Bush Life: June 2013

Right now it’s 12:30 a.m., I’m sitting on the floor in Alia’s living room, and she’s serenading Tim and I with sweet melodies from her guitar. She thinks she doesn’t know the right words, but it doesn’t matter. The guitar strings can do the singing. And her voice is beautiful, regardless of the lyrics.

It’s a typical weekend. The convoy of busses, stake trucks, and a couple planter cars usually roll into the complex around 9 p.m. on Saturday. We usually stop for DQ, then head over to Alia’s house, where it’s even more ridiculous to see a convoy of busses and stake trucks parked on a quiet, tree-lined neighbourhood street. Alia’s mom is an incredibly gracious host, letting 8 of us dirty tree planters (er, 7 plus a cook) take over her house every weekend. There are bags of dirty laundry in the entry way, sleeping bags scattered on every couch and bed, and beers stuffed in every open spot in the fridge. Soon after arriving, there are 8 people also spread out on every bed or couch, minus the one in the shower. Sometimes we head out for drinks and dancing, sometimes we crash and sleep off a long week. Dancing with a bunch of tree planters is a great time, albeit a very sweaty time.

Sundays I’ve been going to Grassroots Church in the morning, where it feels wonderfully like being at home. Plus, who doesn’t like having a coffee / snack break in the middle of the service? After church we find one way or another to chill and fill the day. There’s usually a nap involved, and lots of hippie-like living room sessions, with someone on the guitar or the piano, and everyone else on slightly out of key back-up vocals. Lee’s mom loves it.

Sundays aren’t all naps and sleepy sing alongs, though. One day I sat in Pink Penny where I had a great view of Sleepy G and Lake Superior, reading a book in the sun. Another day I went for a skate around Boulevard Lake, and at the end the skies opened up and it poured. It was delicious. We’ve gone out to see a couple movies, although none have gotten me too excited yet. Maybe because I haven’t seen Star Trek. We’ve gone out for sushi (I just watched), and of course to the complex for a swim, although now it’s closed for a few weeks, and we’re not sure what to do with ourselves.

Mondays are a bit busier, with a trip out to the shop to get a vehicle, then pick up meat on the way back, then a few stops to get the last of the groceries. I will always make time for breakfast at a diner, though. Very sadly, the T Bay Restaurant is closed for good, but Miranda and Alia introduced us to this great new place, Norma Jean’s. The walls are covered with posters of Marilyn Monroe and classic cars, the booths have faded plastic seats, and the food is deliciously greasy. It’s the perfect morning-after breakfast place.

At 4:30 the busses meet at the complex again and we all head back out to camp, and we get ready to start all over again Tuesday morning. While I’m sure the planters are well aware of every grueling day out there, the days and weeks seem to be flying by to me. When I’m tired and jonesing for a nap, time seems to drag by a little slower, but in general it’s hard to believe that I’m on week 7 of my menu plans. And that Jordan is coming up here in one week!

Jordan came over his birthday weekend, the end of week 5. I picked him up on Thursday morning, we grabbed a few mid-week groceries, a couple Persians, and headed back out to camp. He sat on the cook shack counter, entertaining Naomi, Barnes, and I, while we made dinner. Friday he planted, and managed to high ball most of the rookies, with a solid 3k by 4:30, even with a mid-afternoon cache nap. He was tired when he got back though, so it should be fun for him to be forced back into shape when he gets here next week. Saturday we barbequed burgers together, which could have ended with the cookshack burning down, thanks to the massive flames leaping from Jordan’s barbeque. It’s probably best that he leaves the cooking to Naomi and I next time. It was great to see him and sad to leave him, but we’re awesome, and love persists. Not everyone may agree with us spending 7 weeks apart, but I truly appreciate it, because I know that when we’re together again, it’s that much more awesome. I love my love!

A weekend with Jord

Some days it gets pretty hot in the kitchen

New camp has butterflies every where!

Heyo!

It’s the weekend again, and I’m curled up in Starbucks with a mocha and my laptop, getting caught up on all the facebook gossip. It’s hard to believe that weeks 2, 3, and 4 have already come and gone since I last wrote about life in the bush. The contract is half over! So how have the past three weeks been? I will tell you.

Week two’s daily mantra was “Today is going to be a good day!” And it seems mantras work--every day was better than the one before. Tuesday was a bit rocky, because we had to go back into town to pick up the other half of the groceries we couldn’t fit in the van on Monday. So with the extra 3 hours of driving and 2 hours of groceries it was a very busy day. However, we did get a free cup of coffee from a guy in town just because he recognized us as planters. And the fact that it could rival Detour coffee made it all that much more enjoyable.

