected natural lifespan of 6-8 years. Second, they have some health problems and third, they're really big dogs, which means they might have really big appetites, which might not be so friendly for my wallet. Despite disadvantages, these low key dogs would probably be quite happy going hiking with me and packing their own stuff.

- Rottweiler - I love rotties for the same reason I love pit bulls (though I don't like the looks of pitties as much) - they have a very sweet and loving nature, provided they are raised properly. Rottweilers, like German Shepherds and Canaan Dogs, were originally herding dogs, used by the Romans to herd their cattle, so this makes them not only smart, but also, yes, naturally protective of their 'flock.' If I had a rottie, I wouldn't get one with a docked tail because I believe that while undoubtably cruel, the docking of a rottweiler's tail also contributes to its 'mean look.' All dogs look better WITH tails! (Unless they were actually born without one!) Rotties have some of the same health issues as GSDs (though maybe not as severe) and to get one with a good temperament, I would have to be very sure to seek out a good breeder and it would be of extra importance to meet the parents of my dog.

- Jack Russel Terrier - I have some experience with these; my old best friend had a pack of four and I used to spend quite a few weeks every year living with them, so I'm accustomed to these spirited dogs. Personally, I'm not really into small dogs, but I am making myself consider Jack Russels because financially, a small dog would be easier to take care of than a large one. Jack Russel Terriers are great little dogs with enough energy and spunk to go the distance on a hike for their size, though if I got one I would do well to find a breeder who is mindful of good genetics and does not dock tails. I will not have a dog with a docked tail. I will not support that disgusting fad and Jack Russels look cuter WITH a tail anyway!

- Cairn Terrier - CUTE. They look like little wiry foxes with cute stubby puppy tails. As terriers they're feisty little things and they have a good coat that would keep them warm in cold conditions. Cairn Terriers are best recognized for the character Toto, who is the dog in the Wizard of Oz. Besides possibly being more economical than a big dog feed-wise, they are also comparable to the size of my cats, which could be a good thing if the animals decide to have an argument.

So anyway, those are my dog ideas. I don't plan on getting a dog until I'm settled into whatever career that I'm going to have, so it will be a while, probably years before I have a pooch. For now, I'm pretty happy with my cats.

Right now (away from the dog topic) I'm working on a self-imposed production deadline of finishing the first book of Emperor's Blood by Christmas (and if not Christmas, than December 31st.) After that, I'm supposed to work on spiffing up the manuscript of Ashes of Hope for three months before beginning the writing of Kill Copper, the second book in the EB trilogy. I'm giving myself a year for that and I have to shop out AOH while I write it. After KC is done, I will (if I stay on target) begin writing Imperial Spirit in March 2013. That's the goal. After that, I will spend up to six months (but hopefully only three) editing the trilogy together for continuity, flow and characterization. Hopefully I can keep these deadlines!

Domestic Versus Wild

There are a great many scientifically ignorant people in this world who would argue that there should not be a difference in how we treat our domestic pets versus our wild animals. These people, those who say that all animals should be in the wild, not in people's houses or in cages are unknowingly in the same herd as the people who think wild animals can be kept captive under guises of research and conservation, but such captivity has, for the most part, run its course of usefulness. While very few people in this world are truly free of the 'master race' analogy that we are taught to give ourselves - I cannot say even that I am, as I have been trained like every other human animal to follow the herd - there is something quite disturbing about anyone who says there is no difference between wild and domestic, that it is 'okay' to keep a wild animal in captivity under any circumstance. What about captive breeding, you may ask? Well, if it must be captive, let it be as far from human eyes as possible. Let it not be entertainment. Let those animals who are being bred for the survival of their kind have room to roam instead of being boxed up in a pretty temperature controlled terrarium which is supposed to look like their natural habitat.

