I'm a Bona Fide Bovine Heroine!

There is something about me that seems to beckon strange adventures.  Anyone who has heard this story has said something along the lines of, "It completely does not surprise me that this happened to you."  Truth be told, I kind of like that I have this kind of a reputation.  My life is interesting! 

 

I actually can't believe that I haven't posted this little story sooner.  Once it was all over, I was on an adrenalin high, and kind of in shock, to be honest!  But I can honestly say, it was one of the best days of my life.

 

It all began as I was taking my favourite route home from my storage unit.  I'd just bought a new house and so I'd gone to the unit to make sure it was ready for the movers I'd hired, and to pick up a few stray items that I didn't want to deal with on moving day.  I had the kids in the backseat, and as usual, I was doing a running commentary of all the things we saw along the way.  There was the strangely bent tree branch that we always liked to point out, the house with the wood carving of an eagle with a real trucker's hat perched on the eagle's noggin, the swampy pond that the kids call "Shrek's Swamp", and our favourite rugged, rocky farm with the creek running through it.

 

As I drove past this farm, I said, "Hey kids... there's our favourite farm! Looks like the cows are out!"  Then I did a double take.  I noticed a cow acting a little strangely.  I almost missed seeing her, but she was standing at this oddly severe angle and was nudging something with her head.  I kept driving, but something made me turn around to take another look.  Of course, any unannounced change in our itinerary was cause for alarm and repeated questions and shouting from my two travel companions - sooo helpful.  As I returned for another look at the cow, I craned my neck to see what was going on, while I fielded the onslaught of questions from the kids.  It kind of felt like one of those moments you see on headache remedy commercials, where the crazy demands of the world are all swirling around a headachy person's head, and it all starts to sound like the principal from Peanuts.  Suddenly I realized precisely what was going on... there was a baby calf stuck in the creek struggling to keep its head above the water.

 

I'll admit, there was a fleeting moment where I thought I'd just keep driving.  Maybe the calf would be just fine.  Maybe the mama would manage to nudge her out.  I am ALWAYS the one who stops to help - it's programmed into my DNA or something.  But then I had a flashback to me wandering around a fall fair with my dad.  We had just seen the prize winning pumpkins and cornstalks, and we had strolled out to where the livestock were being showcased.  There were kids there who were really proud of their calves and sheep and whatnot, and I recall saying to Dad, "I don't get it."  Lucky for me, Dad had grown up on a farm, and the next 10-20 minutes were a crash course for me in 4H and the value of livestock in farming families.  Little did I know, there were kids MY AGE who were getting calves for birthday presents.  This completely baffled me until my dad enlightened me on the worth of full grown cows at auction.  Oh!  Suddenly I saw baby farm animals as an investment.  And those farm kids were so freaking lucky!  (Note:  Dad hadn't, at that point, got to the part about getting no holidays and having to get up at 5 every morning, and all that additional information)

 

Jumping back to the present moment, I knew I had to do something to save that baby cow.

 

With the audible sigh of a reluctant martyr, I turned the van around and headed to the farmhouse to see if someone was home.  All the while, the never ceasing soundtrack of questions from the backseat ramped up in intensity. 

 

"What is going on?" 

 

"Is that a baby cow?" 

 

"Who lives here?" 

 

"Can cows swim?"

 

As I drove up the long driveway to the house, I suddenly got quite nervous.  What if no one was home?  What the hell could I do about a drowning calf if I couldn't even get to the creek?!  What if the farmer annoyed that I stopped by?  What if the farmer was a killer?!!  My mom loaned me a book a couple of years ago called "The Gift of Fear", apparently all about how fear is something that is a gift or good for survival or something.  AGH!  Why the frig hadn't I read that book!  It was probably written for situations EXACTLY like this!

