No more falling back…

Happy Thanksgiving, Canada.

Today is the second Monday in October. Up here, that means Thanksgiving. We celebrate earlier than our friends to the south. The story goes that our harvest comes in sooner because the frost does too.

In Norway we call it høsttakkefest. The autumn thank-you feast. Same idea. You bring in what the land gave you, and you say thank you out loud. People gave thanks for the harvest on this land for thousands of years before it had a date on a calendar. Many First Nations still do, in their own languages and ways.

For me, Thanksgiving was never about the turkey. Okay. Partly the turkey. Mostly it is about who is at the table. Who you call. Who you pull in close when the days get short. And they are getting shorter and darker.

Magical Orcas Island Gathering for the Jane Goodall Hike for Hope weekend!

Eighteen of us on Orcas

Earlier this month, eighteen of us gathered at Doe Bay on Orcas Island. Old friends. New friends. People who have been carrying the same hope I carry, each in their own way.

We came together for the very first Jane Goodall Hike for Hope. The Jane Goodall Institute of Canada launched it this year. The idea is simple. Pick a trail. Walk it on the same weekend as people across the country. Raise money for community-led conservation and youth-led environmental projects. Year one. And we were part of it.

Jane died on October 1, 2025. Our gathering began one year to the day later. I once had thirty minutes alone with her. Two chairs. Two hearts. I felt her with us on that trail. Of course we had to have a toast of Whiskey to her- no complaints there on a Saturday morning in the fog and mist up Turtleback Mountain.

We all wrote a few words about “what we were hopeful about” and “what we hope for”.

A few examples: Change in Economic Systems & New World Order, I am hopeful for a turn towards appreciation of the earth on a universal scale, More people in relationship with nature, open to considering new ways of being, Allow NATURE to lead, Embodied presence brings forth conditions for hope amidst the darkest night, Hope for deeper connections between diverse peoples, natural world while embracing wisdom from our Elders, Hoping for inspiration to garner purpose in later years, I am hopeful that people of today can tip he scale to inspire tomorrow for generations to come, Loving kindness, I hope people find their passion and GO BIG.

There are many standout moments, one high was when Katherina and I walked into the boathouse with her beauty of a lab called “ Gloria” and our master spinner Dana had the song GLORIA on. Everyone got up and danced. Pure Joy. Moment seized.

Oh and there was also the moment floating in the salt tubs with Nick Drake and “ Northern Sky” No words.Bliss.

I have learned this on the ice and I keep learning it on land. Nobody gets through the hard seasons alone. Friendship is not a nice extra. It is the gear.

Dirt Trails and friends 2 legged and 4 legged!

Year two: we walk the island

So here is my news.

In 2027, we join the Jane Goodall Hike for Hope again. This time, we walk to it.

Embrace the Planet Project presents The Vancouver Island Trail Expedition 2027. In early August, five women will set out from Cape Scott, the northern tip of Vancouver Island. We will walk about 800 kilometres (roughly 500 miles) over about 60 days. We arrive in Victoria in early October, on Hike for Hope weekend.

The trail is the thread. It ties together the diversity, the beauty and the research-rich bounty of this island. Old-growth forest. Rivers full of salmon. Coastline, kelp and whales. We will collect citizen science along the way with partners like HX, Happywhale, Esri Canada and NOAA.

We will also visit a few First Nations communities, by invitation only. They will share what it is like to live on this island as it changes. Deforestation. Wildfire. Habitat loss. A changing climate at their doorstep. We will carry their stories of resilience, community and hope along the trail.

From sky to ocean, we will bring you stories and lessons. And what leadership looks like. One voice, one step at a time.

I invite you to join the movement. Follow along at embracetheplanetproject.com. Walk with us from anywhere.

Humpback and Gull. Image Courtesy of Michelle Valberg, Canadian Wildlife Photographer

Live from the trail, starting October 21

We will broadcast live from the trail with my friends at Exploring by the Seat of Your Pants, straight into classrooms.

You do not have to wait until 2027. Season 3 of Pioneers of the Possible starts this school year. Our first episode is with the Tseshaht First Nation in Port Alberni and their kelp restoration project.

Wednesday, October 21, 11:00 AM Pacific. Free. Join us.

No more falling back

On November 1, something new happens here in BC. Nothing.

For the first time, we will not turn our clocks back. In March, the province moved to permanent daylight time. Evenings stay lighter. Mornings get darker. By the winter solstice, the sun will not rise in Comox until about 9:15 a.m.

Some of us will feel that. I want to talk about it, because I know darkness.

At Bamsebu in Svalbard, I lived through the polar night. Months with no sun at all. No sunrise to wait for. Just stars, moonlight, northern lights and our headlamps. Then, slowly, the light came back. First a blue glow at noon. Then colour on the mountains. Then the sun itself. Weeks later, it never set. Midnight sun.

Here is what the dark taught me. It is not empty. You get outside anyway. You keep a routine. You light a candle. You check on your people. And you trust that the light is coming, because it always does.

What the island is doing right now

The island does not slow down in fall. It shifts gears. Here is what is happening around us, and much of it is what we will walk into at the end of the expedition.

• Salmon are coming home. Chum and coho are pushing up our rivers, from the Puntledge in the Comox Valley to the Goldstream near Victoria. After they spawn and die, bears and eagles drag them into the forest. Ocean nitrogen ends up in the trees. The salmon literally feed the forest.

• Bald eagles follow the salmon. At Goldstream, eagles gather once the chum run ends, from about December to late January. As many as 276 have been counted in a single day.

• Trumpeter swans are arriving. The first ones show up in the Comox Valley fields in October. By January, the valley has counted more than 2,000 at once.

• Bears are eating everything. Black bears are filling up on salmon and late berries before they slow down for winter.

• Whales are on the move. Many humpbacks feed here into the fall before heading south to Hawaii and Mexico. Grey whales pass our west coast heading south over the winter. Bigg’s orcas hunt seals here all year.

• Sea otters stay put. They do not migrate or hibernate. They float in the kelp and eat about a quarter of their body weight every day just to stay warm.

• The kelp is thinning. Bull kelp grows in a single season. Winter storms tear it loose, and it starts again in spring.

• The rain is back. October brings the first big storms off the Pacific.

• Bigleaf maples turn gold. Mushrooms push up through the moss.

Some things are going to sleep. Others are just arriving. The island is never still.

Caretakers, not consumers

On October 1, Pope Leo XIV shared. “The culture of waste can be successfully opposed by a culture of care.” He called on all of us to “make wise use of creation.” Read his words here.

A month earlier, on the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, he said: “It is not yet too late.”

Whatever you believe, that is a moral call I can stand behind. We are caretakers, not consumers. The planet is not a store. It is our home, and we share it.

Keep the light on

The next few months will be dark. So here is my ask.

Reach out to someone in your neighbourhood. Knock on a door. Bring soup. Invite someone for a morning walk in the dark with headlamps. Build community before you need it.

Moving the needle is simpler than we think. We are one thought and one action away. It just takes every one of us being a leader in our own way.

It all counts. Keep the light on. Keep hope alive.

Happy Thanksgiving from Canada to you, wherever you are.

Sunniva x