Q & A: Living
Off Grid (Part II)
Copyright 2012 by Lori-Ann Willey
When contacted by the “outside
world”, we are asked many questions about our lifestyle. I always try to answer those questions to the
best of my ability, but sometimes, the questions can be rather difficult to
answer without going into our childhood history a bit, so I try to be vague and
encourage them to ask their questions, so it is more of a conversation than a
lecture.
Many find our lifestyle
rather intriguing, while others are rather mind boggled at the thought of it
all. Often times they will grin and
shake their head at some of our answers to their questions, as they seemingly “just
don’t get it”. This action always
provokes a chuckle from me, because I know there is no way for some to fathom “why”
we enjoy living as we do.
Often we are asked why
we choose to live in the woods, especially knowing, or learning that Paul is
disabled. Why would we do such a
thing? Why would we risk such a
thing? One man, upon learning that we
were going to spend our first winter into camp quite literally just stood there
looking at us in total awe. It was
almost as if he were asking if we knew what we were doing and all but short of
calling us crazy…maybe he did say it, but if he did, he didn’t have to, as it
was written all over his face and seemingly frozen vocal chords. When he finally “came to”, he asked how we
dared to do such a thing, and obviously felt the need to remind us that Paul is
disabled even. To that, we had to
chuckle without becoming impolite in doing so.
There are not many
campers around our parts, but the news of us spending that first upcoming
winter at camp spread like wildfire, and soon, we were approached by yet
another man who had to come and hear it for himself. Upon confirming that we indeed were spending
the winter, he asked many questions to make sure we had thought of everything
possible, and we thought we had. Later,
as in weeks later, this man approached us again, or maybe he called us on the
cell phone. I can’t remember which now, but he told us that he had contacted the
nearest EMS (Emergency Medical Service) and told them about our plans, Paul’s
health as he knew it, directions on how to get to our location, our phone
number, and not sure what other information he gave. Our hearts got warm and fuzzy to know this
man did what he could do to help us out in that “just in case” situation. He wanted to make sure that we could get help
if needed; that was one thing we had not yet considered. We were thankful this man was concerned
enough for our wellbeing that he went ahead and did that on his own.
What is the hardest
part about living where we do is probably the most asked question overall, and
that is a tough question to answer to be honest with you. It is all a lot, a lot, a lot of work, and it
is not for everyone. Hell, it is not
even for most. It takes a special kind
of determination and a special kind of want for that lifestyle, and to be
honest with you, it is not the lifestyle that is most intriguing for me; it is
the seclusion of our location that I love more than anything else. All the hard work that goes along with it
makes it all worthwhile. Like with
everything in life, you have to work for what you want. The question becomes, “How bad do you want
it?”
Therefore, to answer
that question, I would say the hardest part is getting emergency service into
us in a timely manner. Luckily, we have
yet to need emergency rescue, however, several years ago, my father had passed
away, and family could not get in contact with us due to poor cell phone
service at the time. We had a signal
repeater and Paul was actually working on installing that when the call finally
came through from my sister as she delivered the sad news to Paul. Dad’s health was poor, so I had prepared for
the news, and was not surprised. My
sister, after two hours of trying to contact us, finally contacted the police
station in the closest town, told them of the situation and of our locality the
best she could. They were going to send
someone out via snowmobile to our location and deliver the news
themselves. Luckily, my sister was able
to get through to us, and then quickly called up the local police station to
cancel the call. I remember being
thankful that my sister was able to get a hold of us, because I could not
imagine a stranger having to deliver such news.
It was hard enough for my sister to do it, let alone a stranger.
Many wonder why we
chose to live in the woods. My typical response is, “Because we love it, and I
personally can’t be secluded enough”. I
grew up camping deep in the woods and those memories were very fond to me. Sometimes, I simply reply by saying, “Because
we can.”
Despite the Internet
and corresponding to the outside world via modern technology, people view us in
a broad spectrum. Some really think we
cleared the land, shaved the trees, and built a log cabin out of logs, pegs whittled
from hardwood, and collected mud and moss to fill in the cracks between the
logs. Some view us as a Grizzly Adams
type people, others living as they do on the show Little House on the Prairie. All of those assume that we are hunters and
gatherers and totally live off the land without taking two seconds to stop and
think that we have vehicles, boats, the Internet, solar panels, etc. We do hunt, fish, and I do gather berries,
etc. in the wild, but we greatly rely upon modern conveniences. I mean really, we are not cave dwellers, but
it goes to show just how so many people just do not “get” how we live.
Then, there are others
who think we live in a lake house with electricity, running water, a shower, a bathtub,
a washer/dryer, mail delivery, etc. When
I tell them we do not have such things, dead silence happens as they try to
grasp the concept of us “not having” such everyday things, and then you can see
the word “work” all over their faces. It
is actually somewhat comical.
Those who have more
understanding of our lifestyle still get mind boggled over the fact that our
main mode of transportation during the winter months are by snowmobile
only. They think it is rather neat, and
talk about how nice it must be to jump on a snowmobile and take long trips up around
the mountain, or anywhere we want to go, and normally, they would be right, but
in our case, they are wrong. Because
snowmobiles are our only mode of transportation, it rather takes the fun out of
going on long trips with them. The
novelty wears out rather quickly, and there are many that cannot grasp that
concept, or fathom the reality of us depending upon snowmobile transportation
10 of 17 months once.
It is fun to be asked
questions like, “What is the longest span between seeing another human being?”,
but it is more fun to see their expression when I tell them, “Not long enough”. There are few camps around us, and most of
those owners do not venture to them during the snowy months. Some camp owners have owned their camps for
30 years and had never seen snow upon them before. For many, it is almost taboo to go to camp
when there is snow upon the ground. Most
camps are used during the summer time so they are not insulated, and if they
have a wood stove, it is to burn scraps of wood to get out a summer chill when
they so seldom do get to camp. In asking
that question to my husband, we both shrug our shoulders, and honestly do not
have a clue how long the longest span has been without seeing another human
being. The span is measured in weeks and
weeks, and only if we go to town, but we do hear snowmobiles off in the
distance, and we do see a few snowmobilers from time to time zip across the
lake while out ice fishing. Nevertheless,
usually, we see people mostly if they get lost.
They simply say they followed our tracks, found us, and hoped we could
direct them. We are always happy to
direct people away from camp. Take that
as you may.
Previous blogs of interest
http://ineptblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/my-shit-doesnt-stink.html
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