Friday 22 June 2012

Life Off the Grid 2 - June 15 2012


June 15, 2012
5:00 AM



Took another good look at the surroundings in the daytime. For some reason, Seamus decided that 5AM was an optimal time to get up. Suddenly he's up and barking that indignant bark he does when he is highly dissatisfied with something, like when someone he wants to interact with is ignoring him, or in a part of the house where he is not allowed. As I sleep in the loft, and most dogs are not adept at climbing ladders, it was the latter. So, in the watery light of dawn we ventured out to take stock. All good, as far as I can see. The woodshed I built last summer is till standing and looks better than I remember. Even better, there is wood in it. Dry wood.



The lake is high, as I noted last night. And quite chilly. Although I prefer to swim au naturel (yet another benefit of not having any neighbours) I am glad I brought my 3mm wet suit. That will get me in the water much earlier.

After giving the dogs some time to be dogs out in the woods, I lured them back into the cabin, put on my hiking/work boots, and headed up to the truck to unload my stuff. 5 agonizing, backbreaking loads later, I have fully arrived. Why do I haul so many books around with me? Oh. Right. Because I would go mad without them.

After a brief recovery period, I found some clothes I felt I could go into town in (Yay, my white capris fit! Boot camp pays off!) and rounded up the doggies for a trip into town. The critical thing here was a desperate need to take KMTS up on their idea they could provide me with a phone that works out here. I also needed candles, and I had a notion to grow some produce.

Getting two dogs into car harnesses and seat-belted in is akin to getting toddlers into car seats. Or stuffing an octopus into a string bag. Anyway, eventually we were on our way and had an uneventful trip in. The women at KMTS were wonderful, invited my dogs into the store and made a huge fuss over them, and gave me a phone to try out here. I got beer. I got a couple of meat patties for the dogs and a drink from McDonalds and used their free Wi-Fi in the parking lot to upload my last blog and answer some emails. I got candles and herb seeds and not enough potting soil (but as much as I thought I could reasonably carry down the path this trip), jiffy pots, and a clip-on OFF bug repellent from Canadian Tire. I got tomato plants from Wal-Mart. 6 Bush Beefsteak, 1 Early Girl, and 1 Sweet 100 plant plus a little dyspeptic-looking zucchini plant. Answered text messages as I went along. Reminded the kids that Father's Day is Sunday and maybe they would like to mark it in some way. Sent the solar guys an email reminding them that we really need the charge controller before we set the system up. And then, back to the bush!

All good. I got the dogs and the purchases out (except the beer, but I have enough in the fridge for now and it will make me trek up to the truck when I want more). Down the path. The bugs were horrendous. They were so bad, in fact, that Guinness (who usually seems oblivious to them) appeared to be having a fit while some large buzzy thing was barnstorming his head. They are so bad. Both dogs bolted ahead of me and when I got down to the deck I found them pressed against the cabin door, desperate to get in.

Then, I saw it. A large, very fresh pile of bear scat. Scant feet from the bottom step up to the deck. I am not pleased. Not pleased at all. Guinness has his bear bell on, but Seamus' is up in the car. I took it off his collar in the KMTS store because he was leaping around with excitement and it was quite deafening. I might be able to find another bell around the cabin, and I will get it next time I go up to the truck, but that is not the biggest issue. I do not want a bear around. I am going to have to engage in much “human” behaviours. Making noise, maybe having a campfire. Establish my territory. No bears welcome.

Oh, and the phone? Doesn't work. I am dealing with my crushing disappointment. Barely. They have another phone, on the NorthernTel network, they can give me to try next Friday. I am not getting my hopes up. If anyone knows how to get cell signal where there is none, please comment. I am not building a 40 foot tower. It has to be a simple solution. A signal booster I can put on the roof of the cabin or down by the lake, or even up on the cliff above the lake. Something like that. I looked into them before but no one I spoke to sells them or knows anyone who does. I know they exist. There is plenty of apocryphal lore about them out in the woodsy community. But the telcos don't want you to have one, apparently. This makes no sense to me. Why would they want to limit their coverage and irritate their customers?

