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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