 

Nevertheless, I slid out of the van and knocked on the door of the house.  Just when I thought no one was home, the farmhouse killer emerged:  a nice old lady who literally walked with a cane, and was in my best estimation, about 89 years old.  I cannot tell a lie... I breathed a wee little sigh of relief!  She was talking on the phone to someone, and swung open the door to greet me.  I told her what was going on with the calf, and she kind of freaked out... in an adorable way.  She immediately started fretting and said into the phone, "I have to go.  No... no... Hazel... not unless you want to come and fish a calf out of the drink!"  SLAM... she hung that phone up like a boss and headed out the door towards the creek.

 

And I was just standing there watching her move as fast as she could with her cane, thinking: "Yup... I'm going to have to do this."

 

So, I called after her, already knowing the answer, asking, "Do you want me to come and help you?"  This amazing woman didn't even stop to turn around, and hollered, "Do you mind getting muddy?  I really do need your help!"  So, in a split second, I needed to decide what to do with the kids.  I surely wasn't about to risk them getting trampled by a freaked out mama cow, so I aimed the front of the van at the pasture, locked their doors and told them exactly what was going on, and instructed them not to leave the van for anyone or any reason and to watch their mommy attempt to rescue a stranded calf through the front window.  Ok wait... that's terrible grammar.  I was NOT going to try to pull a calf through the front window.  I was just trying to keep my kids contained.

 

So, off I ran, trying to catch up to my new friend. In hind sight, I don't know how on earth she got out to the creek so fast.  When I say this pasture was a complete mud pit, I actually mean that the one and only way to get to the calf was goopy, clingy, mushy, wet, foot deep mud, manure and cow pee the WHOLE way.  I found out later that the reason for this was that the pasture had been flooded for a few days prior.  Perfect timing!  I did my best... I honestly did, but I was wearing these Mary Jane style hiking shoes - NOT engineered for manure spelunking.  I would take a step and sink so far into manure and mud with each and every step that it made a splooochy sucking sound every time I tried to pull my foot back out of the mud for the next step.  My shoes got stuck in the mud so many times that I finally gave up and carried my shoes the rest of the way.  Oh, and I should mention that I made that decision after this slurping shoe business caused me to fall face first into the mud.  When I put my hands out to brace my fall, I had absolutely no option but to plant my hands in manure, and THAT was the moment I decided I needed a new plan.  How I managed to just take this all in stride is a mystery to me.  I guess sometimes you just commit.

 

 

 

I finally reached the creek, where Hettie (I never did find out her name, but I am finding it awkward to refer to her without a name, so now she is Hettie!) was trying to coax the calf out of the water.  There was about a metre and a half incline down into the creek, and I slid down it as fast as I could to help.  I apparently felt the need to make a dramatic entrance, because I slid down the bank and fell into the river.  Like, right on my stomach in the middle of March in a freezing cold river!  All I could do was laugh about it and scramble to my feet.  The poor mama cow was frantic on the other side of the creek, pacing back and forth, seemingly unable to step into the creek or help her baby.  I asked Hettie what I needed to do, and she suggested that I wrap my arms around the calf's chest and try to get her to stand up.  As I heaved on the poor little calf to try to get her to stand, it seemed to me that the calf had no clue how to stand.  Hettie kept surmising that "Kathy" (the mama cow) had tried to lead her baby through the river and the calf got stuck.  As I kept scanning the scene, though, it became very obvious to me what had actually happened.  The mama cow had all sorts of birthing junk hanging out of her rear, and there was afterbirth streaked all over the other side of the creek bank.  This mom had just birthed her calf on the riverbank, and the poor thing rolled down into the creek!  I quickly concluded that I certainly wasn't going to be able to teach this newborn how to stand in a rocky creek!

 

So, I started trying to drag her up to drier ground.  This was no easy task.  This cow felt like it weighed a hundred pounds.  And it wasn't like the little tyke was helping me at all.  Oh no... she kept trying to roll herself back towards her mom... and the creek.  With Hettie cheering me on, I lugged that calf all the way up the creek bank and onto level ground.  It had a definite "1 step forward, 4 calf rolls backward" type of a feel to it, but after a good long while, I got her up to safety.  I felt victorious!

