Maine. All taken within the span of a few hours. What an amazing world.
I’ve lost track of time this summer and am surprised to find that I don’t really mind. Also surprisingly, I’m not discouraged by our less than fruitful property search. We’ve got a good Plan B in place (actually, I think it’s Plan D at this point), and we’re just rolling with it. Besides, it’s hardly an ideal time for my parents to put this house on the market. Sometimes I wonder if we’re supposed to buy this place and straddle two worlds between here and Vermont, but damn if Connecticut isn’t in the top three states that people are fleeing in record numbers. Cost of living and property taxes are impossibly high, land use restrictions are even higher, and in general there’s not much to offer (though our raw milk and homeschool laws are exemplary). Flashback 100 hundred years and Connecticut was bucolic, a total stunner. Her once fertile river valley soil is historically considered some of the best in the nation. Those were the days! At least the stonewalls haven’t moved, and much of the old New England architecture is intact. Two of my favorite things. I was pleased to read Ben Falk describe a recent visit to Connecticut, how he admired her stonewalls, describing them as “the eighth wonder of the world.”
In some ways it feels good to lose track of time. Or, as I described to someone yesterday, it’s like I’m living inside the absence of time. It’s a handy place to reside when life feels momentous and much needed six hour therapy sessions are spent inside the garden gate, not so handy when you’re supposed to remember things like paying bills and making dinner. But the bills need paying and dinner still needs cooking, so you figure it out. Most days.
During the spring session of Country Kitchen, it somehow came up to share YouTube channels that we enjoy. I always feel like I disappoint people when I share the blogs/books/podcasts/YouTube channels that I enjoy because for whatever reason, they aren’t usually of the feminine or homemake-y variety, which I’m probably more associated with than what my viewing/reading/listening pleasure portrays. Nonetheless, just as the only podcast I never miss an episode of is Rewild Yourself, the one YouTube channel that I’ve (almost) watched in its entirety over the last year is Boss of the Swamp. On many days, The Boss is my dishwashing companion. I think some of you will enjoy his content, too. He lives up here in the northeast, so I find his personality and way of life relatable and familiar. And man if he isn’t the zen MacGyver of the backwoods. So much to learn and observe through his videos. Things are pretty well organized in his playlists, making it a breeze to navigate content. I recommend starting with the Back to My Roots and New Hampshire Cabin Project playlists.
But for now, I’ll share this one video because it perfectly illustrates an idea I’ve had for a couple of years, even sketched it out a few times with moderate clarity, but his version is total perfection and I have no shame in saying I hope to copy it someday. Like our camp shower set-up, I don’t think you have to be without access to the grid to benefit from back-up systems like these. You never know. And if you live in the north, how great to unplug the refrigerator for six months out of the year. Anyway, if you're into really clever people or passive refrigeration, you'll appreciate the above video.
Hope your summer is going well. Things are pretty relaxed inside this absence of time bubble we seem to be living in. I’ll take it.