I am just back in Hamilton and will go this morning to Brewers just as soon as the kids leave for Toronto to see the CN Tower. It is comfortable here, but I miss THO when I am not there. I miss the cozy space and the trees around it. I miss the sounds of the wind and the chatter of the chipmunks. I miss the howling of the coyotes but most of all I miss my community.
It is not unusual for me to long to be home among my loved ones there. Even though I don’t pop in to see all of my friends and family every day when I am home, I still know that the potential to see them is at hand. The truth is that I have never felt that much at home anywhere, except there, at home. I don’t want to suggest that I have not had moments of comfort in other places. I had wonderful friends and neighbours when I lived in Germany. I have friends in Guelph, Finch, Hamilton and other places that I have lived. Some of my most dearest live very far from me, those in Japan, Jamaica, the UK and my Lithuanian sister friend who is in Germany come to mind frequently. My kids are here in Hamilton area but even my love for them does not make this home for me.
My Hamilton house is small but comfortable. It boasts conveniences and features that we often take for granted – but I do not have these at THO; It lacks for example: running water, electricity, heat, air-conditioning, a bathtub, a full kitchen, refrigeration, indoor cooking, a washer, a dryer, a bus that takes me to the indoor-farmers market and back without fighting for parking, my writing group is here, and it also has a good bright 9×12 studio space. It is a nice solid house with a tidy German looking yard and a nice garden, but it is not my home.
Be it ever so humble and not quite done, here is my home. Here is where my heart is.
We got a little rain this morning so the stone dust got packed in a little bit better. This allowed us to add another layer of stone dust to it. The neighbour kids stopped by and wanted to help so I suggested that they stamp the stones in. They happily stomped away. Thanks kids!
The stone is at about the height that want it now, so I think I need to add a little more to it still because it will compress more over the winter. It is just about level so I am thinking that I have to add a small slope away from the building in order to keep the water away. I am not sure how to do this as entire property slopes toward the other side of the house so the natural way is for it to go toward this side of the house. I have to think about this, but I think that I will have to slope it to the East. Also, I am accepting any advice you might have on the subject.
After working at this for a couple of hours I went with the kids over to a wonderful organic farm in Inverary, Ontario. We were reminded that the drought is not just something that effects farmers, it effects eaters. How true.
Her garden looks about a million times better than mine. She is producing all sorts of food for a CSA as well as baking bread and producing eggs for these baskets. Plus the animals… they all need care and attention at all times. Then the crops and the … it really never ends on a bio-diverse organic farm. The entire family seems only willing to stop for in order to have a short food break and then they are back to work.
For those readers who are photographers, you probably shutter… at my photos because of my total lack of skill in this department… and because I always blame my crappy camera. It turns out the problems are all mine. Apparently, my camera is not as crappy as I have been telling you! Sorry! I am just a terrible photographer!
Up on the narrows a few nights ago I was telling George that I cannot get good photos of the forest light because of my terrible camera. He explained to me that my camera is a pretty decent one… Illusions shattered! I showed him the photo I took a few weeks ago which is the only forest light photo that I have been happy with. George, it turns out, is a man who is seemingly made of light. He knew what to do! He told me about the half way button on my camera which sets the light. I have had this camera for about 6 years and had no idea!
George told me that if I point it at a slightly darker place, set the light by pushing the button half way in and then point where I want the picture to be, then click all the way in, that I should be able to capture the light better.
My current project is to experiment with this technique.
It is not the aim of this blog to try and talk the world into becoming vegan, or even vegetarian but rather the goal is to discuss the object of living with less. Since I started this blog on November 30, 2011 I have discussed a plethora of topics around being a woman/writer/artist who lives part time in a project called Tiny House Ontario and how this huge, but Tiny project is going and is effecting me.
But there is something going on here in Canada and the United States that is too huge to ignore and has me really worried. Right now we in Ontario and a whole lot of the USA are living through an historic and dreadfully bad drought. The Canadian government has been nearly silent on the issue but recently I read an article out of the United States which explains briefly the reasoning behind the USDA’s sensible recommendation that citizens give up eating meat on Mondays. It carries some mind boggling statistics and information in it. Even so, the article does not go far enough (in my opinion). The most significant missed topic in the article is that it does not discuss what the USDA and farmers already know. Here it is! Livestock are being and will continue to be “dumped” because farmers cannot afford to feed them. This means (for those of you who did not come up on farms) that they sell mostly ALL of their animals as livestock for slaughter. This might seem like good news if you are a meat eater (initially) but here is where you are wrong, this means that there will be a lack of breeding stock next year. You will start to see huge price jumps at about Christmas for the cost of meat and the price will keep on raising. Truth is, it will take a few years for the animals and the farmers to catch up.
The hostile and arrogant reaction of the politicians quoted in this article is totally off the mark*. They flaunt their stupidity on the subject of meat. Not just on how it is produced but the time of production as well as the costs of production are not noted at all. These clowns absurdly suggest what they will do, which is to “eat more, put pounds of meat on display and call the USDA heretics”. What they are saying in essence is we are going to eat it all up until it is gone and leave nothing for you. It is greed and ignorance at best!
The sad fact is, I am commenting on this subject because a lot more people will go to bed hungry this winter in both the USA and Canada and for the next year or two as well, if there are not GREAT growing years coming our way. I wish it was not going to be this way, but it is. Quite simply, we have not had nearly enough rain. Below is an image from NASA Earth Observatory. There is more info from them here.