A domestic animal is not the same as a wild one. Absolutely, positively, overwhelmingly, NOT THE SAME. Why? You may ask. They look mostly the same! They're of the same genus - a house cat is distantly related to a tiger isn't it? Well, I can't deny that. House cats are distantly related to tigers and both house cats and tigers are classed under Felidae, so they are both cats. However, just because they are both cats does not mean that they are the same animal and it especially doesn't mean that they have evolved the same strategies for survival. Several thousand years ago in Egypt, a little African Wild Cat saw opportunity in the rodent infested granaries of the Egyptians and this source of easy food was something she taught to her kittens. "Hey - the food's more plentiful over there. There's also less predators around - why don't I spend less energy by hunting over there, where those big stupid two legged beasts are?" Well, the big stupid two legged beasts weren't actually stupid and once the ancient Egyptians realized that the cats were protecting their very livelihoods by chasing the mice and their granaries, the cat became a sacred animal, protected, loved and yes, mummified, because humans are not really secretly just jumped up fancy herbivores who got a power-over-other-living-things complex somewhere down the evolutionary line, which other animals can only shake their heads at us for - proverbially of course, since they don't communicate like we do. In any case, in return for easy food and protection, cats and other domestic animals give us their services, services which we ourselves cannot - or rather could not - provide for ourselves.

The point is, 'domestic' animals - I'm talking pets, animals we do not typically eat such as cats, dogs and horses - have developed evolutionary strategies which include working for (with) us. What do we give a dog for his loyalty? He doesn't have to hunt for food. He doesn't have to worry about predators. He has protection against the weather and if he breaks a leg, we set it for him. Dogs have a good deal. So do cats and horses. What does a horse get for her draft services? She gets reliable food, medical, shelter and the thing which is most of all most important to a herbivorous animal, she gets protection from being eaten by predators. What is the most important thing for predatory animals like cats and dogs? Look at leopards, look at lions - they sleep most of the day, so the most important thing to a predator, is the conservation of their bodily energy. In modern times a cat doesn't have to use energy searching for food and neither does a dog. These animals have clearly evolved - or rather adapted or started to evolve - with us as their evolutionary advantage and we have benefited from their services too. Our society would not have been possible without them. The only time this synergy, this symbiosis between species fail is when we, humans, abuse the sanctity of the relationship and you would have to be quite stupid to say that we have not done this, nor that we are not doing that, right now.

Wild animals, tigers, wolves, parrots, birds, dolphins, whales, bears, what have you - they have not adapted for a symbiotic relationship with humans. That is not their survival strategy - their survival strategy is the same survival strategy is the same one which they have been using for thousands of years and they reason they are still using these strategies is because they work. The shark is (perhaps arguably, since everything in science appears to be arguable) the most successful species group to have ever lived. They have been around for over five million years and during that time, their strategy for survival has not changed. Sharks today are (again arguably) using the exact same strategy for survival which their ancestors were using several billion years before anything that looked even marginally like a human ever walked the earth. These animals, who have not adapted for life with humans and who would have adapted by now if they actually wanted to, should not EVER be kept in captivity.

You might again ask why. Why? Because they are intelligent. Only people who have not had a beloved pet or whom are brainwashed by institutions - our entire society can be called an institution - are stupid enough to question the intelligence of other species. It is rare that you find a human who has worked extensively with animals from another species who would tell you that that animal is stupid, if he or she has worked with that animal at least somewhat on that animal's own terms and not with unnatural predatory intentions of gain such as profit. Zoos and marine parks can be pooled in the same file as the ghastly gladiator exhibitions of Ancient Rome because they are all for the most part just a glorified show made up for entertainment value. Many people who run zoos, would agree with this and I salute those such venues such as the Cincinnati Zoo who actually do put their money into true conservation of the wild animals they feature as well as places such as Big Cat Rescue which rescues captive large cats from domestic confinement, places where these animals simply do not belong. You may point out that the animals at Big Cat Rescue are still in confinement there, if you are familiar with the program, but there is a difference - Big Cat Rescue is working hard to end put an end to the captivity of large cats and further, they are trying to conserve wild populations of these animals.

