Off the grid in Manitoba

I've had an incredible last few days since I last wrote this traveljournal.

I spent three very peaceful days sleeping in Ontario Provincial parks. I also did a lot of driving. Northen Ontario is very big. On the sides of the roads are three things: trees, rocks and lakes.

The first park I stayed at was Lake Superior Provincial Park. I enjoyed it so much because staring at the lake really feels like the ocean.

The send park I stayed at was Sleeping Giant Provincial Park: It is near Thunder Bay Ontario. 8 years ago I worked at this park. It was my first ever paying job. I had a lot of memories that were rekindled when I revisited the park. I spend one day there just hiking around. Actually, I hiked 30 kms to the Thunder Cape Bird Obeservatory. They were not banding birds at the time. However, I was very impressed with the site when I got there. There were so many nets and monitoring devices set up there. It was also in a beautiful location.

From Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, I drove to Grassy Narrows, Ontario (near Kenora Ontario - another place you probably haven't heard of). I participated in the tail end of an environmental activist conference called "Earth Justice" I came one day after the activists participated in an action that blocked the transCanada hwy. So...when I got there the camp was surrounded by police and many of the activists were very nervous about getting arrested. I didn't really know all of this until I actually was there. Once I got there I found out about how Weyherhauser is logging on First Nations (Ojibway) land without the permission of the people who have been living on this land. Also, I found out how a lot of mercury was spilled into a local river causing many people who eat the fish from it to be very sick. I also participated in a ceremony led by some of the elders from the Fist Nations. Finally, I learned a lot about how the consesus model of decision making works. In the end, I and many other activists left in a convoy and didn't face arrest. I didn't break any laws, but I realize that the police might have been unjustly upset at me for just associating with people who blocked a hwy. At any rate, if you want to find out more about this issue, go to [url]http://www.freegrassy.org/[/url].

Overall, the people of grassy narrows present a fine example of how non violent resistence has brought strength and power to a people who have had this power taken away from them. They first blocked a logging road 3 years ago. Since that time, no truck has gone down that road.

Now...I'm on another farm just northeast of Winnepeg . And...Craig (if you've read this far) they do a lot of composting. Yay for composting. They also live off the grid - meaning electricity from solar and wind power - no coal, gas, nuclear, hydro.... In fact, I'm writing from a computer that is powered by the sun and connected through a sattellite. I'm spending most of my time here helping to build a straw bale house. It is an amazingly cheap, non-toxic, effective and simple way to build a house. I think later today, I'll be transplanting basil.

I'll write more about what I'm doing on this farm later. However, I think that I've written enough for today. In the meantime, you can read about the farm by going to the following webpage: [url]http://homepage.mac.com/tommyallen789/prairiesedge/home.htm[/url]

One last thing. Sam, my travelling partner is leaving our trip on Friday. I think he is feeling pressure to find a job. Also, I think he thinks what I'm doing is a just a little to "hippy" or "crunchy" for him. So...there is an empty spot if my car if you'd like to join me any time between now and the end of August. Just let me know...

You can email me at alexandra.k@nyu.edu