Round:Motion

Day 1236 of the Round:Motion TOUR 💫 Yesterday I walked into the next time zone 👣🤩My path currently leads me mostly through fairly dense forest without much of a view, but everything around me is now in bloom and the mosquitoes are having the time of their lives as it rained and thundered all day and the sun came out in between. And then I bumped into Jamie when I asked for water. It turned out that she and her partner not only run the small farm Hill top fjords I had come to, but Jamie also runs an incredible taxidermy workshop (Blackandtantaxidermy )in the neighbouring house.
Taxidermied animals are much more common along my route so far (Denmark and Iceland perhaps excepted) - as decoration at home, as a reminder of a special hunt... than I am used to in Germany.
I look at the eagles - animals frozen in the game - roadkill now standing in the room looking alive. While I admire the craftsmanship, I realise how much more likely I am to wonder how the animals would feel about being there than I ever did when I was sitting on a reindeer skin, for example.
Jamie paints the fish skin meticulously, modelling and developing her work further and, while her ponies run around and grow freely outside, I continue to walk through the mosquito paradise and have a lot to think about😊

Pat and Rod - already a few months ago I got a message - they have heard about me and want to invite me to their home in Thunder Bay once I get there. Soon later I broke my ankle… but these two have been “waiting” ever since 🥹 The last couple of days they have been showing me around Thunder Bay and the area, telling me about how they grew up in two separate towns until they were united into one and from then on called Thunder Bay, about their Finnish background and traditions (Thunder Bay is home to the highest concentration of Finnish Canadians per capita in the country), we ate “Persians” (some sort of fried bun with a secret, pink frosting), local soft ice cream, went to different museums, for little hikes…and yes! I also got the chance to just sit on my bed and have a moment of no new input 😊
I’m beyond grateful that Pat and Rod have not only been hosting me, but also shared their stories and perspectives with me! Now I’m well rested and ready to continue on the next stretch across Canada and around the world by foot 👣

Day 1229 of the Round:Motion TOUR 💫 👣🌎Yesterday I made it to Thunder Bay after some hot and humid days since my last rest day in Nipigon. My host Tim walked with me for the first few kilometres from his home - a small road that he has never taken before and which is now part of the route around the world. My freshly showered body and washed clothes were quickly brought back to their sweaty and sticky state, the lemony scent of mosquito repellent mingles with the honey scent of the blossoming trees as I walk on trails under the whirring power lines. And all the sun cream wasn’t enough to prevent me from getting sunburnt where my T-shirt developed an ever-growing hole…
Today was already the first rest day in Thunder Bay and I got a tour all over the place and I’m excited to see more…. ☺️

{Deutsch⬇️}
It’s constantly up and down, up and down, the sun burns from the bright blue sky - constantly - the lake glistens as if from another world, while my sweat is pouring and my eyes are burning. All around me: forest. But then - the first night this year that I wake up in the morning and my sleeping bag is neither damp from frost nor from high humidity and then suddenly the trees are green! When did that happen? The sweet cloud of birch scent spreads its arms and embraces my soul - a brief moment of natural romance, which is joined a few moments later by the first swarms of mosquitoes and other small, flying creatures. I guess the time now begins when I have to remind myself very consciously that these little creatures are an important part of the world and the ecosystem, so as not to be consumed by pure aggression towards them. But first - rest day in Nipigon ☺️

Es geht konstant hoch und runter, die Sonne brennt vom strahlend blauen Himmel - konstant - der See glitzert wie von einer anderen Welt, während mein Schweiß durchgehend in Strömen fließt und in den Augen brennt. Um mich herum: durchgehend Wald. Aber dann - die erste Nacht dieses Jahr in der ich morgens aufwache und mein Schlafsack ist weder feucht von Frost noch von hoher Luftfeuchtigkeit. Dann sind auf einmal die Bäume grün! Wann ist das passiert?
Die süße Wolke aus Birkenduft breitet ihre Arme aus und es ist, als umarmte meine Seele - ein kurzer Moment der Naturromantik, dem wenige Augenblicke später die ersten Schwärme Moskitos und andere, kleine, fliegende Wesen beiwohnen… Ich vermute, nun beginnt die Zeit in welcher ich mich sehr bewusst ermahnen muss, dass diese kleinen Wesen ein wichtiger Bestandteil der Welt und des Ökosystems sind, um nicht von purer Aggression gegen sie zerfressen zu werden. Aber erst- Ruhetag im schönen Nipigon ☺️

lakesuperior

Days fly by as I walk along the northern shore of Lake Superior. An ankle friendly combination of trails, smaller roads and some highway leads me through this incredible landscape of forests, swamp, uncountable lakes and little creeks and the big, blue lake is glittering blue and blurry. While the first flowers are popping up and the trees are turning green the sun is burning bright and dry and makes even power lines, construction sites and all these infrastructures appear less destructive.

