Jul 17 - Wawa, ON - Naturally Superior Adventures' Rock Island Lodge

water in morning. cool water on my skin, shallow and refreshing. cleaning my clothes like a medieval person - "plunge and scrub" in the lake, on the sand.

a day spent relaxing, climbing on the jagged rocks, ancient magma exposed, thick with burgundy iron, small pools in their recesses. i get naked in one, resting, bathing, time a beautifully meaningless thing - no rush, no schedule - me and the rock and the water and far off, the blue sky and the sand. thrashing through the bush, around the gorgy inlets too steep or wide to climb or jump.

a delicious pasta dinner.

a chance that asta comes to toronto - an exciting chance.

a ride comes through to the sault. ease. beautiful ease. i could get used to this time, this extra. will i want to get on the bike again? it will be harder the more i enjoy this, yet i count on no joy around the bend. expectations can breed disappointment, unless one prepares for the worst - but there is stress in that.

Jul 13 - Rossport, ON

I find it appropriate that I am writing this on a solar powered computer on an island across from the town of Rossport. I arrived here yesterday after catching a lift with Bart (a friend of Asta's). Yes, I did say ride. I sent the bicycle to Ottawa when I was in Thunder Bay because it became clear to me during the last week I spent cycling that my compressed nerve was getting worse, causing shooting pains up my wrist to my elbow, and my fingers were number than ever.

On the bright side, my reunion with Asta K (from Vernon) was pleasurable indeed. Nothing like romance to put a smile on a guy's face. I relaxed for 4 days with Asta and Kristin at Kristin's family's place, watching some good movies, drinking chocotinis, and dipping into Thunder Bay proper to check out the Finnish district (since Asta comes from an immigrant Finnish family). We ate at the famous Hoito underneath the Finnish Club, enjoying salt-fish and pancakes. Yum!

The shows in T-Bay were not stupendously attended, but were more enjoyable as they went along, ending up at Jen Metcalfe's beautiful home. We played in her living room to the little group there, imbibed in some fine El Jimador, and ate pizza. Life was good. At the end of the night, I took Asta to McVicar Manor B&B (a stunning Victorian manor right downtown) and romanced her some more. Life continued to be good until morning when we had a fabulous breakfast and some good chats with good people before I had to be off on my car-pool with Bart, leaving myself and Asta sad at the departure.

It's going to be a tough two months without her, and an interesting month coming without a bicycle. This is truly an adventure - so many twists and turns and unexpected happenings.

C'est la vie. Carpe dium.

Today I went out on a boat-ride and hike about Lake Superior and its many interesting islands with Lisa Poushinsky and her father Jim. My hips have been reacting badly to the lack of constant rotation, so it's probably good that I got a solid hike up a steep hill in. Northern Ontario seems to be all about the boat rides (what with the fishing trip in Wabigoon). I don't mind it a bit....

July 1 - Winnipeg, MB

Well, Winnipeg has been eventful. The show at Candor was well attended, considering the circumstances being Canada Day weekend. Then, the show at Park Theatre - well, no so well attended. BUT, for me, it was worth it because Karla ("Lily" from Jacob & Lily) said some things that reminded me why I should be doing this, why I AM doing this: for the love of it. Why? No, not because of some cushy romantic idealism, but for the pragmatic reason that there is no other reason to tour folk music. There is barely enough money. The audience numbers are unreliable, and the listeners are sometimes few. One cannot do it for money. One cannot depend on the energy of an audience. One can only find joy in what one is doing, in the music. If one cannot find that, one might as well quit.

This is one of the issues that has been confronting myself and Derek, and I, at least, have come out the other side with a healthier approach and perspective.

On the personal front, Derek and I have been having some problems, but I think the worst has passed. It was bound to happen on this trip. We are too different to not get under each other's skin every now and then. It's like an arranged marriage - very difficult to manage, but I think we'll get through to the end without any serious damage. There are things for us to talk about, but once we do, I'm sure it will be water under the bridge.

I can't wait to get on the road again, taking 2.5 relatively stress-free days to get to Kenora, and a couple more tame ones to Wabigoon where we meet up with Asta and Kristin (our hostesses way back in Vernon), which will be joyous for me because there's some romance attached.

Thanks for reading!

June 16 - just east of Bow Island, AB

This was not my best day. After a lacklustre gig in Lethbridge last night, where the patrons were there to party and could care less about us (Derek played AC/DC - that should tell you enough about it), I felt physically off today while struggling against the wind and some more strange weather that wouldn't settle in to hot or cold, rain or shine. My one highlight of the day was a yelling conversation with a farmer:

"How far are you going?"
"All the way to Halifax!"
"Good for you!"
"Thanks!"

Kind of lifted my spirits a bit. The rest of my day was spent in a vacuous head-space, pr pondering how horses, llamas and cows take great interest in us, or reminiscing about the beautiful Asta K (our hostess in Vernon, BC), who I have kept in touch with because she drew my interest back there and, well, I am one to follow-up on my interests, as is evidenced by this trip.

