Heading South

Some of the last flowers of summer for my friends.
I'm not so good a close ups but I love the way these pop out at
you, like there in 3D.
The leaves have been changing color hear for the last three days.
That means this girl is heading south!
I'm going to the Okanagan, Kootenays, and to visit a friend in Nelson.
One last blast of summer hear I come!
My blogs will be sporadic if at all the next few weeks.
See you all soon. Love Lola

Prayer Flags on Karmapa's Land

The Peaceful and Calming Victory Flag
Melodious Song of the Battle Victorious over Maras

Two rising curves of pure gold are great joy's loving ,smile;

Vibrant blue reflects the ultimate, dharmakaya lit by
a vigorous and youthful sun; sphere of light,
this hand draws
and plays, gathering into the glide of an image the unity
of the profound and vast, the peaceful and soothing.

Throughout existence, may the victory banner of the Buddha's
teachings resound its famous melodious song.

My Dharma friends and I hung prayer flags on Montana Mt.
on Karampa's land. He came to the land in 1977, blessed it and named it
Karma Gyurme Ling.

My brother standing in front of the view from the land.

Climbing the main pole to hang more prayer flags.

The house where I took refuge when I was five, as it stands today.

The same house when it was still erect in 1977.

Fire Puja

My cousin's son, hanging out on the roof of the old house.

Berrie Picking

"Dani in the sky with Diamonds"
My cousins beautiful daughter, looking out the widow.

A land scape from my childhood. I was first taken out to this Berrie patch when I was ten. I always remembered this landscape. For the longest time I thought it was a dream, until I returned to the Berrie patch. It is one of my favorite places. The photo dose not do it justice, it's missing another 45 degrees. In the mountains with it's smell of balsam, it's wildness, breathtaking view picking on the same paths as the bears.

The kids and I were waiting for the gnome. We decided he was out on an adventure.

My youngest god daughter and my cousins kids picking berries. It was my cousin I first came to this Berrie patch with when I was ten. I hope that the next generation will continue to be nurtured by this land.

A bountiful harvest, blueberries and moss berries. Together they make the best pie, but you will have to come visit me to get some!

Fish Camp

Bugs on the River! We went out on the river to set fish nets. It looks worse than it really is, I think the light caught every bug on the river that day

This past week we took the teenage girls I work with to fish camp. Many of the local First Nations hear still harvest most of there food from the land as the have been for hundreds of years. It was a great opportunity for these girls to learn about there culture and take pride in who they are.
We went to Brooks Brook, it is close to a small in land Tlingit Village. When the salmon start running the people move to fish camp the same fish camp there Grandmothers Grandmother went to. It is a lot of work and a lot of carnage but for them there is nothing that makes them happier than to be on the land harvesting food for there families.
When your out on the land with the kids there hurts seem to come up a lot. There is nowhere to run from themselves out there. It is as if the land itself pushes all that is out of balance searching for it's own peace and connectedness. The old people always say how important it is to be on the land, how it heals you.

Young Native girl with wild strawberries she picked

Salmon drying in the smoke house. Traditionally every part of the animal is used, many camps still abide by this value. Fish head soup is considered a delicacy. No one is ever aloud to make a rude comment about a fish. If children say "yuck" to a fish they are scolded and told not to disrespect something that's life was taken so we could eat.

The kids found a spider in a web at night. They were really fascinated with it and took several pictures with my camera. They watched it catch a bug and wrap it up like a cocoon. I was surprises at how enthralled they were.

Borders

Laura goes camping alone in the woods........
Never fear my friends, my ferocious flashlight is always at my side!
No man nor beast has crossed his path without a snicked. Or in one pooches case a sideways turn of the head in confusion. My tiger truly has skillful means!

Me at a mountain pass Aug. 13. Note the toque (in American "winter Hat"). I was also wearing 3 shirts and two pair of pants I was still cold!

A beautiful Yukon landscape. I think you can see how it reminded the
Tibetans of there home land.
It is amazing crossing the border hear. Within half and hr as you cross the Mt pass everything changes. The skinny trees and dry landscape give way to giant ceders, lush green vegetation and the smell of wet salty air. Then there is a boarder and the man there speaks different with his think american brawl. Things do seem different on the other side of the Mt. If you make the trip in spring you can see three seasons in that half hr. Spring, winter, summer. I always make the trip to get the early glimps of leaves that are out on the other side of the Mt.

Life finds it's perch...

Hains Birds

Hains is a famous Eagle wintering ground. At certain times of the year the trees are dripping with eagles. I'm hoping to go to the eagle festival there in November.
This guy flew out in front of me and almost hit my car. He then stayed flying low right in front of my car for some distance like he was leading me. It was really neat, to bad I wasn't faster with my camera.









Every spring and fall the swans stop in the Yukon to rest on there migration rout. This pair decided to stay the summer on a little pond in the mountains.












The majestic Raven,
Much bigger that the crows most of you are familiar with. The Raven is our territorial bird. When I was a kid they were trying to decide what would be our territorial bird there was quite a debate as some consider the Raven to be a pest, always getting into people's garbage.
They are actually extremely intelligent, right up there with monkey's. They have been seen manipulating things to make tools. They also appear to have a sense of humor, every one up hear has a funny story about Ravens.
They are one of my favorite birds. Bird geniuses that have no problem eating and the dump and playing tricks on us human folks. They are know as the trickster by the natives.

Flowers For My Friends

Hear are a few flower pics from my trip to Hains. This is the Mountain Fire weed it only grows at higher altitudes. Collideascope: Blurry but I like it.

The common Fire weed. It is our Territorial flower and grows abundantly hear.

With every seed comes the promise of next years spring, when we Yukoners wake from the slumber of winter to play in the midnight sun not resting until fall comes again.

Hi all,
Sorry there has been no pictures. For some reason this site is not letting me upload photos. Hopefully I will find someone to help me fix it. Lola

Karampa in the Yukon 1977

Arriving with the Black hat. You can see Jamgon Kongtrul, Bardo Rinpoche, Umbsay Tubtin and others
HH 16th Karampa meeting with the local first nations. He really loved them and they he.
Empowerment ceremony

Rupa

The magnitude of our suffering is such a distraction from the even greater magnitude of our compassion.

Morning visitor

The first bird at my feeder, a Blacked Capped Chickadee. He even sang a little for me!

Indian Ice Cream

Hear are the Soap berries(seen in previous post) after they have been whipped up with sugar. It looks like a big bowl of pink clouds. It actually tastes quite bitter, but it grows on you. I have to have feast of it once a year. One tablespoon of these berries a day will keep diabetics blood sugar balanced.