RADICAL RELOCALIZATION

Phew! Hard work and challenge on the ground as I set about homesteading at age 62. Here's the lay of the land. Reflections and what was going on for me, or some of it can be found here.

 I'm living out here on 50 beautiful but overgrown and neglected acres in rural Ontario about 70 miles west of Ottawa. The land price was very good, way below market and the whole purchase happened lickety-split less than two months ao. No one's lived here for at least 20 years. Five or six of the acres are open fields that the bush is slowly closing in on and the rest are woods and swamp. The property is way down a dirt road 12 miles or so from a small town of Sharbot Lake. Though I bought vacant land there are three buildings of sorts: fallen down log house, a concrete block garage and a shed made of thin cedar. Hmmm, the materials reminiscent of the houses the three little pigs built to keep out the wolves!

I've been living in the small shed. It's about 9 by 15 and has just been upgraded to the status of “cabin” with the addition of windows – very nice thermal ones - and a lovely windowed door, the latter donated by my friend Sue. The old well's not running yet. Cooking is outside on a Coleman stove that's set up on a table - which is really a door wired to an old metal spring single bed turned on its side. I'm camping!

My neighbor Lloyd with his small tractor helped empty the concrete block garage of old farm implements, plow, discer, mower. All move and look like they worked when they went in the garage decades ago. The concrete block garage could have been built last year, except for the leaky roof. The garage may become a house and workshop in time.

For me who's an intellectual type, I'm happy about the skill and expertise of Lloyd (and friends like Eric and David) who seem to be able to fix and do pretty much anything out here. Each demonstrates in their own way what experience and inclination can do. I'll never quite catch up but then I don't have to. We have different gifts and I'm just pleased they're there with theirs - and Lloyd's next door.

The three buildings are up a hill with a nice breeze and they surround a little meadow which looks better than I expected since Lloyd gave it a trim with his mower. The more I look around the more I see that the buildings are beautifully situated, nicely treed but surrounded on three sides by fields.

Stars are bright and at night I hear a barred owl or rather a series of them with their distinctive “Who cooks for you” call. And stunningly some evenings, what must be coywolves. I know both the yippee “electric guitar” high notes of coyotes and the long low howl of wolves and these sound more like wolves. I've heard that in this part of Ontario the coyotes are the result of interbreeding with wolves, maybe farther up north as we don't often hear timber wolves here. In any case the “coyotes” are half again as large as ordinary coyotes. One recent evening the coywolves started up so close I thought I could hear the guttural in-throat of something very near. I scurried the hundred yards to the cabin and shut the door. Primitive feeling beat out cool reason!.

I got lots of help at different times from friends David and Eric, friends and relocalizers both, and from Sue too.  This past weekend David and I insulated and added drywall. When the stove goes in, I'll be able to wear shorts in January. The building is small though and a part of me wonders whether I'll be visiting south during the winter. Or going on a wee tour, video camera and recorder in hand, to see how other folks are progressing in their relocalizing work.

Behind the garage is where the garden was and will be again. When the south facing wall is opened up to let in the sun and  overlook the garden, should be lovely. I'm starting to dream on this property, what and for whom it could be.