Day 1216 of the Round:Motion TOUR 💫 Rest day in Marathon, washing my clothes, eating fresh fruits and vegetables, sitting in the sun by the lake, visiting the local museum and learning more about the infrastructures behind this town. Since it’s my birthday I somehow felt that this would be a good moment to treat myself by staying in an accommodation with a nice bed and a door that I can close and just sit, eat, maybe listen to music or write, talk to my family and friends without worrying about electricity or reception and think about life…or maybe at least about the year since my last birthday 😉
One year ago I was crossing the highlands of Iceland on foot - beautiful, rough and windy - and didn’t even know if I would succeed with my application to stay in Canada for two years (not to mention to sail from Iceland to Newfoundland first!).
Many firsts followed- basically every single day and every moment! And yet it’s one step at a time to create this connected and living line by walking around the world 🌍 🌎🌏
Thank you everyone who joined, supported or met me along the walk in individual ways - even though it’s my body that is walking - you are making this line possible and filling it with life! 🤗

When I left White River the unique combination of wind and singing birds, only appearing to announce the arriving rain, joined me. After a few steps through this spectacle the sun left, the dark clouds softened and a few steps later I was completely soaked. I have made a more relaxed plan for a few days and when in the late afternoon a campground came into sight, I thought I treat myself to the possibility of a hot shower and maybe even drying a few things somewhere inside.
Still wet after a rainy night, but at least feeling very clean I was basically ready to leave the next morning, when I sat down with the owner of the place and his buddy Ross for a coffee.
“A shame that you are leaving! Otherwise you could join me when I put the bait out for the upcoming bear hunt!”
A coffee later I decided that this sounded just too interesting to be missed.
Hunting in general, but also bear hunting is such a big part of the culture here and I’m grateful that I could dip my tiny toe into it, to understand it at least a little bit better.
So I spent a whole day with Ross in the woods, we checked on different places, saw quite some impressive bear marks in the trees, found bear hair and all sorts of other tracks that give information about the possible size of the bears, if there are cubs etc. besides the footage of cameras that Ross has in some of the places.
It’s always impressive to me how these big animals move around silently and even though I found quite often their tracks, I saw them only once last autumn in New Brunswick.
And while some hungry bear is now licking off the peanut butter from trees, I walked on towards Marathon with my one day less relaxed plan, but wondering how many bears are just now wondering what I’m doing there.

Freezing nights, snow in the morning, blue sky and burning sun during the day 😃 My ankle is now almost able to cover the distances it did before the ankle fracture as long as I walk on reasonably firm and level ground. So I alternate between snowmobile or ATV tracks and the highway and today I reached White River - Home of Winnie the Pooh - in beautiful sunshine. Time to buy some food for the next stretch to Marathon 😊

Day before yesterday I arrived to Michipicoten next to Wawa - a bit sunburnt, tiered, full of all the experiences that happened along the way during the last days and very much looking forward to a rest day. Perfect timing with the weather since it started pouring down during the night and fog is hovering densely above the lake. Luckily I can stay with Carol and Joel (friends of people I got to know in Sudbury 🤗), wash my sweaty clothes, listen to all sorts of stories about Lake Superior Park since they were working for it almost all their lives and hiking and paddling a lot in the region… and just look at the rain through the window in the living room after my morning swim in the Lake☺️

Sometimes it feels as if all the small, individual moments are holding the hand of the big moment of Round:Motion especially tightly. No shortcut could have led here as I hear stories - of the frog woman, of turtles leading the way, of the spirit of the lake… while the fire is kept burning in the centre. The Agawa Rock Pictographs on the shores of Lake Superior are a spiritual place for various indigenous people and a few have gathered there to fast for up to four days.
I am grateful to be allowed to stay and join for the night, to listen to many songs accompanied by drums, breathing the sweet smoke of burning to***co and cedar before the wishes make their way up…before receiving a blessing for the rest of my journey.
On the stretch that so many have described (in slight variations) with “beautiful, but there is nothing!” I have met the artist Ellen VanLaar ArtsAdventure , dealing with the lake and especially the ice of it in her way, I walked on the soft sand and slippery rocks of the Coastal Trail, have been completely soaked by wind and rain, ate instant smashed potatoes cooked with soft Lake water, while breathing fresh pine forests air and was sweating in the burning sun. Now I’m not far from Wawa, warm in my sleeping bag and with my belly full of smashed potatoes- just as the blessing was wishing for…