 

This side of the creek was actually pretty steep - you just can't tell from this picture.

As I stood there breathing hard and basically using my legs to prevent the calf from rolling back into the water, I said to Hettie, "Now what?"  Well, turns out that Hettie's best plan was to go get a wheel barrow from the barn.  I kind of started to panic.  First of all, which one of the two of us was going to lift this freaking cow into a wheelbarrow, when I could barely DRAG it along the grass?!  Second, I really think that trying to navigate a wheelbarrow full of slimy new cow through that same poop-filled gauntlet that had bested me earlier was going to be an exercise in futility.  So, I started to grill her about who we could call.  She couldn't think of one person that we could call to come help us - partly because she didn't memorize numbers, but partly because - according to her - most of the time if they wanted to talk to someone, they just drove to their house! 

 

So, Hettie decided she'd go get the wheelbarrow.  This was when I frantically started texting my friend, Milja.  The text basically said, "I am in an SOS kind of situation.  I am rescuing a baby calf and I need help!  If you guys are bored, can you come help?"

 

No reply.  I called her.  No answer.  I stood in that field for what felt like an eternity!  It must have been 20 minutes at least.  Maybe more.  And let me tell you... that is a LOOONG time to be trying to stop a slippery calf from trying to fling herself back at her mom.  Finally I saw Hettie heading back my way, sans wheelbarrow. Turns out she did have someone she could call, and that someone was her daughter and son-in-law.  Joy of joys, her son-in-law was on his way!!!

 

Instead of just waiting for him to arrive, Hettie kept asking me to hoist the calf to its feet to try to teach it to walk. I don't know anything about cows, so I just did whatever I was told in that cow pasture - including teaching this calf one of the basic foundations of cow life.  I whispered soothing words of encouragement into the calf's ears as I wrapped my arms around its belly and tried to make its dangling hooves plant firmly on the ground... at least at the rear end.  I really, really wish someone had a video of me smooth talking a calf into standing up - I probably looked ridiculous.  I finally got her on all 4 hooves, but it only worked when I was holding on to her.  The instant I attempted to let go, she just slumped forward face first into the ground.  This was going nowhere.

 

 

 

And that's when the song "Dreamweaver" started echoing in my mind as I looked up and saw Hettie's son-in-law walking in slow motion across the field toward us.  We were saved!  I was never in my life so happy to see a dusty, sturdy middle aged man in overalls, a trucker hat and rubber boots walking my way!  My Dreamweaver sequence was abruptly interrupted as Hettie rightly pointed out that he was taking his sweet time getting to us.  As I watched him, I realized that he really, truly couldn't be walking any slower!  Didn't he know that I was a selfless city girl doing them a favour!  Come on!!!

 

After a painfully long wait, he arrived on the scene, and without so much as a word or a tip of the ol' farmer's hat, he bent down, scooped the calf up into his arms and walked her about 40 feet into the field and set her down.  Then he walked over to the muddy land bridge (that the mama cow had presumably forgotten existed!) and headed over to Kathy, and with a few whacks on the bottom, he guided her through the mud and over our way.

 

Redirecting \Mama Kathy

 

 

This whole time I am acting like a complete loser, taking selfies of me and the calf and Hettie with my crud-covered phone, and talking to the calf like I was the only one in the whole word who understood it's struggle - cooing and petting and reminding her that her mom was on her way.  Her little heart was beating a mile a minute!

 

 

 

There was only one problem.  I hadn't actually anticipated what it would be like when that glorious moment actually came to be.  Suddenly I was jerked out of my nurturing state when I heard the son-in-law holler, "HERE COMES MOM!"

 

I looked up just in time to see wild-eyed Kathy come running full tilt right at me and the calf.  Talk about the gift of fear - I almost wet my pants trying to scramble out of the way!  Kathy came to screeching halt when she got to her baby and started licking and nudging her calf, cleaning her up and trying to get her to stand.

