Living in the middle of nowhere

I live in British Columbia Canada. Most Canadians live along the border of the US. As you get further north, the climate becomes a bit harsher. When I lived in the Greater Vancouver regional district, it was rare that we had many days of snow. lots of rain, winters were cool but temperatures only dropped to maybe -10 at the worst. Now I live closer to the Geographical center of the province. Winters start in October and end in April. it isn’t uncommon to have -30s to -40s in temperature. This can last a few weeks at a time. Not being able to start you car because of a dead battery, or your fluids have frozen.

Being disabled, I have very limited ability to do anything physically demanding. shoveling snow is right out. My father lives about 20 minutes from me, about 24km. during the winter he leaves his quad at my home and I put a snow blade on it and use it to clear my driveway and access to my chickens. we can get 3 to 4 feet of snow which stays for most of the winter. It is important on the first few snow falls to push the snow as far as you can out of the way. This way, subsequent snowfalls can still be pushed aside and your driveway becomes more and more narrow due to the expanding walls of snow. Like being in one of those dungeon rooms where the walls close in on you. only in my instance the worlds slowest dungeon walls. I also walk my dog a couple of times a day. I live across from a rail yard where they usually plow fairly regularly. This depends on who got the contract for any particular year. some of them skip multiple days in a row. I walk my dog in the rail yard when it is plowed or down the highway when it isn’t. he needs his exercise.

During the summer, I have lawn maintenance, I get my water from a well, and my sewage is in a septic field. the field grows faster than the rest of the lawn and can get out of control. It is a little harder to mow than the rest of the lawn, hills, little sinkholes and more. I tend to just use a weed whacker for this area. I also allow my chickens to wander about my yard. they usually hide under the lilac bush I have. I was worried at first they might walk out onto the highway. I watch them regularly to see what they are up to. and thought they do go closer to the road than I would like, they run back into the yard when a car or truck goes by.

There are times I walk around on forestry roads with my dog in the summer. I see many bears, and my dog Freki, has a bad habit of chasing them towards me. Black bears are fairly skittish compared to grizzly. I have been fortunate enough to just run into the black bears. That said, I am extra cautious if I see the cubs. Momma bears don’t play games and don’t take prisoners.

Life can be harder in isolation. You have to do things by yourself even when you feel like you can’t do it. There are days where I don’t want to do anything at all. I am in pain regularly and I know that even the simple act of walking around or mowing the lawn is going to cause me some issues later in the day or next day. Even so, you have to get it done, since no one is going to do it for you.

All this said, I have lived in the bigger city and while at times enjoyed it, over time, I began to dislike so much of it. The amount of people, the traffic, the crime, the pollution, the constant noise. There are some things I miss living where I do now. Dating is probably one of the bigger ones. Shopping, there is no corner store or gas station around me. I have to drive 12km to get to the nearest area with grocery stores that are overpriced and lack good vegetables. However, I do like it here. There are many times where there isn’t a sound. the scenery is beautiful, the rules are minimal, there are so many kinds of wildlife. While up here, I have seen Bears, (including a too close encounter with one in my front porch) Moose, deer, elk, cougar, bobcat, fox, weasels, marmots, wolf, coyote, beavers, musk rats and many various birds, and rodents. Being here keeps me from having to live in subsidized housing, or with family. I had issues with loneliness to begin with, but over the years, you become more set in your ways and find a variety of things that keep you occupied. For me, that meant starting doing some jewelry work, painting 3d printed models, some blacksmithing, watching a lot of anime and movies or just relaxing and listening to music. Having my dog and as a surprise to me the antics of chickens, allows for that companionship that people crave at times. They may not be human, but, they are my family.