Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Cabin Life #1: The Beginnings

I am pretty sure that most people who end up living in cabins come about it fairly innocently. I know this cant be said for all people but in my experience this is the way it is. A friend tells you of the beauty of living the simple life. somewhere far away from all of the hustle and bustle of the world, where one can really reflect on their life, while getting their hands dirty and building up a strength, not only physically, but characteristically and emotionally as well.

I'm telling you: It's true... if you make it so.

It involves staying present, getting the mind under control, practicing love and compassion.  Clear your mind… Chop wood, Carry Water.

Living in the Yukon has been somewhat of a whirlwind for me so far. It has been very challenging mentally physically and emotionally. I never imagined that I would be living in a place like this, but I am excited to see what challenges it holds for me. I want to let the world show me what it has in store for me, and keep myself open to these beautiful new experiences with positivity and good vibrations. coming from a life where things shave always been, a,b,c... this could be difficult at times, so lets go on a journey.

I hope to document the progressions of the cabin life as i learn them. Whether it be accomplishments of failures or just learning curves. It might get dirty, but lets get into it.

The Cabin



So far, a general day includes:

get up with the sun. birds, squirrels and wind in the trees. the heaviness of the night worn off.
make some coffee and head out into the woods for a nice morning walk, and to say hello to my neighbors horse that often comes to the fence for a little snack and to say hello.
chop wood.
make fire.
carry water.
make a breakfast of whatever sustenance has been acquired in my fridge.
stoke fire.
chop more wood.
yoga in the woods.
depending on the day; go shower and head into town for work at the lovely book shop I have so serendipitously been afforded a lovely position at.
enjoy the smell of old books, and the company of my co-workers and the townsfolk.
drive home, careful not to hit any animals.
chop wood.
reset fire.
check out the interwebs for a while.
meditate on the day.
read.
nighty night.

There are many times when i find myself lonely and feeling lost in the woods. When I look around and I don't see all of the caring faces that I'm so used to seeing, when I come home and there is no one there to hug me and welcome me home. When i just need to see the beautiful smile of my amazing nieces, the one that can make even the darkest day seem sunshiny, or when I just need a glass of nice wine and an afternoon of girl talk. all of these things are out of reach. It's just me, alone. However, i am so thankful for these moments as well. I am on a journey, one that i never anticipated, one that makes me kick, scream, cry, and laugh at myself. I have beautiful moments to myself that i am learning to cherish.

Today I made a little video of the thing I seem to do the most of when I am alone, chop wood. It is unlike anything I have ever done, I often find myself laughing while doing it as the world just melts away and I literally generate a source of heat for myself. I'd like to see how I progress in technique along the way...  I have now filled three bins full of small wood as my fear of the encroaching winter deepens with each snow capped mountain range.

(please forgive my form, I'm slowly progressing, but I have only just learned how to wield an axe.)












Thursday, September 5, 2013

A Brand New Adventure: Cross Canada

Ok, so its been a while since my last post. not to say that things have been un-eventful... they have been anything but... however I didn't have the capacity to write about them, and have now started a new adventure in my life, and am anxious to share all of the details about it.

A little spruce of the blog and we should be off and running.



So heres the dish:
I have taken a leave from my life in Ontario and decided to embrave (thats embrace and brave) the wilds of the Yukon Territory. I will be living in a small cabin about 30 minutes outside of the city of whitehorse on the yukon river.

I want to document the daily life of cabin living in the yukon. Back to a life more simple than the one that I have become so accustomed to. One with no running water or pumped in heat. A life less ordinary than we now live, but one that gives me all of the necessities in a way that I can be thankful for. I will try to share all of the specifics of this life, as well as the physical and emotional things that come along with it.

I decided to come to the yukon about as spontaneously as one can. A very dear friend offered me the opportunity to go, and 5 days later I was on the road to the most northern west corner of our beautiful country. it has always been my dream to see all of canada from the seat of my car, to explore the beautiful prairies, and marvel at the peaks of the rockies, stay under the stars in a tent, searching the depths of this old land for the spirit that lies within it.

Morning sunrise
The experince of driving across canada was a different one. Leaving behind so many wonderful things, people and experiences was a lot harder than it has ever been for me, due in large part to its spontaneity and my inability to make quick decisions. But as i set off in my little suzuki (suzie-q) early that Sunday morning, I knew that this adventure was going to probably be the most challenging one of my life so far, but also the most rewarding, frustrating, amazing, beautiful and honest journey ever.



I did the drive in 5 days, stats are as follows: 5576 km, five provinces, one territory, four nights, three seedy motels, 20 tanks of gas (i never let it get below 1/2), endless cups of coffee, and a lot of sugar from the goodie basket from mum. It was a journey with an intent... Whitehorse or bust!!

Here are the things that occurred to me throughout the country:
Lake Superior

when one is driving alone for so long, things that might not normally occur to someone tend to pop into your head. this was such the case for most of northern ontario. Northern ontario is a beautiful and majestic place. Especially after driving through the urban metropolis that is southern ontario. There are lakes and rivers everywhere, beautiful cliffs, incredibly old trees and a lot of wildlife.
Foggy mornings

Rest stop bliss





The trans-canada highway has many historical stops along the way and i wish i had time to stop at all of them.  It felt so amazing to begin my journey across the country on this part of the road, among the last to be completed, where men trekked through the forest from Wawa to Sault Ste. Marie, and were presumed lost and dead after 5 days to prove the desperate need for the road to be completed.

Wawa
With all of the lakes a rivers comes a lot of bridges. And for whatever reason, it seems that the summer of 2013 was the year they decided to fix the bridges. I wonder who thought it would be a good decision to close every single bridge in northern ontario across the trans-canada highway for several months... it occurred to me that I would like to find this person and make them sit in a sweltering car at 25 minute intervals for 12 hours. Not pleasant.. but hey, there are a lot of very large things to look at along the way; heres one.







My journey across the rest of the country was a quick one. I rarely stopped except to refuel, myself and Suzy-q. I laughed, sang, cried, screamed and talked for endless hours about this amazing journey that I was embarking on. EAch province brought a new landscape. The prairies brought a long slow calm that took hold of me in my car and made me the only one out there on the road. I began to see mountains emerging as i passed through alberta late at night. and i wondered how many other people had taken this very same journey, and what their intents were, and in-fact, what was my intent?

When I first saw a stone (or Rocky) mountain I was absolutely stunned. I had seen the mountains before but this was something else, something new. Perhaps it was the 4 days it had taken me to get there, the endless road in front of me, the lack of sleep, the anxiety of the unknown or the sheer beauty of this amazing place, but they brought me to tears. It was the last day of my journey and I was mere hours away. The rocks emerged when i came around a corner and I pulled over to enjoy this moment. so many things rushed through my head: where was i going, and where had i been. What was i doing?! could I make it in the quiet wilderness of the yukon? I would have to. They brought me calm and the whistle of the wind across the water let me know to let go of all of the inhibition, because this was a moment that I would want to remember. It was time to stop dreaming and start living.

 My new life was about to begin, one stone mountain at a time.