 

Reunited!

 

 

Hettie and her son-in-law and I headed back to the barn.  Hettie was quite worried about the calf, but her son-in-law just urged her to let Kathy do what her instincts wanted her to do and give her some space.  I managed to get back to my van, where my kids were waiting, all doe-eyed and confused about why I smelled so bad.  I let them out of the van for a stretch and some doting from our new friend Hettie.  She took the kids over to the fence line and picked them some pussy willow stems and let them look at all the other calves that had been born this spring.  Apparently our calf was #9!  The son-in-law turned out to be so grateful that I had stopped to help that he let me and the kids name the calf!  I turned to the kids, who after an hour in the van of complete model behaviour deserved the honour of naming her, and said, "Well, what should we name her?"  Apparently all the calves this season had to be named with an "M" name, so the kids chose "Molly".  My heart melted... what a sweet name.

 

Then Hettie brought a little reality check to the moment when she inquired as to how I was going to drive home.  It was a good question, as I was literally covered in mud and cow waste from head to toe!  Suddenly I remembered that I had randomly grabbed a tarp from my storage unit as a last minute take away just hours earlier!  I dragged it out of the back of my van and fashioned a giant shower cap for the driver's seat that did quite nicely!

 

A bit of a sidebar - while this was happening, Milja had finally got my text and called me to say she was game to come and help.  It was all so confusing because everyone was talking to me while she was on the phone, but I was able to convey that we were all good now, and she did text later to call me a "bovine heroine".  No wonder she's in marketing!

 

As the kids and I got into the van, Hettie's son-in-law extended an invitation to us to come and visit Molly any time we liked. As we backed out of their driveway, the kids and I looked out into the field and saw Kathy and Molly nuzzling one another, and Molly was up on her feet... standing on her own! 

I headed for home, and as the kids and I excitedly recapped our adventure, and as my tarp flapped in the breeze from the open window, I had the biggest smile on my face.  I had just rescued a freaking cow!  I have never felt so simultaneously heroic and completely filthy and drenched in all my life - it was wonderful.

 

The Words My Kids Say

Me:  "What are you doing, buddy?" 
Knolan:  "Oh.  I am just putting my hand in my butt to pull stuff out." 
Me:  "Um..why?" 
Knolan:  "So I can throw it."  (of course)

***

Kaycie:  (While flinging herself forward just because she felt like it, I guess.) "Mom. Look! I'm very impressive, aren't I?"

***

Knolan's childcare provider:  (after Knolan had a particularly messy accident in his undies and beyond) "You can't poop in your clothes, Knolan.  If you have to poop, you tell me or your mommy, ok?"
Knolan:  "Thanks for telling me.  I think I just needed someone to tell me."

***

Kaycie:  (After she pinched a nerve in her neck during gym class.)  "I sure got a lot of intention from my neck injury, Mom."
Me:  "Huh?"
Kaycie:  "Intention... I got a lot of it from the other girls.  They asked me a lot of questions about what happened to my neck, and I thought to myself, 'wow... my neck sure is getting me a lot of intention!' "

***

Knolan:  When we were standing out on the back porch after dark, I pointed out how pretty the moon was.  He said, "Where?"  I pointed at the moon, and said, "There!"  He said, "The sun?"  And I said, "No cutie... that's the MOON."  Knolan looked truly astounded, and then crouched down low, held his palms upwards, gesturing to the moon above, and whispered, "It's... it's... a miracle."  And then he stood up, still gesturing toward the moon and shouted into the night, "It's ALIVE!!!!!"

***

Kaycie:  "Mom... could you fashion me a cup of juice?"

From the Fairmont Vancouver Airport to the Fairmont Whitehorse

The sun was starting to get lower in the sky as we pulled into Marlaine's driveway after our trip down the Klondike Highway.  I was really excited because I hadn't seen 2 of her 3 children in a very long time, and I was eager to see what changes time had brought.  I was also steadying myself for that bit of time that children normally require to acclimate to someone new or someone they haven't seen in a long time.

As soon as we came in the door, however, it became abundantly clear that there would be no acclimation period.  Marlaine's kids jumped right in as though no time at all had passed since I'd seen them last.  Hugs, tours of the house, questions... it was awesome.  The kids had even helped their parents put together a wonderful little apartment of sorts for my stay with them.  It was practically on par with the Fairmont Vancouver Airport!

I had my own bathroom...

and my own bedroom (complete with a little welcome gift on my pillow!)...

and a basket of Body Shop items and towels to make my bathroom time fantastico!

We had a wonderful dinner, prepared by Marlaine's husband, and then the children and I drew pictures of each other's heads with animal bodies.  It was also awesome.  So much awesomeness!  While the two youngest were reading bedtime stories, Marlaine's daughter and I hung out downstairs and chit chatted.  What a gift it was to have some quiet time with her.  We looked at the pictures I had taken that day on our road trip, talked about life in Whitehorse, went in the back yard and looked at the constellations, and talked about her new school.  What an amazing thing it is to be able to witness the alarmingly fast rate at which children grow and learn.  I swear it was just a year or so ago that I held her as a baby!  

Once the kids had gone to bed for the night, Marlaine and I ducked out to go to the drug store for a few things, and took another drive up Grey Mountain to see if we could catch any wildlife... well, not with our bare hands or anything.  Just a peek would be fine! LOL  Grey Mountain did not disappoint!  Not only did we see a porcupine (unfortunately not caught on camera), but a fox bounded across the road in front of us on they way back down into Whitehorse.  This, I DID capture on camera!

I know... it won't make the cover of National Geographic, but I still got a picture of it, and went to sleep that night with a smile on my face, as my running list of animals-seen included mountain goats, a bald eagle, a porcupine, a fox and one fake wolf!  My only regret was that I couldn't help my sister-in-law Kerry answer that infernal question that has been plaguing her, because the fox didn't say anything at all.  Ooooh man... *wiping tears from my eyes after prolonged laughing fit*  I am just so darn hilarious!

The next morning, I joined Marlaine and the children at their curling lessons.  Her two oldest were the ones taking lessons, and they are very enthusiastic about learning the sport.  They certainly showed a LOT more curling prowess than I ever have.  Did I ever mention the time I played in a curling tournament and managed to take out the entire house... on the sheet NEXT to us?  That was humiliating.

After lunch, we needed to fill a bit of time before Marlaine's daughter needed to meet her Girl Guide unit to help sell cookies, so we all piled into the car and I was treated to a visit to Yukon Brewing!  While I was there, I was introduced to the concept of "growlers" (pictured below).  Growlers are refillable glass bottles generally used at breweries as a means to sell take-out craft beer.  The fantastic part about visiting the brewery is that you can taste each beer they have on tap!  I had a nice beer glow on once I'd tried them all, and it was only Marlaine's 6 year old son who noticed that I tried to get into a nice young couple's car when we left the store!  I am a lightweight when it comes to alcohol.  Lucky for me, he won the argument I had with him about whether or not I was an expert on what the family car looked like. 

After the cookie selling shift was over, we headed home and Marlaine and I got ready for our next big plan - an overnight getaway to the Sun Dog Retreat!  Our hope was that we'd have a fantastic girls' night away together and get to see the Northern Lights by a roaring fire as a herd of caribou quietly walked by and a pack of wolves howled at the moon AND a bear came by on a unicycle.  At the very least, we'd have some much needed quiet, relaxing and reflective time away together.

On our way to Sun Dog, we stopped at the Bean North Café - a hidden treat in the woods!  This café is in a secluded woodlot outside of Whitehorse, and serves AMAZING roasts and some good eats!

 

On our way in, we checked out the Little Free Library #7713.  Since returning from Whitehorse, I researched this initiative a little bit, and found out that it is part of a much larger, worldwide movement!  Simply stated, a Little Free Library is a box full of books where people can take a book or two and leave another book or two in their place.  Find out more here!

 

We carried on after a leisurely latte, and finally arrived at our destination - the Wolf's Den cabin at Sun Dog Retreat!  I was so excited!  It was very cabin-y, and was surrounded by trees.  Once we got inside, we found a little basket of knitted slippers for us - which I of course insisted we wear and document for posterity!

After we had giddily checked out the entire cabin, we decided to have a drink from our Growler and enjoy some of the brie and asiago cheese we had brought with us.  We happily chatted away, occasionally looking out into the trees to keep tabs on any wildlife that might wander our way.  Oh how wonderful it was to have time to breathe and gab and enjoy ourselves!  And of course, I was amused to observe that the more beer I drank, the more passionate I became about the asiago cheese.  It was as if I'd never had cheese before in my life, the way I was going on and on about how good it was!  I think Mar was secretly happy that I didn't have eyes for her precious brie.

As luck would have it, something DID wander our way after a while.  I looked out the window at one point, and saw a woman wandering around our cabin with a beer bottle in her hand.  We were just on our way out the door to go for a short hike to the Yukon River, so we opened the door to see who she was.  Turns out she was a traveller from Australia who was spending time at Sun Dog with her boyfriend, and she was lost.  Lost, but still drinking.  A traveller with a traveller!  And she was very, very friendly.  She gushed about how much she loved our accents.  I loved that part.  As a child, I prayed nightly that I might suddenly wake up one day with a British accent, so this was almost as good.

We were driving out to the hiking trail, so we offered to drive her back to the main cabin - her original destination.  She happily accepted, and immediately started making plans for Marlaine and I to join her and her boyfriend for the night.  She encouraged us to bring all of our drinks and any "party music" we had over to their cabin and we could all hang out for the night.  In her mind, this was the perfect plan!  It was like the fates had come together when she tipsily stumbled across our cabin to make for the BEST PARTY NIGHT EVER! 

Well, she couldn't have found 2 people who were less in favour of this plan even if she tried.  Luckily, Marlaine was quite adept at politely ditching her at the main cabin, and we laughed in spite of ourselves as we drove away, and I immediately felt very old.  Old, but content with the fact that my ultimate dream night consisted of sitting around in my jammies quietly chatting with my best friend.

We drove halfway up the trail to the Yukon River and parked the car when the terrain became undriveable.  We hiked the rest of the way to the river as the day slowly began to wind down.  we soon came to a spot where the woods seemed to open up, and we suddenly were overlooking the mighty Yukon river.  It was impressive and huge, but at the same time, the mood was undeniably serene.  Marlaine and I stood side by side, humbled by it all, hand in hand for a long time.  I don't know how she felt, but I felt a strange mixture of a lifetime of experiences all leading up to this quiet moment with a childlike innocence or newness - kind of like I was seeing something with new eyes.  It was my favourite moment of the trip.

And then we got a bit silly, 'cause sometimes that's just how you get back to real life after moments like that.  :-)

Realizing the sun was now setting quickly, we headed back to the car.  Marlaine took this amazing picture on our way back up the trail.  It's one of the only pictures I have from this trip that really does seem to capture exactly what we were seeing with our own eyes.  The sunset was fleeting, but stunning, as it created a colourful, smoky backdrop to the tall poplars that lined the trail.

 

Once we were back at the cabin, Marlaine prepared us an absolutely freaking mouth watering meal.  Local Yukon potatoes, elk and greens with a glass of white wine.  That was it... the trip could have ended right there, and I would have felt completely fulfilled.  As it turns out, elk is quite tasty - so glad I tried it!

 

As the sun fell below the horizon, the moon blazed above us.  And when I say 'blazed', I have to stress how much I am not kidding.  I think it must be the lack of pollution or humidity or something, but the moon is almost blinding at night that far north.  My eyes hurt if I even accidentally looked at the moon.  It really was something else to see!

