What a sweet one… Eleven places – and not necessarily fancy places we’ve travelled. Special places to us. This warmed my heart and filled my mind.

1. Athabasca Falls in Jasper National Park – the the bridge over the falls when it is quiet in fall in late fall. Watching the water swirl in the basins below. The same polished trees that have been caught there for twenty years, still bouncing and twisting in their permanent home. It is peaceful, it is enlightening, it is like coming home.
2. The Farm (Mom’s old place) – While not really an active farm, it was a quarter section with a hay field. But it was my second home for more than 20 years. It was a retreat. It was safe. It was home.
3. Mom’s new place – different that the farm, in ‘town’ and closer than the farm was, it is Mom’s place. So maybe it is “Mom” that makes the place and not the place, but again, it is a place where I feel taken care of, relaxed, secure, and able to just ‘be’.
4. Portugal – the first international place I’ve ever travelled. It was magic. The architecture (I have a phone full of pictures of doors, windows, and buildings), the food, the beautiful scenery. It was magic personified.
5. Writing-on-Stone/Áísínai’pi Provincial Park – whether it was floating down the Milk River with my boys, doing the rock face tour, or sitting in ‘our’ campsite (site number 43) looking at the rock formations across the road, it is a place of mystery, awe, and inspiration.
6. Dinosaur Provincial Park – dinosaurs, fossils, and rugged landscapes. It is desert like and beautiful. The stillness of the prairie combining with the whisper of the wind in the prairie grasses makes for an unforgettable experience. It is another favourite summer destination for us when we camp. A walk in the cottonwoods, the sagebrush, or a short walk to an old quarry site, there is so much to see and do, it is hard to not get swept up in dino fever. Note: if you’re going with little kids, have real names for dinosaurs, they don’t believe made up ones past about 3 yrs old.
7. My patio (in summer) – this is a place for me. Especially this year since we added new lanterns, refreshed our patio furniture, and got new flower pots. It is my oasis. Whether it is coffee in the morning with my journal or a drink in the evening. I can reflect, relax, and renew.
8. Cathedral Grove (MacMillan Provincial Park) – while I’ve only been there once, it was enchanted. The old trees, the giant plants – it is almost prehistoric. Walking the park, though swamped with people, was like coming home. I love Jasper, but Vancouver Island was beyond amazing. Cathedral Grove was sublime.
9. Pacific Rim National Park Reserve – another amazing place on the island! Long Beach, Broken Group Islands, trails galore. THE OCEAN! I could have happily lived here. Our campsite was along the ocean cliffs, hearing the surf roar in was like nothing I’ve ever experienced. It was hynotic.
10. Gramma’s House – while she sold her house and moved in 1987, I’ll never forget the smell… Cookies, floor wax, lavender, Gramma. Warm hugs always awaited me. Love incarnate. My grandparents were everything you can imagine good grandparents to be.
11. My sisters – while I don’t spend a lot of time out there, when I do, it is a place I feel safe, secure, and where I can be myself.

Unsure what I am talking about? You can catch the intro post here, but in short… The wellness studio I go to is running a free workshop this week, Elevate & Illuminate: A Free Lion’s Gate Portal Offering. Trista, the owner, is presenting live everyday, a gratitude challenge or assignment where we are tasked to come up with 11 things on a set idea or prompt. So, after the eleven days, we will have eighty-eight things or moments of gratitude.