Week II

Greetings from Creston!
Since last week the Crossroads group has traveled further into the Interior. From Summerland (which we went to just to sleep for the weekend), we walked through Midway, Greenwood, Grand Forks and Castlegar. We are still in the mountains, having gone through Blueberry Pass and Kootenay Pass this week. We have a final stretch to do, and should get to Alberta by Tuesday. Passing through BC was wonderful, it is so beautiful here in the Interior. The mountain ranges and wildlife (bearts, goats, deer, coyotes, etc.) are superbe. Although I've lived in BC all my life, I have only really stayed in the Lower Mainland. The Interior feels quite different - the weather, at least in the past two weeks, has been very warm (30-35). No rain. This, I think, has been beneficial, since we have had to deal with many troubles already trying to start the walk and getting used to the strain, so that rain might have proven a bit much. We have had two guys (out of the 6 of us) out of commission this week (One for the entire week, the other for part of it) due to blistering feet. Cyril's leg leg is so swollen he cannot walk on it. However, we can still manage by walking alone during the day-shifts rather than in pairs. It would take three of us to fall in order to really cause problems! In any case, we have the weekend here in Creston to heal up, and are giving talks at Creston and Cranbrook Parishes this weekend.
Over the last week we have met many people on the road. There are some days that go by when I get to talk to somebody on the side of the road on just about every shift. People don't normally stop their cars to say hi, but just when there are people working on the side of the road or construction people, we often get their attention. A lot of waves and honks of support have also been coming from drivers. The support has far outweighed the negative reactions this week. It is really great to see that there are a lot of pro-life people driving by, supporting us. My hope, however, is that our message reaches to the majority of people (in my opinion) who have never given the issue of abortion tremendous thought. Those people who, on seeing us, do not have such a solidified opinion as to instantly honk in support or to curse in anger. Those people, rather, who wonder why we are out there and what it is we are fighting for without knowing whether to honk for or against us. It is the large majority of people who drive by without making their presence known...
I best be off now, for we our group is meeting up at 2:00 in order to plan the talks we are giving tonight at the evening Masses. I hope to have a chance to write to you again next week, hopefully with some more pictures of our trip. For life,
Etienne