I have been to two places in my life that made me wonder where the folks that live there procure their non-growable essentials.
1) Moosonee, Ontario
2) Meat Cove, Nova Scotia
It may or may not be a coincidence that these places are both in Canada. I'm sure there are such localities in the United States as well. I just haven't visited them (yet).
For me, it's a compelling thing to think about. To look around and wonder how every single man-made object you can slap your eyes on got where it is and what trouble and planning that required. For me, it's liberating to be in a place where you cannot just jump in your car and drive the 2.2 miles to the nearest Walmart and get green olives for your pizza or laundry soap for your laundry or a new butter dish for your butter (after you drop and smash the old one because it was slippery).
The alternative may be to get in your freighter canoe to get to the train that will take you to the town (where there still isn't a Walmart) with a small general store (who ships their goods in from the "real" city - green olives probably not among them).
When I was visiting these two places, the thoughts about where these folks get their everyday wares sprang unbidden to my head.
Okay, they may have been a bit influenced by the fact that in Moosonee, this pile of gear represented my whole chance at survival. We brought everything we thought we might be likely to need in a serious way. Turns out we did pretty well and/or got pretty lucky that nothing unplanned happened.
If your window breaks, you have to do something about it until you can get to a place to buy a new one (which may take a long time).
If you run out of toothpaste, you'll just have to make due (possibly for a long time).
If you feel like having biscuits with dinner but can't make a decent homemade biscuit to save your soul, you'll just have to go without biscuits (again, maybe for a long time).
If the batteries die in your Chinese lanterns, no more light in your Chinese lanterns (you guessed it: for a long time).
It's enough to make you stop and think.
People who live in these places (by choice or otherwise), do so knowing that they are more influenced by the land around them than the land is by them. I like this. I want to someday live in a place that impacts me more than I impact it. I want to submit to geography rather than forcing the landscape to submit to me.
The pay-off for such submission is limitless sky and grass and water. It is solitude and peace.
Ask Rick Bass if you don't believe me - he'll tell you all about it.
No comments:
Post a Comment