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Longtime subscriber Dr. Randy
Gangbar from Toronto caught us up on his unique and worthy
summer trip.
“You heard from me (Randy) several
months ago, and now we are well and truly committed to our
efforts to raise money for Juvenile Arthritis. I'm writing to
you to direct you to our web site, to ask if you can do
anything in Che-Mun to get the word out to other subscribers,
and to ask if you or any of your pals or others you know may
be interested in supporting our venture with a donation.
“Our son Josh has been chronically
ill with Juvenile Arthritis for most of his life. We have a
Web site up and running, as well as posters, brochures, and
even an article about me and this venture in the Village Post
Magazine; true, as our daughter Kira says, the picture makes
me look like a “dork”... To be brief, I am raising money for
Juvenile Arthritis research at Sick Kids through their
Foundation. This summer, Josh and our family will take a
fundraising canoe trip down the Old Voyageur Channel of the
French River; I am hoping you will sponsor us. My aim is to
raise $55,000, which will fund a research Fellow in
Rheumatology at Sick Kids for a year, and improve the odds of
kids like Josh getting more effective treatment and better
care.
“Please visit the web site, which
describes things in more detail. I hope you will consider
making a donation; all donations are fully tax receiptable,
and information on donating is on the web site. Of the several
ways of donating, the simplest would be to call the Foundation
with your credit card number. Make sure you mention Joshua’s
Voyageurs (Code # 8076).”
Che-Mun is happy to make a
contribution. The Web address is:
www.joshuasvoyageurs.org
Joshua and the Voyageurs, The
Gangbar Gang: Randy, Kira, Mary and Joshua.
Jim Abel, a veteran northern
paddler from Pelham, MA wrote a note to Che-Mun when we
inquire about this year’s trip. We featured one of his trips
in Outfit 103.
“You asked about my expedition
plans this summer. Well . . . there AIN’T gonna’ be a trip.
Damn. I’m not headed North this summer and I can hardly
believe it (first time in more than 25 years I haven’t been up
there). But, the war with Iraq and other current events helped
squelch the expedition’s plans. During and since the war,
international travel and/or shipments became much more
cumbersome and costly (plus, with terrorist threats, even
dangerous). Also, SARS seems to be putting some clampers on
travel into-and-through Toronto and Quebec.
“Then Air Canada went bankrupt.
Meanwhile, increasing fuel costs and (consequently commercial
and charter flights) made transportation much more expensive.
In the interim, the war produced a bunch of illegal immigrants
trying to cross from the U.S. into Canada, so custom checks
have gotten MUCH tighter at the border (making our re-entry
with all the expeditionary gear more problematic). Added all
this up, in what might proved to be an ineffectual attempt to
reduce some of my concerns and incertitude, I cancelled plans
for the 2003 expedition. It makes me sad and sorry. But I do
believe I made a correct decision; if for no other reason than
to unload commitment to which I was unable to devote the
concentrated attention needed.
“Now, I honestly don’t know what
activities I’ll be undertaking this summer. I suspect I won’t
be venturing very far from home. The principal purposes for
sticking around are because of the war, and all the other
above-mentioned crap. AND I need to own up to the reality that
the land around our home (we have an acre but not a “real”
yard . . . NO grass; just trees, |
wild flowers, a garden, rocks and
bark mulch) is in great need of extensive rehabilitation.
That’s because, about eight weeks ago, we had more than 30
huge white pine trees and several scores of smaller “shrubs”
removed, those tall trees were excellent lightning rods . . .
we’ve been struck three times and during storms they were
dropping big limbs around the house and garage. So, either the
trees or us had to go, the trees lost . . . for now.
“The yard clean-up should take me
about four to six weeks, at least. Next, the house need
repainting. That’s another project. Also, if any time remains,
it wouldn’t hurt to paint and refresh several rooms inside the
house. So, in summary, I can find plenty of ways to occupy my
time this summer. Had I been conducting an expedition, I would
have hired someone to do all the “real” work while I dicked
around in the wilderness, Now, guilt and financial restriction
about such a strategy impel me to take a more prudent
approach.
Regarding the war and other
conflicts mentioned in this letter:
“As despair for the world grows in
me and I wake in the night at the least sound of what my life
and my children’s lives may be, I ho and lie down where the
wood drake rests in his beauty on the water and the great
heron deeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not
tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the
presence of still water and I feel above me the day-blind
flying stars waiting with their light. I rest in the grace of
the world and and free” - Wendell Berry, The Peace of Wild
Things.”
Ottertooth Web site, Che reader
Bob Grafton sent us this e-note after some Canoelit reading.
“Reading can be a dangerous
thing. I devoured Great Heart. I was and am stunned
by the racism that native peoples have been subjected to (and
are yet), not because I wasn't aware, but because it hadn't
been brought home to me so personally and heart-rendingly as
it was through Elson's fear at having lost Mrs. Hubbard. The
matter-of-fact way he and the 'boys' concluded they'd have to
run for their lives because they'd never be believed about her
death, or even if they were, they'd be punished anyway just
put the frost in my gut. Then Elson concludes they'd find him
anyway. What a comment on our society.
“Then, the way native people are
portrayed in terms of their seemingly mystical abilities in
the woods, well, what can I say. Sure it's racist, too, but
having done many of these same tasks myself, I want to
believe, I want to look up to these people as models worthy of
emulation, standards to measure against. Just because it's
two white Americans pretending to write in the native voice
might diminish the reality, but it does glimmer the path, so
to speak. I don't know about you, but I'm always looking at
my outfit and thinking "How can I do this better?' I always
read the on-line stuff with a view to improve my trips. Food
packs, map technique, GPS, satphone, whatever. When I read of
the powers of discernment & the expertise of native people in
the literature, I'm awed. Gladdened too. I can aim high, at
least. I felt so great about this book.
“Then I saw your brief review of
Raffan's Deep Waters and picked it up. My nostalgic
romance with Labrador was over. What a hard read, not the
style, but the content. To have so many children die in that
way was criminal, even if the coroner didn't think so. “Lost
brother”, what a thing to write in a resort guest book. The
SJSO attitude of 'devil take the hindmost' is so antithetical
to expeditionary thinking, so disrespectful of the wild & of
those with whom we venture out, it makes me see black. Deep
Waters should be mandatory reading for anyone taking a
minor into the woods, or taking anyone, for that matter. I'm
sure I'll get over it, but the image of a turned over boat and
kids in the water hasn't left me for a week now. I guess it's
a good lesson, to be aware and take good care.
“Keep up the great work.”
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