Julia drawing Maureen
in St. Petersburg.












The Portrait

(Click on any Image to see a higher resolution version)

A few hours ago, I said goodbye to Maureen and Tatiana in Moscow and got on an Aeroflot jet to go back to Kamchatka. From there I will go to Canada on Monday. When I boarded the Stewardess brought around some newspapers to read on the journey( it takes 9 hours to cross this huge country). One was the Moscow News, a English language paper that says on the front page that it has been published for 30 years. In it was a photo we had made for such occasions, of Maureen with Chico and Biscuit striding along the lake shore and an article about her exhibition and our project in Kamchatka. She is getting a fair amount of press and it is starting to feel like all these years of persistence is paying off - that people here want to see the brown bear in a more favorable light. Before I left, we were interviewed for a program with Radio Russia. I have often listened to their short wave station from Kambalnoe Lake.

In St. Petersburg, I began my part of the introduction to our slide show and lecture by saying that perhaps both Russians and bears would benefit if indeed we could convince people all over the world, that the bear was misunderstood and was not the horrible animal he is made out to be. After all it is their symbol for their country and for many years throughout the cold war the west used it against them by implying that Russians, like the bear, were unpredictable and aggressive. This observation was a hit and got us off to a good start. Linda McDonald, the Council General of Canada in Russia, was there and stayed until the last question was fielded. This took some time.

Aimée Lavoie, also from the Canadian Conciliate, has been helping a young Russian artist who was at our slide show and later came to our hotel to draw a portrait of Maureen. Julia, who is 11 years old, is having an exhibition in Montreal in 2001.

St Petersburg is a wonderful city. I'm going to re-read Crime and Punishment again (a lot has happened in 40 years). I could really feel Fyodor Dostoevsky's characters wandering those incredible streets which are still as they were long before even he ate in his favorite restaurant. Maureen, got her fill of Russian Classical Art. There are literally millions of pieces to look at-over one million in the Hermitage alone.

I am looking forward to getting back to Alberta. I almost forget what summer is like there, but it is family and friends that I miss the most being away so much. I am looking forward to wrapping up my Kamchatka book this winter. I am not quite sure where to make the cut off. Where along those last five years does one end this vast story and begin another? There will probably be an obvious place when I come to it.

- Charlie