Ancient crowds thought it was amusing watching men fight to the death against each other and ferocious beasts. This, our society calls barbaric, yet this same society of ours calls it okay to capture wild animals from their habitats and put them into captivity. There is a wrongness to any wild animal being in captivity, even one which is captive bred, for a captive bred animal is like an Aboriginal child being denied their heritage. They are in confinement. They may want to escape but they cannot and it would cost them too much energy to try. Life is about preserving and keeping biological energy and creating new life. No matter how pretty a cage is, it's still a cage, to the point where I think of my own indoor cat Copernicus and find my captivity of him - as well as the captivity of hundreds of other cats as perhaps being fairly wrong. I don't mean him running in the wild. I mean that it maybe and probably is wrong that he has no opportunity to roam, to come and go as he pleases. If a domestic animal is unhappy with their situation, they will run away, but we are possessive animals. We love them, we hold them, but is it right, to keep them inside, to make them see the same walls, day after day? If trapped in a room for months, a human goes insane. If trapped in a pool for years, so does an orca or any other cetacean.

Copernicus is not a wild animal. He is domestic and his evolutionary strategy is to live beside me. He has proven himself to be extremely loyal over these past weeks and he has proven that he loves me. I don't want my cat to be hit by a car or eaten by a coyote, yet these same dangers are ones which I face regularly in my own life, as a human. As a human in our modern age, living in North America, I can almost definitely say that I fear no predator more than my own kind. Bears will not come in the night to force me. Tigers do not kill for fun - they kill for food or territory (resources needed to sustain personal life) or to get rid of competition, which really, are exactly the same reasons why humans kill, only we call it war, which we say we detest, yet usually still ends up being all fine and dandy. No matter what side you are in a war, somebody from that side will call themselves 'right' or 'better' so isn't it wrong that we critisize animals for doing exactly the same thing?

I'm getting off topic, but the essence of this all comes down to this: domestic animals are not wild animals. If I ever have a place where it is mostly safe to let Copernicus outside, I may let him, definitely if he has a streetwise companion to help him learn. It is a proven fact that cats teach each other - mothers train their babies how to hunt. Leopards do this and so do house cats. So too, do mother dogs teach their babies if given a chance and mother horses teach their foals how to run, as well as what plants are good to eat as well as which are not. Wild mustangs have been known to self medicate themselves with herbs and to avoid certain obstacles which have proven to cause harm, from dead fall to high ridges during storms when lightning might strike.

Before any reader gets too hyped up with self importance about any of these domestic species 'needing' us, remember this; any animal, including humans, can and will go wild again if forced to. We ourselves are domesticated, but if push comes to shove, we are just another herbivore who can survive in the wild perfectly fine without any modern aid or help.

I'll get to the herbivore thing soon, maybe in my next post. Thank you for reading.


For a change, here's some documentaries and articles I strongly recommend regarding the captivity of wild animals, because I'm not sure how credible most people find some crazy, opinionated little Canadian with no bachelor's degree in anything.

1. Lolita: Slave to Entertainment
2. The Killer in the Pool (article) by Tim Zimmermann
3.The Cove (you can watch it here)

For the record, if anyone strongly agrees with any of my posts regarding conservation or animal rights - such as this one, feel free to repost so long as proper credit is given to me and the repost is linked to the original post here. (However, reposting any of the other works, particularly the works of fiction - as in, manuscript excerpts - or blog posts as my personal life as a whole - are NOT allowed under any circumstances. Links are okay, but NO reposts and it would be better if you asked me first before reposting ANYTHING. Thank you!)

A Month Ago...

...my cat Sunny died. It's still not the same and it will never be. There's no cat like him in the world, as beautiful or as loving.

I may have a new cat now. I think his name is Houdini, but I'm not sure. I was joking that I could call him 'Jawa' yesterday and then I said 'Houdini' because that's what it sounds like the silly things are saying and he responded. It came right out of the blue, so I think that might be his name, though I'm not sure what I think of owning a cat named after an escape artist, though it would be pretty cool to have two cats named after famous people. The little brat is still half feral. I've managed to gain a lot of his trust, but so far he's more interested in attacking my butt and feet when I'm sitting than in being snuggled, but he's still half wild, so maybe there's hope.

