| Tonight I am writing to you from Winnipeg in Manitoba Canada. Tomorrow morning our group flies up in a charter plane to Churchill, the Polar Bear Capital of the World. This is my 6th and probably final trip to Churchill. I am so honored that a group of quilters chose to join me on this adventure. I hope that we will have Good Bear Karma and see lots of bears, but at the same time we all know that the habitat for these majestic animals is shrinking, and the time to see them and care about their survival is NOW. Wednesday October 19 is: 1. National New Friends Day 2. Day of Unity (part of National Bullying Prevention Month) 3. Evaluate Your Life Day I plan to celebrate all 3 of these on this trip. 1. We always make new friends when traveling or touring with a group. It is Human Nature. 2. On a trip like this where we are all focused on the BEARS, there is an umbrella of easy cheerful camaraderie that overcomes any polarizing topics that could possibly come up. (This is my one week escape from election season.) 3. My experience of being out on the vast flat tundra, with only the sound of the wind, is a very peaceful silence like a blank sheet of paper or a blank canvas. These are the times of meditation when I evaluate my life and think about what comes next. We’ll be out on the tundra scanning for bears all day Thursday and Friday. It will be raining and snowing. Saturday night we go out on a Nighttime Tundra Drive. It will be cloudy and pitch black because the waning crescent moon doesn’t rise until about 4 am. One year we had a bear emerge from the darkness and cross the road right in front of us. It is adventures like this that take you completely out of your life and bring you totally into the moment. And that my friends, is the empty but incredibly fertile moment where some of the greatest ideas are born. Creativity is nurtured by visual stimulation, social interaction, and exposure to new ideas through all 5 senses…but also silence and empty spaces. It is time for all of us to start remembering the joys and inspirations that we had to let go of during the pandemic, and find ways to plant new seeds in those fertile empty spaces. Sharing your love of fabric, Luana and Paul Quilt/Travel/Sponsor Calendar: October 17-24 – Luana’s Polar Bear Tour – Churchill Manitoba Canada Nov 3-4 – Intl Quilt Museum – Lincoln NE Dec 1-2 – Clinton Presidential Library Feb 22-25 – QuiltCon – Atlanta See Luana’s Flickr Photo Pages for travel images, watch our videos, or follow us on Facebook. Visit eQuilter’s Instagram, Pinterest or Twitter pages for Color and Design ideas. |