What I am asking, is to buy some food from your most local farmer and please eat less meat for the next couple of years. I know it sounds cliche, but if we all do a little bit there will be a little bit left over for the poorest among us.
I can’t tell you how much that I hope I am wrong.
*I want to qualify that I am not partisan or even particularly interested in who is who. These folks are way too far from me to make me even remotely interested in finding out anything about the particulars of the political affiliation.
Yesterday when I opened my eyes I did not know what the day would bring me. It turns out that this say was to be epic. Not exactly the ten year travel of Odysseus, but even so, an interesting day.
I wrote a bit in the morning, washed up and had some coffee and then left THO. My first stop was at Liisa’s. She is doing the preparation for a family reunion and as such has a lot to do. I thought I would pop by and see if she wanted my help. I could have guessed that she would not since she has very specific ways of doing things, but still she did have plans for me, instead she brought me to Gilmore’s Point for a couple of hours. It was my first visit there, and it is a nice spot. When I left there I headed back to THO for my night bike gear just in case anything went wrong, and then hit the road for Murphy’s Point Park near Perth Ontario, because I wanted to hear Bear the Tinker tell stories. I decided on taking the back roads up through California because the winding roads are wonderful to travel on when you drive a bike. Before too long, I was on Highway 15, I stopped to gas up in Elgin $3.25 in gas filled me right to the top and I am back on the highway. Before long, I was just beginning to wonder if I missed something and I had; the crucial turn at Crosby to get to the park was several km behind me. Still steadfast in my determination, I was going along at a nice clip on a stretch of road just about where # 5 meets #15 to turn to Athens when suddenly without any warning my bike quit. It was 3:22 in the afternoon.
I would think that a small, middle aged woman on a Vino, dressed in linen trousers and a yellow flowered blouse should not seem like all that scary but even so, not a single person stopped to see if I was OK. After the bike did not restart for about 45 minutes (I thought it had just overheated) I called 411 with my stupid phone company (Telus) to get the number for the Yamaha dealer who is in Portland in order to get picked up, but despite the fact that I knew that they are in Portland or within a short distance, that they sell motorbikes, boats, and all sorts of recreational vehicles they could not find them in their system. I was on the phone with them for about 15 minutes and they were not helpful (are any of them?)
Finally I called my Yamaha people and asked them for the number. By this time, I am burned to a crisp and it is 4:45 but I get through and they send a truck to pick the bike and I up.
They fix the bike, it turns out that the cable let go from the spark plug. I have studied the map in the interim and know that I have to double back a bit now, so I go on to Murphy’s Point. It was about 5:45 by the time I left the bike shop.
I finally hit #14 and take the road which is fun at first because it is winding and smooth but eventually turns into 6 km of new gravel on a dirt road. Anyone who drives a street bike will appreciate how not fun this kind of terrain is. None the less, at 6:45 I arrive to see Bear the Tinker and listen to his stories. It was totally worth the trip! Bear played a full set of Uileann pipes and told us about the little people, and the big people. He weaved a brilliant tale that blended mythology, folklore, science, religion, philosophy, and a twinkling eye into his work. By the end, I am convinced that the entire audience believed that Big foot was in the woods watching us and that better not catch a little person in the corner of their eye. The man and the story teller is so enchanting; his traditional ways, along with his vivid memory makes for a special time which I wanted to extend into the night, but I did not want to be on the gravel road after dark and thus at 8:30 I left and faced the road again.
About 1/2 of the way on the paved road before the turn to Murphy’s point, at 9:30, there is a small bridge that crosses the Rideau. It was so pretty there that I stopped and was greeted by a Kayaker who was just on the last leg of a 15 day trip up the canal. George had been up to Ottawa and had wonderful stories to tell about his encounters with nature through his beautiful adventure, including a threatening wind and a nasty seagull. He had a beautiful imagination and presence. Along with this he has more than just a passing interest in light. He had wonderful and unique lights which he makes himself from old garden lights and these he brought with him to light the way and they twinkled around us. He gifted one to me which is a bubbling ball that I now have charging! I am looking forward to seeing it and believe it will remind me of the moon over the canal every time I see it. Further to his interest in light, hee is a photographer and had taken many photos and though he did not share them with me, he did share his web address (which sadly I forgot, so I am hoping he will remember THO and remind me of the link).
The moon as I mentioned above, was the nearly full sturgeon moon and just waining slightly. It shone heavenly orange light over the water and made the sky into a soft grey light. The big dipper clear as a bell, held it’s contents to the North West, between 2 giant maples. It was the sort of place and climate that deserves time and attention, I relaxed into the night and before too long, I was leaving far too late.
I did not get back on the road until it was nearing midnight and the road was clear because of the bright moon, but when I got on the highway I realized that there was not one single location to stop and get gas, and I knew that I could not make it home. Still, there was nothing I could do but push forward. I kept the bike steady at 75kmph and drove, sticking to the main roads. Fortunately, the moon made the walk easy and I could see a long way. I did not feel scared or nervous when the bike finally puttered to a stop. I made it to within a couple of km of my cousin’s place at 12:32 so I pushed the bike to his house and walked on to Liisa’s house because I have a key and it is closer than THO. I arrived to her place at 1:27 am. Safe, sound and filled with the days adventure I fell asleep quickly and slept sound.
This morning, I am blistering and bitten and I stand, hoping that today is just as interesting!
Tiny House Ontario 