to celebrate the 1200th day of this pilgrimage, i turn to a brother pilgrim, OR-7 also known ass Journey, a gray wolf who made an epic pilgrimage of 1200 miles across Oregon with a stint across the border in California before coming home to Oregon to settle down and start a family…

 

watching the documentary, The Wolf OR-7 Expedition: 1200 Miles to Explore Human and Wolf Coexistence, which retraces the steps of Journey is revealing in so many ways and so appropriate on the 1200th day of  sauntering along the 21st century Oregon Trail…

 

the team’s heroic journey is filled with gorgeous scenery, enlightening conversations and the opportunity to step into the body of Journey and be an amazing wanderer…

 

in the words of one of the expedition team members…

To Walk in the Wake of a Wolf

I wrote this just before crossing the California border back into Oregon again. It is dedicated to my team members: Rachael, David, Daniel, Jay, Michelle, and Wolf OR-7.

To walk in the wake of a wolf
is to walk into the silence of stealth and the feast of fearlessness,
it is to fight for yourself and never forget the pack.

To walk in the wake of a wolf is to know the difference between greed and hunger, between the villain and the hunter,
it is to taste unforgiving wildness and
the loyalty of kin,
to breathe the spirit of a howling chorus
and to remember what it means to stand alone in the forest and cry out.

The tracks of a wolf are the tracks of a brother waiting for you
to find the old bond of blood
in a land where ground is the only common ground.

To walk in the wake of a wolf is to see yourself
in the shadows of the moon as a rogue
always on the run,
it is to know where you belong,
and to know before the wind speaks where opportunity lies,
where the secrets of survival are hidden in the night
ready to reveal themselves only in your dreams.

It is to listen to the fierce desire to be who you are in the world
and to be it fiercely, loyal to your name and ready.

To walk in the wake of a wolf is to know the world is still wild
and that you belong in it
as much as the wolf.

— Galeo Saintz

From today onward
Until the attainment of enlightenment
May I be willing
To live with my chaos and confusion
And that of all other sentient beings.

May I be willing
To share our mutual confusion
And work incessantly and humbly
To help and elevate everyone without exception.