KEEP IT SIMPLE
The Isolation Blues;
reflections during covid-19
When I first started coming to the cabin I brought nothing but a stack of books, a couple of journals and a few newspapers which provided me with recent news and something to get fires started. Back in those pre-internet days these were the main sources of news and information. And since I didn’t have electricity there was no TV, VCR or sound system either. I did have a little solar-powered FM radio tuned in to Maine Public Radio so that sufficed as my primary news and entertainment option. On week-ends I splurged and I would purchase the Boston Globe Sunday Paper and spend the day reading every section as my idea of a good time; the sports section, editorials and comics being my favorites. When you go to the woods you take your thoughts with you and that’s about it. Once you are there no one can contact you and you are literally on your own until you head back to civilization. These were blocks of time that remained untouched by the noise and blather of contemporary times. (Whatever confusion was there I brought with me.) This backwoods model afforded me space and simplicity to meander amongst my own thoughts and the time to read and study the ideas of others.
Gradually I added a bicycle-powered generator to charge up a small battery bank that powered a 1000 watt inverter and just like that, I had electricity. Along with it came the addition of a 12 inch AC/DC portable color TV/VCR combo and you can see where this is heading. One hour of pedaling meant I could watch one hour of TV. So now I could watch a New England Patriots football game on Sunday afternoon but I had to pedal like heck to watch an entire game. Before long I realized the drawbacks of my pedal-power system (although I was in great shape) and I upgraded to a solar panel and small photo-voltaic setup. Then came the introduction of cell-phone technology and suddenly that changed everything. I purchased a Motorola 3 watt analog bag phone (about the size of a small lunch box) and now I could place and receive calls from the middle of nowhere. And currently with the arrival of 24/7 unlimited data services, devices and wireless high-speed internet there is literally nothing that is not available right here, right now, off-grid and in the woods. How amazing is it to have hundreds of movies available to stream (depending on your subscription services) on your phone without having to drive to the video rental store? So while it is still possible to set apart time and space that is not intruded upon by these modern times, it does require careful selection and diligent self-regulated restraint. Distractions, time-fillers, information (and misinformation) overload is par for the course.
When I go to the cabin now I can still re-create that initial solitude and isolation I first experienced years ago, but I have to be prudent. Living off-the-grid has so many more options than it did 25 years ago, but they are still options. Pick and choose with care based on what you’re trying to accomplish. You can still choose to un-plug or plug-in, it is up to you. I like having the option of listening to a jazz station from San Fransisco on bluetooth speakers while I’m hanging out at the cabin, but sometimes the quiet is good too so I can hear the wood crackling in the wood stove or the wind howling outside through the trees.
During this past year the coronavirus pandemic has forced us to explore new ways to structure our time and our living spaces. To self-quarantine is a type of involuntary solitude foisted upon us by circumstances beyond our control, and yet, who knows where they might lead? Our world is a massive-interconnected and complex system of information, technology and culture but where and how do we find our place in it? Some of the best advice I ever received was, “Keep it simple.” (I read that in a book once.)
Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity….
Still in the woods,
Dave
March 17, 2021
Yes, David, those simpler times were the good old days. Our camp at Meduxnekeag Lake was born in 1957 as a 20X30 foot Ward Cabin on posts with partial partitioning of a couple of bedrooms and a bathroom, electricity, and an Ashley wood heater. Now, our “camp” at Drew’s Lake has morphed into a year-round home with a sleep-in basement in place of posts, full walls, and an oil furnace with radiant heat. We retained the old Ashley, which could be as much as 65 years old now, and it just won’t burn out to justify a new one with a glass door to see the fire. I guess the camp was never quite as simple as your cabin, but we loved it then and we love it now in its modern incarnation. Though the temptations of over-the-air antenna TV (8 stations and counting) and internet are always there, along with a small outboard, we still like to just sit and read or paddle the canoe instead. We subscribe online to the Bangor Daily, mainly to help them stay afloat, but I do buy the occasional weekend edition just to have enough paper to start a fire when the coals have died overnight. Not sure what to do when newspapers finally go totally digital. I don’t think either my I-phone or computer is particularly flammable. I should probably start up a large collection of maple leaves and birch bark so it will be dry when I burn my last paper.
My cabin is also made of Ward Cabin white cedar tongue and groove design. Ward used to have third-grade cabin stock for sale on back of their lot at a reasonable price. I pulled up to the gate in my father’s old ’64 Ford flatbed farm truck and the manager said, “All you can haul for 200 bucks…” The rejects were typically short stock or longer logs that had partial dry-rot or a portion that still had bark on the face of the log when it came through the planer. I lucked into a pile of 8 footers with bark or rot issues, and with strategic placement came up with two first-grade looking exterior walls, two crappy looking walls in the back that no one could really see and enough extra cedar for three years of kindling! And as with your cabin, mine was never intended to be a four-season dwelling, but that’s how these things evolve. Thanks for the great story, Mike.
We weren’t here when our camp was built, but I think they used “camp stock,” or something similar. The logs are fairly short, not over 4 feet, and I know Ward Cabin’s ads asked for 8 footers, “no rot or crooked stock.” When we winterized, we put in hardwood floors, but Gerald, always on the prowl for bargains, got us a deal in Canada on “camp grade” maple, which we like just fine. After all, it’s just camp.