Another disappointment. Many of the seed packets I got suggest the maturity of the plants is about 80 days. Too long! I should have got seedling herbs. And maybe I will. Most of them are perennials, so if I can get them established this year, I might have some next summer... I have sage, tarragon, thyme, rosemary, summer savory, parsley, chives, and a collection of basil (lemon, purple, sweet, Thai, and cinnamon).

I suppose I have chilled out enough now from my day's exertions. First thing getting into the cabin (after dropping all the bags) is rip off the bra and get rid of the hot denim pants. Loose shorts and tank top. Much comfier. Our society dictates such tortuous attire for women. Underwires, padding...Seriously? It's hot, I'm working hard, and I have some sort of poky, squishy armour around my chest. I think most women would be more pleasant-tempered, and look more attractive, if their clothing didn't cause such discomfort. From cruelly disfiguring shoes to push up bras, we are bent and molded into some unnatural ideal of beauty. Foot binding was banned a long time ago. When will they ban 5” heels and girdles (whatever they are called now) and underwired bras? Never, not unless things change radically and women comprise a majority in legislative bodies around the world.

I love the lake. I can wear (or not wear) whatever pleases me. At least, until people come out to visit. Then I have to armour up to avoid mortifying my (adult) children in front of their friends...

So, I suppose it's time to go out and make noise while I try to figure out what I am going to do with these plants. Later, I will unpack all the stuff I brought. I will find places for my books, mark the date on foodstuffs with sharpie so I can keep track of inventory and not poison myself, put clothes away...

7:40 PM

I went and had a look at the old garden box. It was discouraging. It will need hoeing, turning of soil, eradication of weeds. In other words, a job for tomorrow. I went to the dock with the bag of dog toys. The dogs anticipated much joy and leaped around me all the way down the path. There was much throwing of floaty squeaky things into the water... deeply satisfying for Guinness, somewhat frustrating for Seamus as only some of the toys landed in a depth he could walk to.

The bugs were awful. I was testing an OFF! Clip on device that purports to be a bug repellant you don't spray on. You insert the wafer of bug goop and turn on the fan. You are then supposed to wear it by the clip and it is supposed to repel insects. Maybe it works in a nice urban setting. Maybe the deer flies out here haven't seen the ads. Regardless, it was not a successful test. Finally I put my wet suit on because they couldn't bite me through the fabric. Just head and hands and feet to protect. Armed with my fly-swatter I waged war on the nasty things. I am opposed to war, in general. Countries fighting each other seems such a pointless waste of life. The “War on Drugs” is, essentially as Michael Douglas famously said in Traffic, a war on our children. All bad. But I can get behind a war on deer flies biting me relentlessly on my dock. I managed to kill several. But, once you have killed off the slow and stupid, you are left with the very quick and clever. Eventually, I got in the water.

I didn't have a thermometer with me, but I am guessing the water temperature is within the range of hypothermia. By the time I had washed my hair, played with the dogs and did a bit of swimming I had quite a few waxy white toes. At least I have a clean scalp now. That feels better.

Back in the cabin, I have filtered water into the kettle, got it to boil and am about to wash my cute one-serving cookware I collected over the winter. I am hungry. I think dinner, once I have clean cookware, will be herb and tomato couscous and a stir-fry of tofu, asparagus, carrot, onion, and celery, seasoned with garlic, ginger and chili peppers. At the lake alone I can eat all the garlic I want. :)

9 PM

Dinner was good. Very, very good. Not enough of it, by my reckoning, but delicious. Dishes are done. Dogs are sedate. I am considering bed. I am trying very hard to get through “The Sisters Brothers” by Patrick deWitt. It was on on the Canada Reads short list this past year. It is not an easy read. There are no sympathetic characters. The first person voice, Eli, has some redeeming qualities, but not enough. It is sad. Full of senseless violence. I am having trouble with this book.

I am going to try Melatonin, starting tonight. It is supposed to help people who have bad sleeping habits. After months of getting up at 4AM regardless of when I get to sleep, I think I am chronically sleep deprived. I don't really know what it is supposed to do. I guess we shall see...


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