Feb 18 - 22: US Government Intervention... Or... Spirit Baby Intervention!

Ahhh, this last 2 months since coming back into Canada has been one change after another. Canceled house sits, a surprise trip to Ontario following Margo's granny's passing, record-breaking snow storms, cancelled flights, power outages, elevated animal care, over-lapping house sits.... We are looking forward to crossing over into the US where we will do a four day camping trip down the beautiful west coast of Washington and Oregon, on our way back to Mount Shasta in Northern California. We will be staying at Jill's for a month, a friend we met last time we were in Mount Shasta, while she is leading a singles retreat in Saint Croix (she owns/runs the world's largest conscious dating websites). She has a gorgeous house, two wonderful dogs, an outdoor hot tub, an infrared sauna, so lovely. Then we'll head to Zion and Bryce Canyon, Utah for a week to meet up with my dad and step-mom and my brother's family to celebrate my dad's 70th. From there we head to a lovely two-week house sit at Bob's place in New Mexico, who has changed his trip slightly to make sure he is back in time for us to head to our next two week house sit on the other side of New Mexico at James and Suzanne's. From there we head back to Dalen and Deb's wonderful place (a previous blog entry from their place) in Colorado for a month of house sitting, then meander back into Canada mid-June.

Ha Ha Ha! Says the universe. There are other plans for you two. Come, let me show you...

Leaving Victoria, we decided to go through Vancouver to check out Acubalance, a renowned alternative fertility clinic. We set up a meeting with the head of the clinic, Dr. Lorne Brown and were very impressed. He had lots of mainstream medical knowledge, lots of alternative medical knowledge, and was lit up about the possibility for miracles when spiritual power and the power of the mind are aligned. We both felt that when we came back to Canada in June, if we hadn't already conceived naturally, we would likely come to Vancouver and work with this clinic.

We spent the afternoon and night before our meeting with Dr. Brown in North Vancouver, across the water from regular Vancouver and backing up into the mountains. Margo had lived there in her early 30's and wanted me to see how great an area it was. We went for a wonderful hike in Lynn Valley. That night we stayed at an airbnb that was being run like a hostel. We were staying in room 9, which was our first indication that this was going to be a busy place. We were a bit concerned, but like any hostel, we met some nice Australians and had a fun time sharing travel stories.

The woman of my dreams in Lynn Valley Park

After our meeting at Acubalance the weather turned blizzardy. We watched our GPS continue to add more and more time to our destination as mounting traffic accidents factored in. After a couple hours of moving at a snail's pace we decided it was unsafe to continue and rented another airbnb.

The next morning, Margo had a new therapy client over the phone, and then we did the short drive to the border, planning to have lunch at the Whole Foods on the other side. The man running the booth looked exactly like the person who would be cast as "intimidating border patrol officer". He asked us only a couple questions and we assumed he'd say, "ok, go on through," but instead he stuck a piece of paper on our windshield and told us to pull off. There, two other officers told us to park our vehicle and head into the building. We were first called up together and answered a few questions about where we were from, what we were intending to do in the states, then told to sit back down. 15 minutes would go by and we would be called up again, asked what we did for work, what was in our car, could they have the keys so they could search it, do we own a house in Canada?, etc... Another 15 - 30 minutes would go by, we would sit on the wooden bench, praying, filling the place with light, get up and stretch, go to the bathroom, etc... Then Margo was called up on her own by a different officer and was asked to give her fingerprints. She asked why, then did as she was told.

I was then called to a different area for photos and fingerprints and more questioning - where did you meet the people you are house sitting for? Do they give you any food in exchange for house sitting? What do you do for work again? What is your father's date of birth? What is your mother's middle name? How much money do you have access to? What is your favourite colour?, etc... While I was there, Margo was taken into a room with two officers and was patted down and asked more questions. Funnily, during the pat down they discovered the smokey quartz crystal she kept in her bra. This led to more questions and a slight crack in the façade. One of the officers said, "so you are a social worker, what kinds of things do you think I could do to help people feel more at ease when they come in here?" Margo replied, "you could tell them your name." The officer did not.

Margo trying to stay positive around hour 2 of our interrogation process

Each in our own time we were told to go sit back on our wooden bench, and then called up again, separately, for more questions, saying that their supervisors, or their supervisor's supervisor had questions. I was told that I may not be granted permission to enter the US today, and possibly not for five years. Eventually I asked them what they were looking for, and was told, "our mandate is to assume that everyone who crosses the border is trying to illegally immigrate to the US." Had I known that, I may have shaped my answers a little differently. From that perspective, a couple with no home in Canada, lots of connections in the states, online income sources and everything we need in our car, I could see why they were suspicious... especially if they had never been to Canada and realized how much further ahead we are in terms of essential services and standard of living :)

At about the 3.5 hour mark I was called up and asked to sign each page of the transcript from the questioning periods. I was then told that I would not be allowed into the US for at least six months. If, in six months I wanted to come into the US, I would need to bring a stack of paperwork showing that I currently owned or rented a house and worked at a brick and mortar institution in Canada for at least six months prior. Margo was called up about 20 minutes later and told something similar.

Our vehicle had been searched, though aside from the bags of rice and quinoa left on the hood and Margo's sacred medicine bundle opened on the front seat, they seemed to have been pretty respectful and didn't cause any damage.

15 minutes into our border ordeal, I had felt a surge of destiny and I said to Margo, "if they don't let us across, let's move to North Vancouver and start working with Acubalance right away." I quickly let it go however, because at that point I was pretty sure they would let us across. 4 hours later, as we started our drive north from the border, we were both too hungry and disoriented to feel any kind of destiny. We called Jill right away, because she was supposed to leave on her trip in 4 days and told her what had happened. She was as shocked as we were. However, she texted us 30 minutes later saying she had found someone else who would come house sit for her... Wow, that's amazing. We emailed two of the other people whose house sits we had to cancel and they wrote back apologizing for their government. We rented another airbnb for two nights in Abbotsford, about an hour east of Vancouver to decompress and come back to centre. It was amazing how out of balance we were. Neither of us do very well when we don't have food for a long period, and add to that 4 hours of not knowing what was going on and trying to be polite and positive. The next time we try to cross the border we'll bring several big healthy meals and a tackle dummy and take turns beating the crap out of it to stay connected to our primal selves.

Returning to centre with help from this big mossy beauty in Abbotsford

So, Vancouver it is. One interpretation of these events is that the borders have tightened up since the US government shutdown in January about the "illegal immigration state of emergency." Another interpretation, one that is more empowering, is that we are meant to be here now. I know that and I trust it. What I hope, is that the reason we are meant to be here now is that our spirit babies have some knowing that these are the right conditions to usher them earthside. Oh sweet babes, let's do this!

(...if you are just tuning in to our blog and are new to the idea of spirit babies, check this earlier entry. Still have questions? Contact us!)