Backwoods Blog

NORTH WOODS RECLUSE

The Isolation Blues;

reflections during covid-19

Some people try to avoid isolation at all costs (indeed, we are social creatures), so the coronavirus induced stay-at-home model has been a challenge for many. On my part, I’ve been an intentional isolationist for years now so I’ve adapted to the self-quarantine scene with relative ease. When I returned from seminary I built a small cabin by the river in Monticello with the intent of stepping back from the hectic and chaotic pace of the late 20th century and experiment with solitude, mental noise reduction and life-schedule management.  If time and life-energy are indeed limited commodities then I wanted to make the most of each day; the mundane as well as the noteworthy.  At the time I remember writing in my journal, “I don’t want to live a prepackaged, cellophane-wrapped life of expectations and limitations.” Every time I walked into the supermarket and saw a shrink-wrapped package of chicken I’d catch my breath (almost like I was suffocating) and vow to stay on track as best I could.  Of course it’s not easy to maintain such a lifestyle with everyday responsibilities, jobs, relationships and bills to pay, but finding what that is for each of us as we live our life is most important.  For me, the place that I experiment with that life question is along the north branch of the Meduxnekeag River.

During those years of backwoods seclusion I actually had a business card made up that said “North Woods Recluse.”  It didn’t include any address, just my name and my cell phone number with (available during off-peak hours) in parenthesis.  Remember when cell phone plans made a distinction between peak and off-peak hours? And my phone at the time was a Motorola 3 watt analog bag phone about the size of a small lunch box with a 5 inch bendable antenna…and although the card was half-jokingly conceived it did accurately express my deep appreciation for solitude and large blocks of time unimpeded by people or distractions. On the other hand, I am a sociable guy as well (in controlled doses).  One day I was sitting in a downtown cafe with a friend and he made a curious comment that has stuck with me ever since. He said, “You know what, Dave? For a recluse you sure know a lot of people…”  So, in spite of my backwoods reputation and my tendency to drop off the social radar – I do get to town once in a while. I’m attempting to strike a careful balance between solitude and society.  For me, this is a critical ratio that keeps me moderately sane and a much happier guy in the long run.  Although I no longer carry my recluse card (I met Linda, remember?), I am still trying to balance my life between being in the woods and being in town.  More on that as we go along…

I’ve included a couple of early poems that I wrote back in the 1990s during my “North Woods Recluse” years. The first is one of those “this is why I’m doing this” poems as rationale for the backwoods experiment.  After all these years I’m still here and the river is still running.

Alongside the Meduxnekeag

Alongside the Meduxnekeag is how I spend my time.
I could be a lot of different places
but I am here.
I could be doing a lot of different things
(but I have no interest)
I am here.

     alongside the Meduxnekeag

     living my life
     for no one else but myself
     and those who share this life
     who love it as I

It may not seem like I’m not doing much
idle days in the woods
but the birds and the brook trout
can see my point of view
that’s a little fuzzy
to some people around me
who wonder what I could be
doing all day
no cable or ESPN
available to catch the highlights
of my day that starts and finishes
much the same every day
and days on end
which is
just so.

The river flows by my life
day after day
in the woods
never the same
yet neither am I so it seems.

The sun and the rain
the wind and drifting snow
blow across the scenery of each day
of each moment
each thought
moving towards a new place in my life
of who knows where it’s going
except downstream
to empty into something larger
and farther away
yet connected to where I am right now


           alongside the Meduxnekeag...




Snapshot in Time #6

Rain beating on the roof,
Fire crackling in the wood stove,
The smell of strong coffee
  and cigarette smoke hanging in the air,

The sounds and scenery of an evening 
  spent in the Maine woods.

Still in the woods,

Dave

July 21, 2020