Advertisement
Published: October 3rd 2009
Edit Blog Post
or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Insects
The farm was in a fairly remote location called Johnson's Landing, with mountains on one side and picturesque Kootenay Lake on the other, though there was running water and electricity. My hosts were Kate and Harvey, who were lovely, and my home was the 'Roundhouse' cabin. White-tailed deer and wild turkeys would regularly come down to the farm, as would bears apparently, though thankfully I didn't encounter any of the latter during my stay. I have now heard one too many stories of people getting their faces eaten off by hungry bears.
Johnson's Landing has a strong sense of community, and my second night here involved attending a 'potluck' where residents all meet at the community lodge, each bringing with them a foodstuff of some sort. We took a delicious mushroom soup that Kate had made from 'lobster' mushrooms we had foraged in the wood earlier that day. I was busy making myself a cup of tea not long after we arrived, then became aware that everything had gone a bit quiet. Looking round, I saw all the assembled people standing in a big circle around the tables,
all holding hands, waiting for me to join them! Despite the uneasy notion that I had wandered into some sort of cult, they just said a few non-religious words and then we sat down to eat what people had brought. It was actually a very friendly way of keeping in touch with neighbours and preserving the sense of community that is so important in these remote areas, and I met a lot of interesting people.
The farm itself was roughly the same size as the one in the Yukon, but most of the veg and fruit was grown outdoors here, and there was an orchard in the field laden with tasty apples (nobody knew the variety).
I had various jobs here too. In addition to the mandatory washing up, I helped collect, chop and stack firewood, weeded the strawberry patch, picked pears and apples, made compost, and helped preserve the fruit and veg in various ways.
The picking of pears and apples caused me some small amount of discomfort, since at times I had to climb a step ladder right to the top (so that only my shins rested against the top of the ladder), and gingerly
reach up to pick the uppermost fruit. I wasn't entirely comfortable with this to start with, but once the wind got up, and the yellowjackets (wasps, basically) and hornets started arriving in gangs, my situation became a little more precarious. Since attempting to waft them away would have proved ineffectual, and would have resulted in an inelegant and somewhat dangerous dismount, I had to foster a different approach.
Thus it was that I found myself talking to the insects, projecting 'positive vibes' at them in the hope that they'd just leave me to it. Remarkably this approach seemed to work! I began to wonder if it would work on bears...
This 'positive vibe' thing was probably something in the air around these parts, since there's a lot of New Age/Hippy stuff around the Nelson/Kootenays area, as well as some not-so-New-Age stuff. While I was here I got the chance to participate in a proper Sweat Lodge, conducted in the Blackfeet Native American tradition. I had no real idea of what to expect, but I hadn't thought it would be a spiritual experience! Imagine the hottest sauna you've ever been in, then multiply it by ten. Or eleven. In
pitch blackness. With lots of chanting and beating of drums and prayers (or in my case, projected 'positive vibes' - have to enter into the spirit of these things). Though it was definitely an ordeal, I found I thoroughly enjoyed it, and actually got a lot out of it. Certainly the stubborn pneumonia cough that had persisted despite 7 days of antibiotics was immediately gone!
I also spent a lot of time involved in interesting philosophical discussions here with other Johnson's Landing residents, and watched a very American DVD that postulated the idea that
water has memory, and its
structure is altered by the positive or negative 'vibes' in it's immediate environment - though the DVD used this to back up some dodgy religious claims about walking on water, and water into wine etc. It was very interesting. Though afterwards I did download a lot of
Richard Dawkins documentary clips from You Tube on Kate and Harvey's PC, just for balance.
I also got the chance to sleep in an authentic teepee, complete with campfire in the middle, which was definitely another highlight among many here.
Harvey was a potter by trade, and all the crockery we used was of a rustic style, made by him. I joked that the
cups were too small for a proper mug of tea (they were like espresso mugs, honestly - they love their coffee over here), and so he gave me a large handleless mug that he had made, that could probably double as a small vase! So I'm now carrying this around in my backpack, determined it will make it home in one piece.
One point that I haven't mentioned yet is the beer in Canada - I have yet to find one that is less than 5%. After one afternoon of particularly hard graft (yes, that's right) spent splitting wood, Harvey rewarded me with a beer called 'Porter', which reminded me of home - until I realised it was 8.5%! Nice, though...
Spent just over two weeks here, and could easily have stayed longer - I thoroughly enjoyed it, and learned a lot. But time is running out, and if I'm to see any more of this country, I need to get a move on!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.093s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 13; qc: 49; dbt: 0.0411s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb