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Qajaq - A Living Tradition in Greenland

Wild Rides With a Pautik / GP at Skook

James Manke gets 'window shaded' with a GP



A little fun with honey badgers



An amazing 6.5 minute ride trapped in the foam pile



Another interesting ride in the foam pile.



The Fearless Honey Badger

Tipi Workshop and Summer Home

I retired from a 20 year career working on information systems and databases. Twenty years of sitting in front of a computer took it's toll and it was time to do something else. I call it "pension assisted career change". I worked as a sea kayak guide all summer and missed having my "own space" between kayak trips. The tipi will provide a summer home wherever I work next summer. During the winter, the tipi will provide a workshop for working on pautiks and qajaqs and carpentry projects. It will also be a fine guest house and extension of my living space. I love the shape of this magnificent piece of native architecture. 

Running Through the Rain

NEED WASHING?

A little girl had been shopping with her Mom in a store. She must have been 6 years old, this beautiful red haired, freckle faced image of innocence.
It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the earth it has no time to flow down the spout.. We all stood there, under the awning, just
inside the door of the WalMart.
We waited, some patiently, others irritated because nature messed up their hurried day.

I am always mesmerized by rainfall. I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the world. Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child came pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day.

Her little voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in, 'Mom let's run through the rain,'
She said.
'What?' Mom asked.

'Let's run through the rain!' She repeated.

'No, honey. We'll wait until it slows down a bit,' Mom replied.

This young child waited a minute and repeated: 'Mom, let's run through the rain..'

'We'll get soaked if we do,' Mom said.

'No, we won't, Mom. That's not what you said this morning,' the young girl said as she tugged at her Mom's arm.

'This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?'

'Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, ' If God can get us through this, He can get us through anything! ' '

The entire crowd stopped dead silent.. I swear you couldn't hear anything but the rain.. We all stood silently. No one left. Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would say.

Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child's life. A time when innocent trust can be

nurtured so that it will bloom into faith.

'Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If GOD let's us get wet, well maybe we just need washing,' Mom said.

Then off they ran. We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and yes, through the puddles. They got soaked.

They were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars. And yes, I did.
I ran. I got wet. I needed washing.

Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, they can take away your money, and they can take away your health.. But no one can ever take away your precious memories...So, don't forget to make time and take the opportunities to make memories everyday.

To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.
I HOPE YOU STILL TAKE THE TIME TO RUN THROUGH THE RAIN.

They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them.

Take the time to live!!!

Keep in touch with your friends, you never know when you'll need each other --
And don't forget to run in the rain!

-- Ann(Nancy/Bal) Ballantyne

The Art of Meditation

You exist in time, but you belong to eternity. You are a penetration of eternity into the world of time. You are deathless, living in a body of death. Your consciousness knows no death, no birth. It is only your body that is born and dies. But you are not aware of your consciousness. You are not conscious of your consciousness, and that is the whole art of meditation; Becoming conscious of consciousness itself."

Surfing at Florencia Bay

These photos are from my first day of surfing with my new 90 mm surfing pautik. It has lots of blade area for bracing and accelerating to catch a wave. 

A Good Day in the Broken Group

Yost Sea Rider

A qajaq I want to make.

RavenWoods Landscape

This is a pagoda, pond, waterfall and garden that I designed and built in Sooke. This area was just another square of grass when I first saw it.