The inhabitants of the Hungry Ghost Realm are depicted as creatures with scrawny necks, small mouths, emaciated limbs and large, bloated, empty bellies. This is the domain of addiction, where we constantly seek something outside ourselves to curb an insatiable yearning for relief or fulfillment. The aching emptiness is perpetual because the substances, objects or pursuits we hope will soothe it are not what we really need. We don’t know what we need, and so long as we stay in the hungry ghost mode, we’ll never know. We haunt our lives without being fully present.
Maté, Gabor. In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction. 2012. p. 1
I got an email from Greyhound which confirmed recent headlines:
We are permanently cancelling all Greyhound Canada services in the provinces of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
In British Columbia, we are cancelling all services as well.
This is a shame both for me personally and in general.
It means the train is now the only available low-carbon travel option from Toronto or Ottawa to Vancouver, making a repeat of my bus-based Low Carbon Cross Country (LC^3T) trip impossible after the end of October.
It also makes remote communities and their inhabitants more isolated and vulnerable, especially for people who lack the credentials or vehicle access to drive. It also seems to represent a breakdown in the idea that Canada ought to be connected as an entity, especially alongside the high cost and low frequency of rail services.