Other name ideas include:
-Tahini (a type of nut butter sort of)
-Monkey (monkeys can be unpredictable and evil though, so not so sure I like this)

I kind of like Houdini best and it's the easiest on the tongue so far.

I wrote three good chapters of Emperor's Blood yesterday. THREE. I attribute it to Sunny. I do think and hope he's watching over me. I had a dream about him about a week after he died where I turned and he came running up to me, head up, tail up, looking me in the eye... so maybe he is okay, but it still hurts and I really, really want to go home. I don't want to be here in Vancouver anymore. (Which sucks, because I just got a nice new apartment, but too bad! It would only be perfect if it was situated about 600 kilometres EAST of here in the Okanagan!)

I just worry about my cats, but I want to go. Instinct is pulling me back - I want to restart my life in a new direction. I want to get a job and save up to go to NOLS and I want to get my driver's license. I want to be close enough to my parents that I can go hiking with them and close enough so that they can nag me, because I know I need retraining in a few things. I want to be close enough that they can help me if they feel they need to and so that I can help them and me and my mom could share our DVDs and our games. I want to be back in the land where Sunny, lived, loved, grew old... and where he died.

I feel like an Imperial who has lost one of his sketzine. Part of my soul is gone.

One hour now, until the moment my baby died a month ago...

There's Too Many Scents to Follow

I feel like I can really sympathize with a pack of hounds who are confused about what they are supposed to be doing. Day by day, my mind seems to change and shift and move until my decisions - and my word - is never definite. This is frustrating for people I interact with, particularly my parents (I'm sure they wonder why I can never permanently make up my mind!) and it's even more frustrating for me, because I want to be true to what I say, so that people will respect me. Instead, because there's a bazillion different things distracting me and a bazillion different life courses presented to me all I end up doing is sitting on my rump, stagnant and stationary while my word grows less and less trustworthy so that it seems like on a daily basis I'm committing social suicide, or at least falling further and further from graces. Why can't I make up my mind? Why do I lack direction, even three years after leaving home and why am I so often so completely unmotivated and varying on a daily scale like temperature between negative and positive? I could kill myself with how much I stress over things unreasonably and yet often, whenever it bottles up too much so that I yelp to the world, it feels like people just shake their heads at me in disapproval, as if my yelping for help is 'bad.'

But why shouldn't I yelp out my worries? Why does society seem to expect me to bottle it in? It seems like in this society, we look down upon the confused and the unsure like we do drunks and druggies. I think it's better if people cry out when they are hurting before that pain escalates. Thinking today as I cleaned my old room in my house, I realized it's rather stupid that society has this expectation of young people that we can just go forth from home and be instantly self directive and mature, when the fact is, in this society, we're leaving home less mature than ever because our society is more confusing than ever. We're less prepared than our grandparents were to leave home.

I think most of my stress stems from me being confused. One day, I can be gung ho about one career path in my life and the next day, I'm iffy about it while another day I hate the first idea completely. I lack the self direction that an adult human should have; in fact, I seem completely unable to direct myself at all except for basic life support ideas and even with those I sometimes fail. I'm like one of those hunting hounds who keeps losing the scent, or distracting itself with other smells but there's no hunter standing by me, saying "No! That's not the scent! THIS is the scent! Go THIS way!" Another analogy is, I'm a horse whose lost its rider in the middle of nowhere and is alone and hasn't the foggiest clue of where home is without that rider tugging on my bit. There's a long list of things which I COULD do, but I'm so bloody confused that I have no idea which one to pick or which idea is the best and there doesn't seem to be a rider or a hunter anywhere who is there to help me out. So far I've just been trusting in my instincts and I haven't gotten myself killed yet doing that, but I haven't gotten anywhere either. Some ideas are smarter than others maybe, but it doesn't matter in the end, because I can't direct myself to any of them! All I know is that I want to write my stories, hike and be happy. Why does finding my way to those three beautiful things seem so impossible?

