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All the why's
Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 8:45AM I was sharing with some online friends yesterday, that I braved 6 degrees ambient temperature and 60+ mph winds, for a mile walk down the mountain with the small child, to buy milk from the neighbor to make cheese. One friend, in Pennsylvania, asked why we live this way... and why we wouldn't trade it for anything.
So that got me to thinking about all the reasons that I love this place, and the way that we live. I'm just going to throw this stuff out there. You might think I'm off my rocker, but oh well. This is me... my blog, my life. And while I love bantering with folks about philosophy, when it comes down to me living my life... well, you can take it or leave it.
I love being able to step out the door and take a leak. Honestly. Its important to me to be able to pee in my yard. Its something about freedom and self expression and total privacy... but mostly about freedom. In fact that's one of the things I love best about the North Country- the independent spirit and the space to live it out.
There are some amazing people up here. I love sitting down with old timers and hearing tales about their life growing up in these mountains. Whole books could be told in just an afternoon, full of the most fantastic, dream-sparking stuff. Stories about growing up in tents and caves, horse-packing with a cat in the saddle bags, dog-sledding a hundred miles to pick up supplies, and dealing with rogue bears in the kitchen.
I love that I can drink water out of a hole in the ground and that it is spiritually nourishing to me. I love that the water in our rivers and streams is clean enough that we never use a filter before drinking it. I love the sheer volume of ice that makes up our glaciers and ice caps. And I love the rain and the snow that replenish them.
Its true. I love this place perhaps more than anything or anyone in my life. I know that's a harsh statement, but the North Country is the core of my very being. Drop me at the equator and I am squelched. Hawaii is certainly beautiful, and the living is easy, but I found it quite boring.
Give me giant and perhaps insurmountable mountains. Grant me wild and unpredictable predators on the land. The two of those together spell wilderness. And perhaps that is the reason why I live here. Because I can walk out my backdoor into unspoiled grandeur and go for hundreds of miles without finding anything that shows the print of man.
And I love the inaccessibility of the land, and the inclemency of the weather, that keeps most folks at just a visitor status. Lots of people visit, but a remarkable few stay. And those that make this their home in every sense of the word, they have something inside them that is dynamic and fierce. I love the camaraderie kindled by the love that we share for this homeland. May it forever fly free.
Reader Comments (5)
This is -exactly- what I want.
Oh my gosh! I loved your post and it is all so very true. I miss Alaska with every fiber in my body...
I am SO going to love it there :) I can hear the mountains and streams calling me...
I miss alaska so much, I just looked at your pics and of course I am homesick for it now! I think you are an amazing mama!
You have no idea how inspiring reading your blog is. Your life sounds wonderful.