Life in the Simple Lane

 One thing I have come to appreciate is how much slower and simpler life is in a remote northern community. Because we are in a fly-in community, it is harder to get a lot of "stuff" here. There are sea-lifts in the summer time when larger items can be shipped in but for most of the year, flying here is the only option. With flights only coming in three days a week, weather permitting, things take longer to get here. 

And so, at the end of a meal, we don't load the dishwasher; we fill the sink and wash the dishes by hand.

Water is brought to our home by truck and stored in an outdoor tank, although I'm not sure how they keep it from freezing. Our septic tank has to be pumped out regularly, and last weekend, the tank was full so the water stopped working until a truck could come and pump us out. We keep jugs filled with water in case the truck doesn't come quickly enough.

The water that we get is collected from a lake outside of town and is not treated and so we have to boil water for drinking and making coffee. We keep a jug of drinking water in the fridge and we have become accustomed to having a pot of water boiling on the stove any time we are nearby so that our drinking water doesn't run out.

The local co-op sometimes has fresh fruits and vegetables, if you're willing to pay the price, but it's more economical to order from Winnipeg and have food shipped up. So our freezer is filled to capacity with frozen vegetables and meat.

And I have started making bread and keeping it in an empty coffee can.

Morning walks to work share stunning sunrises and moonsets and when the day is clear the sky seems endless.