We call this blog Being There - a Pilgrimage as a way of explaining what we hope this trip will be. First, and foremost, we simply want to spend some time just being in the land of our ancestors. I want to look out over the same landscape and urban tapestries that our forebears did, to catch some sense of what it means to be from there. To smell the smells, hear the sounds, feel the essence of what is unique about these places that we have often heard or read about, but have never experienced for ourselves. The irony of simply wanting to be there is that (as my wife pointed out at supper) I'm planning to have us do a lot of things. I tell myself that I will be content to simply be there, but at the same time I have this sense of not wanting to waste this opportunity, and to fit in as many sights, sounds and experiences as possible.
By the way the title of this blog was inspired by a recording by the wonderful Norwegian jazz pianist Tord Gustavsen. I was listening to his Trio recording "Being There" as I was creating this blog and it struck me as the perfect title. The picture above this post is the cover of this particular CD. We plan to catch a performance of Tord Gustavsen with his new ensemble at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival in Norway. If you've never encountered his sublime music before check it out at this link: http://www.tordgustavsen.com/
The second part of our blog title is a pilgrimage and this alludes to the spiritual nature of this trip. A pilgrimage is most simply understood as a journey to a sacred place. There will be many specific sacred places that we will be visiting on our travels, some obviously sacred (or at least religious) and others less directly seen as sacred, but nevertheless spiritual to us. I think any time one is touched by a sense of the bigger picture it is a sacred moment, and travelling to the land of our ancestors, seeing places where people of faith have gathered for hundreds of years, catching a glimpse of our place in the larger family, experiencing that there truly is more to the world than the prairies of Saskatchewan, all this is part of our pilgrimage.
In the coming days I will be writing some posts about some of the interesting things we have encountered already, even though we are only in the planning process. We find ourselves needing to make specific plans this far in advance because some of the places, events, and modes of transportation we are interested in are already being booked to capacity. So there will be many posts in the coming days, followed by a slow period for a few months, and then the final push of preparation before the actual trip. Our most recent posts will always show up at the top of this blog, so you will always know what is most current. We certainly don't expect visitors to this site to read all the stuff that is here, but you are welcome to. We also don't expect anyone to make comments on our postings, but once again, you are certainly welcome to. So we hope you find some enjoyment, and maybe even enlightenment, in our blog.
The second part of our blog title is a pilgrimage and this alludes to the spiritual nature of this trip. A pilgrimage is most simply understood as a journey to a sacred place. There will be many specific sacred places that we will be visiting on our travels, some obviously sacred (or at least religious) and others less directly seen as sacred, but nevertheless spiritual to us. I think any time one is touched by a sense of the bigger picture it is a sacred moment, and travelling to the land of our ancestors, seeing places where people of faith have gathered for hundreds of years, catching a glimpse of our place in the larger family, experiencing that there truly is more to the world than the prairies of Saskatchewan, all this is part of our pilgrimage.
In the coming days I will be writing some posts about some of the interesting things we have encountered already, even though we are only in the planning process. We find ourselves needing to make specific plans this far in advance because some of the places, events, and modes of transportation we are interested in are already being booked to capacity. So there will be many posts in the coming days, followed by a slow period for a few months, and then the final push of preparation before the actual trip. Our most recent posts will always show up at the top of this blog, so you will always know what is most current. We certainly don't expect visitors to this site to read all the stuff that is here, but you are welcome to. We also don't expect anyone to make comments on our postings, but once again, you are certainly welcome to. So we hope you find some enjoyment, and maybe even enlightenment, in our blog.
