Nakoda Lodge

I was 18 an orphan it was my birthday. My friends Dick Persons, an American naturalist and his wife Jane had invited me to stay in their family's teepees on Stony/Nakoda land in the East Kootenays. The sled dogs howled all the time. We ate a bear that had wandered into camp drawn to the cooking smells. Jane baked me a cake on a campfire slowly turning it by hand to get an even bake. Chocolate.

I got out of the hospital, after a year of stroke recovery learning to walk again. It was 30 below. I rented a modified car and drove up to Nakoda Lodge and just soaked it in, filling myself up with nature, our spiritual home. Healing.

A new friend dropped by for a visit. We shared my lunch.

Lake Chief Hector where I learned to canoe in the 80km winds of the Morley flats.

Highway 1A sheer ice.

The mountains dressed in their winter finery.

Peace