Week three had a couple highlights too. The health inspector did come back, and Ry, I took your advice—I gave him a krispie roll, and WOULD have offered him coffee, had he not helped himself first (yeah, he’s that kinda guy), but now I think I have a new best friend. We also celebrated Man Day on Friday, complete with steak and man-shaped biscuits decorated with strategically placed peanuts. They looked…manly. Our creative juices are already flowing for the baking possibilities for woman day. We need something to rival the Dolly Parton cupcakes of Black Bay for sure. Anyways, Man Day was good, and the men chugged beer like a Barnes, but not better than a Barnes, as the staff team managed to pull off a win for the second consecutive year. And as Brad likes to point out, his sixth consecutive year. Fanny must be so proud!

By week three Naomi and I settled into a comfortable routine. A lot of the planters have asked, “So what does your day look like?” and maybe you’re wondering too, so here’s our routine:

We wake up around 4 a.m., strap on our headlamps and stumble to the outhouses. Nothing like a cold breeze brushing your bottom to wake you up in the morning. On the plus side though, I got to see some incredible Northern Lights the other morning as my perk for being up so early. Holly, it reminded me of when we saw them on our spontaneous camping trip in March last year, except these ones were so much more vivid.

Every morning for breakfast we bake muffins or a loaf, bacon or sausage, and then something hearty and hopefully delicious, like banana pancakes, orange-honey glazed french toast, bagel BELTs, grilled cheese, etc. The grilled cheese for breakfast deal I don’t really understand, but when we add bacon to it everyone gets excited, so we’ll just keep doing it.

After the planters leave we clean the mess tent, do the dishes, put all the lunch stuff away, and then head right back to bed for a nap. A couple times I’ve woken up with a start and shot up in bed, convinced that it was a new day and I had just slept through breakfast. That is one of the most frightening feelings, but thankfully, one that has yet to be a reality.

Back in the kitchen we make dinner, dessert, the next day’s snack, and the next day’s muffin batter. Dinner usually consists of a salad, side, sometimes a vegetable dish, and a main dish with meat. Or in the vegetarian case, “meatless soy crumble”, which is meant to look like ground beef. To date we have pulled off some awesome dinners, including classics like shepherd’s pie, lasagna, sweet n sour meatballs, chili, chicken parmesan, and of course everyone’s favourite, taco salad. For my vegetarian/celiac/lactose-free friends I’ve experimented in brand new territory, with ratatouille, tomato lentil stew, homemade granola bars, and something with a lot of beans. Who knew there were so many different kinds? I’ll admit was determined to dislike cooking a separate meal for 4 people, but when Page came in and said, “I’ve decided your food tastes so good because you cook it with love”, it melted my heart a little bit. And it’s kinda fun to chop up a bunch of stuff, throw it in a crockpot—all with love of course—and then have someone rave about it 7 hours later. It’s also been nice getting to see at least four people in the trailer every night at dinner, asking them about their day, and sharing about ours too. There’s Page who melted my heart towards vegetarians, who’s been nicknamed Blind Page, because she's “Page with no i”. There’s also Lindsay, who I planted with for a week last year, and who became a vegetarian this past year, which I totally thought was a joke when at Josh and Naomi’s stag n doe, she got caught without goldfish insurance and was called up to eat a fish. It wasn’t a joke, and when she convinced Josh to eat a fish for her I thought she was the most brilliant person. Then there’s Hope, who does a happy dance every time I tell her what’s for dinner. And finally there’s Dave, the German, who is part of a skateboard gang--or as he prefers, “crew”--and who eats more food than any vegetarian or non-vegetarian I know.

After dinner we do a ton of dishes, or rather, Naomi does a ton of dishes while I find other things to make me look busy so I can get away with not doing dishes. That girl’s a saint for putting up with me, I tell ya. We get everything cleaned up, set up for breakfast, and then head out sometime between 8 and 10pm.

The day’s are long, but we’re able to work at a comfortable pace now, and we get to sit outside in the sun for lunch, or take a mid-day sink shower, or do menu planning on the stairs while waiting for the bus. I really enjoy the variety for work, every hour or so it’s on to the next thing. I’m on to the next one. On to the next one.

I’m sure this week will be a lot of the same, so next week I’ll tell ya what we’ve been up to on the weekends. And about Jordan visiting for his birthday!

For now, the promised photos of us doin our thang, and a couple extras. Cheers!