After a terrible sleep last night thanks to some mice and drunken neighbors, I am set to go to bed early. Tomorrow we rise early to ride the remaining 45km to Medicine Hat to play our Jazz Festival gig at Cafe Caprice at 2pm. I hope I am not too rusty, because I plan to play some more-jazzy tunes that I haven't played much at all, or yet, on this tour.

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a poem before bed:

Your smile: an infectious grip at my collar: "Get up! You dullard! Embrace me, or love this air between us but do not sit one moment longer letting my heart pass by when yours flutters at my motions." I watch long you move quiet eyes swallowing grace given by an attitude a strength commanding respect and seducing some adoration out of me To hold your hips hold you to me under a leaf-scattered moon or on a breeze of soft beach I could hold content holding those hips watching your smile lips lasting ages in my mind and if there were any quiet glint of light in your eye kiss for some eternity For when that kiss stops it is gone forever So, it must last as long as it takes to commit every curve and crevice of each lip its parting its moisture to my memory forever I daydream of you and this and more as my days pass me closerto, if only, a look your face that smile your hair brushing gentle on my hand on your cheek: a quiet hello of affection before we

June 14 - Lethbridge, AB

The Main Street Cafe in Nanton was a badly needed wonderful show, with an attentive and responsive audience, and kind and accommodating owners. After some rough weather and tough shows, it lifted our spirits back to happiness, reminding us of why we do this. Many thanks to Pam and Kevin for having us in, and at their home.

On the way to Lethbridge today, we met every kind of weather imaginable: sun, cloud, rain, sleet, hail, thunder, lightning, hot, cold, freezing - even a funnel cloud started its way down. It has been a wild welcome to the flat lands so far!

We just went to an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet, thinking our voracious cycling appetites would make us bank-breakers, but we quickly realized that, while we do eat a lot, we eat often and small, and our stomachs are actually smaller than they were before the trip began. So, Derek is on a walk to either burn it off or be sick, and I am lying down letting my gut work through it. I ate a little less than Derek, so I think I am a little better off than him, but boy is my stomach bloated!

I am finding myself wondering how Asta K is (from back in Vernon) - she had a big exam Tuesday, and I wonder if it went well....

We are currently camped in the very small back "yard" of a girl named Meghan, who works at The Slice, and was kind enough to offer us this space to camp in. We're a little nervous about the show tomorrow a) because there are a couple of bands playing that we weren't told about, b) because it is a bar, and we're not really bar music, and c) because we were guaranteed money and a meal, but have no idea how they will afford that with two other bands playing. Wish us luck! (We might need it.)

June 1 - Vernon, BC - House Concert @ Asta K's

We had a hard day getting from Winfield to Vernon because the distance was longer than we expected, the hills were steeper, the heat was scorching, and we were hung-over from bottles of red wine graciously provided by our hostess Kerry the night before. I woke up feeling nautious, which only intensified as the day went on, until only a few kilometres from Asta K's place I had to pull over to be sick. Shortly thereafter, Derek had to pull over to cool down. It was mutually agreed that heavy imbibing the night before biking was NOT a good idea. =) As seems the theme of my trip so far, a guardian angel again appeared to help me out - two, in fact. The first was a woman who had been at our Winfield show and just happened to be passing by checking her mail. She offered to take my gear up to Asta's for me, making my load lighter, and gave Derek and I cool drinks. Second was Ty, the boyfriend of one of our hostesses (Kris) that night, who came to give me a lift up the last few kilometres. Derek, of course, refused to get in a car (he has promised himself no motor vehicles for the duration of this trip), and cycled the rest of the way up (he is hard-core cycle man!). Both of us felt immensely better upon arrival and immersion in cold water, Derek in a shower and I buck naked in a creek that ran through the property, which was idyllic: Three beautiful log cabins tucked away in thick woods with the mentioned creek running through it, complete with a foot bridge made of planks on fallen trees and a wading pool in front of a small waterfall. If Asta and Kris' home was by the ocean and had a garden, I would be tempted to stay with them and never leave. As it was, I was pretty tempted anyway, and had no desire to leave in the morning. Asta and Kris put on the ritz, setting up a little festival-like stage for us complete with cedar boughs and Christmas lights, and a tickle-trunk provided some fantastic costumes that came in handy towards the end of our performance. People kept arriving as the evening deepened, bringing food for a pot-luck and tents to camp in. It was the last day of classes for Asta et al at their massage therapy school, so a party was gearing up. We played an acoustic set (our second such show in as many nights) that tested the limits of our voices and our knowledge of and willingness to play loud party songs. During our break, though, Ty brought us a little amp and microphone, and we got ourselves plugged-in for the second set. After that, things really perked up. People got dancing and enjoying themselves, and Derek whipped out a ton of party tunes he knows. I finished up my night before him, played "My Hammerhead Baby" after dropping my vest and drawers, exposing a shiny red sleeveless shirt, 1980s aviator sunglasses and a skin-tight pair of black and white vertical striped pants that apparantly looked quite good on me. After I finished playing, I felt mellow and famished. Our lovely hostess Asta whipped me up a super salad and even better conversation until 2AM when I had reached my zenith of exhaustion. I went back to my tent by the brook and made sweet love to the Sandman for 7 hours or so, experiencing THE best sleep in my memory.