Raven Update from the Road, Winter 2009

It has been just over two months on the road, and it doesn't seem like any time at all. We've been back and forth over the country, jetting out to BC twice. This is a province with which we've all fallen a little in love. The laid back attitude, especially on Salt Spring Island, has helped to slow down our pace a little. It's easy enough to get caught up in the rush of things, especially with two shows a day, often in different venues. Of course this keeps us busy, but the time we've had here has provided even more opportunity to connect, to really see the communities we're touching. Alberta was a new experience too - record-breaking cold upon our arrival at a good minus forty-something. We didn't listen to the exact temperature - it would've just felt colder! Still, we found our host theatres warm and friendly, and that makes all the difference in the world.

And then we were back in our home-sweet-home province of Ontario. We love doing shows in Toronto and seeing all of the different communities in our home base. There is something about the drive up to Northwestern Ontario, too, that was truly magic. Silence often filled the touring van as we drove alongside the northern edge of Lake Superior to our various destinations; somehow familiar, yet entirely different. The people here, too, really reached us, and vice versa. Also, the drive up north to Northeastern Ontario is stunning, the land of the Cambrian Shield and countless lakes and forests. Singing songs in Temagami kitchens; finding out that a real raven was playing Trickster on our venue in Marathon; watching the ice break from underneath the dock in Rossport; these are the moments we'll never forget. Then April crept in to May, and tour had come to a close. We had a taste of so many places, and opportunities to spark so many imaginations - we're already set to look forward to the next tour.