We stand and gaze at Mt. Robson in wonderment and awe. This great mountain is so rarely revealed in all it’s pristine splendor. Lofty sights pull us up, inspire. They point to that which we long to know and be.

Last Wednesday evening I was packed up and prepared to leave Edmonton. Then at about 9.00 pm I checked my email and discovered that a house sitting opportunity in south Edmonton had turned up. This was an option I’d long hoped would open up, and it did. Just in time!

In the last week five of us drove for two days to Lytton (where it was very hot) and then drove two days back again. We had just a two night stop in Lytton for a brief, yet rewarding, retreat over the week-end. And now I sit typing in a very pleasant home in the evening heat of Terwillegar Towne. This house provides a place and a time for me to rest as well as catch up on OBC work that’s been waiting in the wings for my attention. And hopefully in the next month or so I’ll see some familiar faces from time to time too.

I have been waiting to post this photo ever since October when I took a walk over the High Level bridge which spans the North Saskatchewan River. I saw a strange sign which read something like “Take care! Sidewalk slippery when waterfall is on”. Please do read on, to be suitable impressed and ‘amazed’

The Great Divide Waterfall is 210 feet high (about 24 feet higher than Niagara Falls). Water for the facility is supplied from a nearby 42 inch water main on the north side of the river. A special valve was designed to connect the water main to a 20 inch pipe leading to the top of the bridge. Extra pumps are used when the waterfall is running to supply the extra demand needed to maintain pressure throughout the water work system. Water pressure alone forces water to the top of the bridge where it enters a horizontal pipe above the bridge at sidewalk level. This horizontal piping is filled with nozzles, one foot apart, for a distance of 300 feet along the expanse of the bridge. The waterfall effect is created when approximately 11,000 gallons of water per minute rushes out through the nozzles. For a two hour waterfall showing the water measures approximately 4,600 cubic meters. The cost for operating the waterfall is approximately $2,000 per hour.

Glad to be back.

I’m on the road in BC on route for the week-end retreat at Lytton. The problem with the site is being looked into by our reader in Singapore.

…and at the advice of Iain in Japan I removed the photo in the previous posting and everything came right again. Who know what that was all about, I’m just glad everything looks like it normally does now.

I received this photo and account of being on a tour to China via email recently. Reproduced here with permission.

Dear Rev. Mugo,
It was a very good trip, but not what I expected. I was disappointed to learn upon arrival that we would not go to the Ling-Yin Monastery as indicated in the itinerary, apparently the company has had complaints from tourists about seeing “too many Buddhist temples” although I think our group would all have found it interesting. We did go to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda in Xian and I offered incense and lit 3 candles in the front, and climbed to the top of the pagoda. The scriptures (brought from India by and translated by Xuan Zhuang, 7th c. AD) were all hung on the walls, but written in Chinese, and so I wasn’t able to know what they said. In one of the side buildings, there was an amazing mural made of lacquer and jade in 3 full wall panels depicting the life of the Buddha, a wonderful teaching tool. I don’t know how old it was but it was very impressive. I didn’t have a chance to talk to or see any monks at that temple, but purchased some items in one of the shops on the grounds. We also went to a Taoist park in Hangzhou, which was interesting to see, with statues and other sculptures offering opportunities for good luck wishes.

My general impression of China is that it is experiencing major changes in their social and economic structure, and hopefully becoming more accessible to Westerners. I did see many Buddhist objects in all of the shops we encountered (way too many shops, in my opinion!) but because I was on a commercial tour, very little attention was paid to any of the religious practices of the Chinese people. I did notice how the three major religions of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism seem to be blended a lot in the culture.

Our tour focused on historical sites and cultural experiences, primarily. We ate well, had very good hotels, excellent guides, and comfortable travel accommodations. I would have preferred less shopping opportunities and more sites, but I guess that is part of that kind of tour. (I’ve never been on a tour before…) I’m very glad I went, and if I were to go again, I would do it differently, focusing on Buddhist temples.

In gassho,

Thanks for this. It just shows how very different your tour in China was to my journey last year.

These past couple of days I’ve been commuting to the apartment from the home of congregation members who are hosting me. It’s a whole new way of life; gathering everything for the days work in bags the night before, checking to make sure I’ve keys to get out of the house, to get into the car, to unlock the steering wheel lock. (We are taking no chances with getting the car stolen again). And then there’s a key to get into the apartment building, another to get into the apartment itself. Hello #206, at last! Keys, keys and more keys. What would we do without them?

As well as being prepared with things and keys there’s calculating what time to leave in order to get there on time. It’s just a ten minute drive but at rush hour it could be a bit longer. Incidentally rush hour in Edmonton is like normal traffic anywhere else. And on this short commute I’ve even contemplated joining the rest of Canada queuing for coffee and Timbits at Tim Hortons. But so far I’ve settled for tea and instant oatmeal for breakfast, after morning meditation.

Timbits are to Canada what Big Mac’s are to the rest of the world. Tim Hortons is the nation’s favorite ‘pit-stop’ chain, founded and named after the famous hockey player, and should not go without mention while I’m still in this wonderful country.

So this morning at 6.30 am as I sailed north up 109 Street, accompanied by the Gold and Silver Waltz, I had an appreciation of what it’s like to commute. Back in the early 1970’s I drove one to two hours up the A3 to London in a venerable VW bug. There was heat which reached to my right foot only, no radio, very little synchromesh, and suspect breaks. And I loved that bug to pieces. Ah, happy days.

It was during those long commutes, nose to tail at high speed through the Surrey countryside, that I learnt something of sitting still. Much latter while parked for two hours, or more, on the M25 London orbital, I passed through the impatience barrier to a deeper acceptance.

Sometimes one learns to sit still because there is no viable alternative at the time! Waiting in traffic has never been the same since that M25 incident. Uh! Maybe I’ll stop for some Timbits tomorrow morning.