I am alive! Very, very alive.

Dear Readers, my apologies. It is stunning how I can go from my lifestyle at school in front of a computer for 10 hours at a time surrounded by materials, surrounded by stuff, to having extremely sporadic Internet access and living my life with things only filling up just two panniers. It's a reality check really; it's reminding me the joys of simple living. But alas, I love my dear friends and family and I am sorry for the disconnection.

I would love to share with you all how my journey is so nicely progressing. It's been a real joy thus far to cycle, cook, eat, preform, clean, learn and live with these 9 unique individuals. Since we set out after our training week, it seems we haven't had much free time. Our first stop was Okotoks, where my bike buddie and I got miserably lost on route in the cold, pouring, busy, Calgary. Luckily, the warm hospitality of community members rose our looming core temperatures after this 95km wet cold day. We billeted with families in the community preforming our play during the United Church Service. We got a tour in town of a beautiful sustainable house and the Okotoks recycling depot. I began to be amazed by the utter beauty of the mountainous backdrop which never ceases to be stunning. After bidding farewell to our first amazing hosts, we continued ton to Nanton where we camped in the backyard of two young writers. Sharing with them the vegetarian chili we had cooked, they shared with us, their interesting pasts and how they ended up living in this quiet Alberta prairie town. I think my very favourite part of meeting new people is learning from them. Listening to their unique stories, and taking it all in.

The next morning we cycled southward to Fort Macleod, another small Alberta town, where we stayed in the United Church hall (thankfully in from the pouring rain). We did a performance at the local high school. After that we began our westward haunt - DIRECTLY into the westerly winds. Oh what a challenge. As the Alberta prairies faded away, ranch land began, complete with rolling hills. A mentally difficult ride, we felt a great sense of accomplishment when we arrived in Pincher Creek; we were stoked to see the drivers of the day had cooked us a hot meal, in a beautiful strangers home. Another generous, interesting individual. We did two performances in this town, at the foothills of the Kootenies, and in Ranch land Alberta. We all wanted to learn more about the area we were now living in for a couple days: conservative cattle raising Alberta. This made us rethink a scene in our play that deals with factory farming and steroid use. Se, to ensure accuracy, we asked around, and set up a tour of a typical ranch in the area for the very next morning. It confirmed a great deal of what I had learned about the industry and where my worries lie. It helped us to develop our scene more accurately: emphasizing the huge land use that cattle take up, land that is used to grow crops for the cattle that we could be eating. We speak now of the growth hormones, and small feed lots that are common to the area (where in my opinion, cows are fed to death). We learned of the stark culling methods, breeding methods of the cattle, and learned that since BSC has affected Alberta (read: Mad cow) the farmers are now burying the heads, hoofs, guts and hides of the cattle on their property. Sick. What about our groundwater I ask? Furthermore, there is absolutely no requirement in Alberta for riparian buffers, so cattle are allowed to wander in creeks, and poop where they may. It was stark, and it was reality, and it confirmed my commitment to vegetarianism. In the afternoon, we got a tour of a different farm: a wind farm! Certainly a much different use of land, and a quickly growing industry in the area.

Yesterday we cycled a windy 55km, into the collective area of Crowsnest pass. The day was beautiful, bike ride stunning as we entered the Mountains for real. We cycled through Frank Slide, a famous spot where the side of Turtle mountain experienced a drastic rock fall, killing 70 people in the early 1900's. We explored the extremely windy town of Blairmore, and then did a performance one town over in Coleman. It was in a uber funky cafe called the blackbird; the crowd was great. The building is an old catholic church turned trendy cozy hangout. Today, another performance at the Frank Slide Interpretive centre, a shopping trip to make some veggie pasta. Oh, and I climbed allllllllll the way up Turtle Mountain. It's all in a day's experiences on this journey, and it was stunning, amazing, invigorating.

This journey so far has opened my eyes to the extreme generosity that exists in some peoples hearts. It's something I have not been overly exposed to in my life and it is extraordinarily inspiring . I have been touched already, in these short weeks that we have been en route for, by the strangers who have donated food, time, or homes to making our Otesha group oh so welcome. I'm so grateful. And I will pay this forward some day soon, and share my privilege with others the same way. It is these people along the way who are making it easy for us as a dedicated group to spread the word of sustainability and social justice through out performance, and I bid them all thanks.

Life is beautiful. Sending my love your way, family and friends.