It's been hard to do regular updates when I've been living in a tent all summer. I would like to buy a notebook laptop sometime and take that on the road with me. There has been many car rides where I had a writing itch. There's nothing like a keyboard and monitor, for those easy electronic writing moments. I write in hand writing, but that's mostly for my personal journal.
I am now back in Saskatchewan. I was planning on heading to Edmonton to do the Edmonton Fringe Festival, but realized I am broke and need a "real" job, so to speak, ha.
So, here I am, back in my home town. I'm a little saddened by this as I miss the mountains, sooo much... Alas...
The Canmore Folk Fest was pretty neat! I saw Elliot Brood and From Dehli to Dublin perform. Both were equally amazing. I was exhausted and had just worked 12 hrs, but there was no way I was missing From D to D. I made a friend named, Leslie. She was from Lethbridge. We made our way all the way to the front and grooved out hard. I didn't take any pics or vids, but did manage to get some of Elliot Brood. He sounds just as amazing live.
I saw a LOT of pregnant ladies at the Canmore FF. I saw at least two every other hour, if not every. Certainly got that new family, settling down vibe.
Tom came to pick me up along with our good friends, Jeremy and Rachel, the following Monday. I convinced Mandy that we were kidnapping her so she could have a much needed break, as well as do a surprise visit on her mum!
I could not have asked for better road trip buddies!! The drive from Canmore to Creston was GORGEOUS. I am definitely adding highway 95/96 to my list of favorite highways in Canada.
Rachel suggested we make a pit stop in a little town (damn, forget the name), where a infamous woodcarver works/lives. His style was carved, wizard type man faces with long wispy beards onto drift wood, gnarled and unique pieces of wood. He had quite the collection. We roamed to the ground level, where there were many large carvings in an open space. There were things like wooden chairs and doors that didn't open. If you turned the handle, lo and behold, you would be surprise attacked by a jet of water that shot out through various inconspicuous spots among the earthen ground. There were hidden sensors all over. It was a bit of a roasty day, so the water was welcomed and refreshing. We completely embraced this, laughing. I will have to come back and edit and give more details on the town and the name of the carver.
So I will skip along to when we arrived in Nelson. Mandy had been texting, Mary Ann (her mum) pretending she was me, as we had made plans for a visit, before Mandy had made the impulsive decision to join us. We met in the Safeway and Mary Ann had remarked how she was disappointed she wouldn't be seeing Mandy until Xmas time. I keep playing along until I hear Mandy's anklet bells come a chimin'. Out pops Mandy and Mary Ann is so shocked and happy all at once!! They were soooo happy to be reunited and I was jumping up and down laughing and smiling, being so content to be part of that moment. Those are the moments that make me feel alive and full of love.
Off to go wait in line at Shambles!! We waited in the car lot over night. I went off and had a mini Shar adventure. I met these guys who shared some beers with me and we chatted. Buddy lots a big back of his shake suddenly, so we went on a hunt for it. We did a full circle of the last places he was. We did one last scan and decided we may as well look again near where were were sitting. Sure enough, about three or four feet away from our sitting spot, he found the bag. It was a fun little time.
Dawn was about to break so I headed back to the car. We weren't aloud to set up tents in the field, much to our dismay. Tom, being the smart guy he is, pulled out our double sleeping back and put it behind the car. There was just enough space for us to do this. I crawled in with him and we had a pretty good sleep. Sometime in the morning, an inebriated girl comes wandering by, stops, broods over us and says:
"Aaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww..."
Ha ha, we kind of ignored her and went on with being in a state in between sleeping and dozing.
Eventually we got into the site and set up. Our camp site was pretty amazing.
(It was near where you, Tom and company camped, last year, Erin)
There was a little dip in the ground where Jer and Rach and Jackie and Jada camped. Other cool cats like a guy named, Trace, and some sweet kids from Dawson city were nested. We liked to refer it as "downstairs" from us.
Haaaa, Shambhala!!! One of the very cool- you-have-to-be-there moments of Shambs is the cheer wave. You can hear cheering in the distance, and everyone around the cheering, starts to cheer, and it just travels all along the site.
Also, another quirky shtick that occurred was when people started yelling, "ALLAN??" Then someone else, "STEVE?!" Anyone that was within an ear shot would yell out the same, and this happened for the full 5 days, and spread out all along down the road, which was at least 1km long.
I must say that I am certainly proud of myself pace wise with substances and alcohol. I hardly drank actually, which was awesome.
Alex, remarked on how well I took care of myself and that made me feel really, really good.
Party smart, right? Too long have I been way too gung-ho and made myself feel like complete shit. No one likes feeling like shit, or like feeling like killing themselves, so in turn, I did very well!!
They had a ferris wheel set up. Alex got super pumped about it and we went on a few rides together. The first time I went on, I was completely sober, but screaming my head off and laughing and had a blast. They had the speed faster than normal so it kind of felt like you were falling.
I was relieved, happy and thankful I had Tom to be there with. I really don't like being alone at Shambles; it sucks being surrounded by thousands of people but feeling lonely. We had such a good time together...
The river was super cold this year. It was nice when it was the middle of the day, at least plus thirty or thirty-five degrees. Cooled the body temperature right down.
It was funny how at Shambhala, I really didn't give too much care/effort into how I looked. I suppose I just got tired of it considering the amount of time and attention I had been putting into my looks regarding all the past festivals I worked.
Kimmie and Andy are on there way right now to pick me up, so I will leave y'all at this. ;)
xoxoxx
Shar
