Animal Love

Dearest Readers,

Being self-employed is challenging sometimes but it has its rewards, too. I get to stay in my PJ's all day (but I don't -- well... sometimes I do), I am free to do things like take a nap if I need one, run out and get groceries or meet a friend for tea. I also get to interview caribou.

That last one was my Christmas bonus. Some people get a few extra dollars, I got to have a love-in with a caribou cow name Boo.

As some of you know, I took on a contract to create a 30-minute live/video performance on behalf of the Yukon for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. Our show will be performed at BC Place Stadium on February 20th. We open for the Stereophonics so get your tickets now!

Early on in the process of creating this spectacle I decided to take a Rick Mercer approach and interview locals in the search for the quintessential word describing what it means to be a Yukoner, what it means to live in this magnificent place.

The answers have been surprising and powerful. Yukoners of all different ages and backgrounds have shared the essence of their experience of living here and its been a privilege to be on the other end of the microphone.

But no Yukoner yet has been as loving and affectionate toward me as Boo. She nuzzled and bumped me so fervently I was knocked to the ground. She buried her head (watch out for those antlers!) in my lap and if those front legs could have hugged me no doubt they would have been wrapped around me in a full embrace. It was heaven.

Never mind the food I had in my pocket, she was in love! And so was I.

Thank you to Krista and Marie at the Yukon Wildlife Preserve for allowing us to come and shoot the footage. What a wonderful place we have here. A vast, open space where rescued, injured or orphaned animals can recuperate, many of them eventually returning to the wild.

And I won't tell you what Boo's word was. It's our secret.

Inspiring Message of the Day: Look to the animal for inspiration. What quality do you most admire? Wisdom? Tenderness? Ferocity? Love without judgment? May we seek to better embody these qualities ourselves.