Marlaine, who I swear has a paranormal gift for figuring out exactly what I want to do before I even know I want to do it, turned out all the lights, made us a cup of tea, ripped open a bag of Reese's peanut butter cup chocolate chip cookies, moved the table out of the way, and dragged two chairs up to the window sill so we could rest our chins on our hands as we leaned on the window sill and looked out into the night.  We sat that way for ages, quietly talking, discussing things that were really, really important, and then sometimes laughing so hard it hurt as we discussed things that were really, really goofy and embarrassing.  You'll notice I didn't say 'unimportant' - because as every girl knows, the goofy and embarrassing stuff is what sisterhood is all about.

We finally turned in for the night, cursing the Northern Lights for evading us, but with souls and tummies that were full.  I fell asleep to the soothing smell of a wood cabin, and the absolute silence of the north.  And I woke up about a zillion times to go to the bathroom thanks to the Growler, the wine and the tea!  :-)

The next morning, as I stumbled out of bed, Marlaine informed me that there was a neat looking bird outside, and that she thought I might want to take a peek.  She knows me all too well.  Not only do I love wildlife, but Ken's parents have fostered in me an interest in birds.  I looked out the window, and about 20 feet from the cabin I could see a quail-like bird strutting through the tall grass.  I quietly crept outside and tried to track the bird.  It was a fun game of cat and mouse.  Or cat and bird, I guess.  Or, if I'm bothering to be technical, it was a fun game of Kirsten and bird.  There... I have satisfactorily butchered that little turn of phrase!  Anyway, the closer I got, the more the bird's expressionless face betrayed the fear deep inside.  That bird was freaked out by me, but was totally trying to play it cool!  I glided in and around baby pines, and stepped over shrubs, trying to get a closer look, but by now, the bird was in panic/strut mode, and was speed walking as far away from me as possible.  It really was comical.  I was sure it was a ptarmigan, and a quick internet search when I could get a signal told us that I was right.  Yay!  Another cool animal to add to my list!

The Ptarmigan Tracker!

I came back into the cabin, and we enjoyed a hearty breakfast overlooking the woods.  After a lazy morning, we headed back into Whitehorse to meet the rest of Marlaine's family for lunch.  We had lunch at a local spot called "Baked Café".  As the kids and I joked around and ate our lunch, I couldn't help but notice how healthy and fit everyone was.  Marlaine confirmed my observation during a later discussion where she shared that a healthy way of life is very core to the culture in Whitehorse.  It is very common - almost expected - for employees to take 2 hours during the middle of the day to hike or ski.  Executives can be seen on their bikes with their children in chariots in tow as they drop their children off at Montessori school before work.  Organic food is standard fare.

So, it was no surprise that after lunch all 7 of us (the family dog joined us!) headed out for a 3km hike.  The hike was a great chance for me to spend more time with the children, and learn more about the local flora.  The kids egged me on as I tried a Kinnikinnick berry - although edible, it is disgusting - and rosehip - edible AND decent tasting.  We explored streams, climbed downed trees, and pointed out evidence of wildlife through out the trail - my favourite being some trees half eaten by beavers.

At one point, we came to an amazing lookout.  It was hard to take in for me, given that we were standing on the edge of a cliff that made me want to hurl when I looked down.  When I was able to get past that, however, the view was spectacular - blue green river nestled in mountains and forests as far as the eye could see.  Nature truly is miraculous - I couldn't help but think of the forces that created those mountains as I looked out over the river.  It was amazing.

At the end of our hike, as we all sat in the car on our way home, I felt a surge of happiness for Marlaine and her family that they had this amazing opportunity to experience life in this gem of a city for a while.  Her kids were clearly happy and thriving - revelling in all of this activity and accessible nature - as was her husband, who was giddily planning to WALK to the airport the next morning to catch his flight to Chicago.  Most of all, though, watching Marlaine still be mesmerized by the mountains 6 weeks after moving there was a really refreshing thing to see.  Wonder and marvel in an adult is such a fantastic and rare thing to experience.  Whitehorse suits them - and I as I rode in the car, listening to the sounds of a family who has found their place, I felt so lucky to have the chance to experience it with them.

