Lake Temagami is a long way from our home in Quebec and it is pretty remote.  We take this time in the middle of summer to unplug and reconnect with nature.  Our daughter Margot spent the better part of 15 years there as a staff who led canoe trips over a period of six weeks.  Now our grandson Jack has completed his second year as a camper.  We hadn’t even left the lake and he was counting the days til he could go back.  Me too.  Our cell phones don’t work up there which can be problematic.  We do have intermittent wifi slow and unreliable but we don’t actually care unless you are trying to complete your weeks work for your course and you didn’t have time to download it all before departure.  I did manage to find a secluded spot and did download this weeks lectures and slides.  It wasn’t possible to stream them.  We discussed eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia as well as orthorexia nervosa which is a preoccupation with the quality of food consumed.  It was first described by Dr. Steven Bratman who coined the phrase in his book Health Food Junkies.  Eating disorders of any kind are difficult to coach and we as coaches certainly cannot do any work without a doctors supervision.

I found time to actually complete our homework assignment and to practice active listening and asking in depth questions.  It is becoming easier with practice and I find it very meaningful to talk with people in a not superficial way.  What is happening is that I am integrating my Health Coaching into my life as a complement to who I am.

Katie

We returned from Lake Temagami after five days and found our truck with a flat tire and both the truck and the car indistinguishable as to color because of the dust kicked up by passing cars on the mine road.  It is a dirt road like no other although the wash boarding is better now than I remember it from years ago.  Maybe the cars are better.  When you park your car on the side of the road, or your truck and boat trailer, every car or truck that goes by covers your vehicle in road dust. Finding the truck with a flat was a blip in our scheduled departure.  It was the third drivers side rear tire flat we have had due to a nail in the last three months.  We are done!!

Margot

No cell phone service made it difficult to phone for help.  I found the pay phone at the boat launch and wonder of wonders it worked.  AAA which is CAA here in Canada, actually found a service provider who was within an hours drive and who knew where we were.  The operator asked what was the best number to reach me and I said none.  There was no number on the pay phone and no cell service so he called the service provider and estimated his arrival.  He took an hour and a half and it was wonderful.  I sat in the boat, in the sunshine, reading a book and listening to the happy lake noises including a loon.

It is not often that I get to spend this quality of time with my family.  Having us all together for a couple of days in a wilderness setting was heaven.  We are happy to have Jack back and we notice again how he is growing into a wonderful, caring young man.  Strong and, yes, very dirty after six weeks in the bush.  Libby is really fun to travel with and extremely helpful. Margot commandeered the boat and Katie the kitchen.  John and I just paid for it all!

I have just returned from taking Katie’s car and the truck to the car wash.  No longer dirty.  We are off to a wedding shortly and we couldn’t go in dirty cars.  The rest of us are showering and saying goodbye once again to that Temagami dust.  Til next year!

Have a great week everyone.