Blargh.

Some Thought as to What I Should be...

The other day, a few nights back, I stayed overnight at my buddy Rachel's house and we pulled an all-nighter, drawing stuff and generally having fun. It was awesome and during that time we had some interesting conversations, from how time lapses for artists when we work because the act of noticing time pass is a left brained thing - and we are right brained, so in using our right brains we literally lose our ability to perceive the passage of time when we are concentrating on our creative pursuits - wow - to a bit about my future. My buddy said that when I'm thinking towards my future, I must consider what I am willing to give up. To me, I also find I must consider what is absolutely the most important things to me and to not lie to myself, as I'm pretty good at doing. The fact that I'm a liar to my own soul and a procrastinator is why I am still in Vancouver, despite my heart saying that it wants to go back to square one in the Okanagan.


(Photo Note: These images are from the Heather Trail in Manning Provincial Park, a backpacking expedition I did with my brother and my dad in 2007. All photos taken by my father.)

So what am I willing to give up? Nothing. The fact is, I'm the type of person who believes that you can have your cake and eat it too! What's most important to me? Family, not being alone for my whole life and hiking. Yep, hiking. Hiking trumps art though I love art. Here's how things go in my had:

1. Family & Being Loved + Giving Love
2. Hiking
3. Writing
4. Art



Thus, the most important thing to me besides my base need for companionship (I am NOT a dog who can be happy being left all day alone in the backyard, then get a piddly walk and a cuddle once and again THANK YOU) the most important thing to me psychologically is hiking. This is pretty good; hiking is usually free, the only thing that makes hiking beyond my reach right now is my inability to drive a car, so I need a license and a job that'll give me gas money to get to my precious hiking trails. Now, I could get into animation and make a stupid amount of money, but the problem with the animation industry is that it is usually centered around large cities and if there is one thing which is absolutely true about big cities, is that the hike offerings most often range from nil to almost nothing. If I live in a big city like that, I will be denying the wild part of my soul which wants to HIKE! So, the animation is not an indefinite career choice, though I think I might be willing to work in it for a while, just to figure things out and get some finances going. If I join the animation industry permanently, I will be denying a very large part of my soul and thus, lying to myself.





BUT, I can not deny that I'm not a fully trained artist either, or that there's a big part of me that also wants to draw, draw, draw! SO, what I need to do is find a career which either:

- Is an outdoorsy job which gives me enough free time for writing and artsing.
- Or, is an artsy job located in some outdoorsy town which gives me enough time and resources for hiking.

Most of all, I need to find a life partner who wants to hike as much as I do, because unfortunately, dogs and cats can't hike everywhere! A life partner would also help take care of my need for loneliness and family. Again, I am NOT a dog who can be left alone in the backyard. I whine and I yelp and I howl and I start to do stupid things like dig up all the tulips. A wolf can NOT be without a pack!




So far, the only ideas so far for my near future are thus:

- Move back to Okanagan where parents are, preferably before winter.
- Save up money and learn to drive a car; driving a car opens up outdoorsy career opportunities as well as gives me more freedom to get to my hiking trails.
- Take a NOLS course! Yukon, Alaska or Wyoming! Maybe two! I'd love to be able to do horsepacking as well as backpacking.
- Figure out career after NOLS gives me experience and thus more deciding power.

I think that's a pretty good game plan for my life. Plus, I might kill two birds with one stone and meet my perfect life companion at NOLS! You never know... I can be hopeful... but all this costs money, so in the meantime, I will be applying for jobs in the animation industry, preferably in the Okanagan. No matter what happens, at least I have a plan now... somewhat! If anyone has any ideas which combine art and the wilderness, I'm all ears!



Photos: Bryan B. Brost
Art: Rosanna P. Brost