The Motorcycle Ride

It's early morning, and my eyes are pried open by my son.

"Mommy!  It's morning time!"

Ugh.  I am so, so tired.  I hear myself murmur, "Just a minute."  Then I hear my daughter come prancing in, asking if we can have pancakes.  Again, I hear myself mumbling a request for more time.  The two of them seem hell bent on touching my face and talking into my ear canal and rearranging my room.

In a fit of desperation, I rolled onto my side and invited them to sit on me and play motorcycle.  My tired little brain figured that if they were sitting on me, they weren't wrecking my room and they weren't touching my face or ears, and maybe I could sleep through it.

Turns out it was the greatest way to wake up EVER!  Somehow, the two of them effortlessly, and without any prior organization that I am aware of, just drifted into the following... I don't know what to call it.  Vignette, or scene, perhaps?  Here is the play by play, but bear in mind... my son is only 3 years old.  This freaked me out and yet made me stuff a pillow in my mouth to stop from laughing out loud, lest I'd break up the fun. 

<Knolan climbs onboard the "motorcycle", aka, my hip.>

KNOLAN:  "Come on honey, hop on!"

KAYCIE:  "OK.  Honey... do you have the baby?  Oh wait.  Nope... I do!  Ok... I'm ready!"

<Kaycie hops on behind Knolan.>

KNOLAN:  "Well then, let's go!  Vroom, vroom!"

KAYCIE: "Oh darling.... this is just marvelous! You've planned the perfect trip for us."

<Lots of vrooming and pretend bumps in the road.  Knolan yanks Kaycie's hands and wraps them around his stomach.  I can see a doll's head peeking out between the kids.>

KNOLAN:  "Better hold on.  It's more safe that way."

KAYCIE:  "Pull over darling.  I need to put our baby in the trunk.   She'll be safer that way, and i'll be safer too, since I will be able to hold on to you better."

KNOLAN:  "Ok, but hurry.  I need gas."

KAYCIE:  "Ok darling."

KNOLAN:  "Ok, here is the gas station." 

<Knolan hops off, somehow manages to use my arm and hand (which he manipulated into a fist with a thumb sticking out) as a gas station nozzle, and to my utter horror, uses my belly button as the gas tank, and then hops back on.>

KAYCIE:  "Oh darling, I just love that you planned this trip.  I've always wanted to ride our motorcycle to Hawaii."

KNOLAN:  "Hawaii??!?  We're going to Toys'r'us!"

KAYCIE:  "Oh.  Ok, well, I guess I could pick up some things for the baby, then.  Let's listen to the radio on the way!"

<Suddenly I hear "Wide Awake" by Katy Perry playing.  Turns out that Kaycie has found my phone, and has taught herself how to play the Kidz Bop album that her aunt Tharen downloaded onto my phone for her.>

KNOLAN:  "Oh look!  A perfect spot to pull over and dance!"

<And then, a dance party LITERALLY ensues.  I lift my head, and the two of them are at the end of the bed, each of them holding onto one of the doll's hands, bustin' a move. Knolan takes a short break from the hand holding to do some sweet breakdancing/3 Stooges moves on the floor, and then he's back up with his girls once more.>

KNOLAN:  "Ok, honey, time to get back on the road."

ME:  "You two are SUCH a sweet couple!"

KAYCIE:  "Well.... Knolan really isn't an appropriate husband for me.  I am going to go back to being his sister."

<end scene>

And just as quickly as it unfolded, the scene was gone... like sunlight behind a cloud.  But how lucky am I?!  I am not refereeing fights at 7am.  They love being with each other!  And I am witnessing everything I had hoped for in my children.

My kids were back to digging in my ears, and all I could do was grin.