The Free Radical

My daily experiences in the Forest are becoming quite dynamic and multidimensional… in case you hadn’t noticed!

Winding up the Victoria Day long weekend, I was accompanied on this walk by a good friend visiting from the city. Jesse is the fellow who has been instrumental in helping to create my presence as a writer on the internet. As such, his vibe harmonizes with mine effortlessly… as was evidenced by the Forest’s ease of acceptance.

We were only mere hours at most behind the bear who left these tracks in the mud, as evidenced by them overlaying the tire treads from trucks having passed this way the afternoon before.

They belong to a medium-sized bear– almost certainly Black Bear– and you can see clear evidence of claw marks included in the prints. Not quite as exciting as Bigsquatch, but a fun find nevertheless! I will reiterate here that Bear represents individual sovereignty. Issues of sovereignty and the individual’s ability to claim and exercise such are rapidly becoming the keystone issues of these times. (This will be explored in an upcoming TOURS update in the next few days.)

Whenever guests accompany me on these journeys, they are invariably and happily surprised by the variety of flora, fauna and landscape involved in such an effortless walk. This little corner of paradise is a truly amazingly diverse ecosystem!

We were nearing the end of our travels along the river, approaching the place of this overhanging cliff, when we had a most unusual encounter. The picture above actually looks back on the spot as we moved past it. Sitka is sniffing out the place where a short-eared owl patiently awaited our company.

Our approach was from the right side of the picture. Sitka was in the lead. Just before we reached the cliff, Sitka stopped suddenly and began to growl quietly. As I came up behind her, it looked to me like there was an interesting rock or some such thing blocking the trail ahead. It was positioned on the ground a mere ten feet away. Once Sitka, myself and Jesse were all gathered there wondering “What is that?” the owl hopped once and spread its wings to fly off over the river. An owl! In the middle of the day! He was just sitting on the ground for no apparent reason other than to wait for us… and was utterly fearless of our approach. He was magnificent!

Once again, the encounter happened so quickly that neither of us was able to snap a picture… with cameras which were safely stowed away in our backpacks. I easily identified the owl in my local bird book though, as the colourings were distinctive, and the short-eared owl is the only one who is also active during the day and not strictly nocturnal.

Owls are associated with a great deal of wisdom and lore coming to the fore in timely revelations. One specific aspect of particular note is the owl’s correlation with issues having to do with the neck. An owl’s eyes do not move; instead, their necks are extremely dextrous in order for them to properly track their prey. For the past two weeks I have had a stiff neck– a knot in the left side just beneath my skull. This is indicative of a blockage of internal awareness, an ability underdeveloped. I have to admit that on the day of this encounter, for the first time, my neck was feeling normal again.

Who else is symbolically associated with the neck– or a lack thereof? Yes, that’s right, bigsquatch. Traditionally, the sasquatch is said to have no neck; its head is much closer to the heart. That is the basis for its telepathic communication– a heart-based skill. It is one I’m calling into remembrance now.

Everyday the adventure beckons… and I can hardly wait!