Country Life
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Thor on the Job
I’m sitting in Madison’s Grill on Jasper Ave in Edmonton enjoying a very good cup of coffee. My surroundings are pleasant and comfortable, but I’m feeling very tired and sad. I’m still processing the news of the mass shooting in Florida. I called a friend and talked about that event and my feelings. I observed that just when you think progress towards a more just society is being made someone like Donald Trump comes along, or something hateful like the shootings in Florida occurs. More tears…so much pain…I was looking at a bible earlier and I found myself staring at the beatitudes…blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted – that is my prayer for my friend and all those impacted by this evil.
I have come to Edmonton to celebrate a great achievement: Louise completed her program of study at the U of A and is being graduated today. She will receive her Bachelor of Science in Agriculture degree! Yea. She has worked very hard and achieved much in this program. Indeed, I think it is largely this journey of growth and discovery that has lead us to our farm, and happily so.
Louise finished up her exams in late April and we then finished moving our household to the farm and sold the place in Edmonton. We have officially been residents of the north for seven weeks now…and what a crazy time it has been.
We have a new family member. Thor is a Great Pyrenees, and a rescue dog from the EHS. He is 31/2 years old, over a hundred pounds, stands about 3 ½’ high and he is about 6’ stem to stern. Great Pyrenees’ are known for their protectiveness and Thor has thoroughly embraced this trait. He immediately adopted the cats and us into his family and he has taken ownership of the farmyard; none but family are allowed to be in the yard: no people at all (doesn’t matter if we have introduced you, nor if we are present – if you come to visit, stay in your car until we can calm him down); no large birds (apparently the small ones are ok); and no animals unless they are smaller than a squirrel. If any of these are even scented on the wind, he reacts. His tail is the first sign as it moves into a lovely upward curl, then comes a booming bark as he launches into a full on run towards the intruder or the perceived point of danger.
Thor can go from 0 to 40km/hr in seconds and maintain that speed for at least 1500 m. I know this to be fact. One morning shortly after Thor joined us I hopped in our little car and set off for town. This seemed to distress Thor a little bit and he started to trot along beside the car. I thought this is no good, he is just going to run along after me and I’ll end up leading him off the farm...so I sped up. Now, we had recently had a major snowfall that had delivered about a foot of heavy wet snow. This had bowed over many trees and caused a significant amount of damage too throughout the woods. It had also left a lot of standing water around. So as I accelerated down the narrow dirt track that is our road off the land I was dodging droopy trees and weaving around potholes, hitting some and spraying mud and water everywhere. I took the first bend at speed and accelerated into the second. I felt like one of those crazy rally car drivers you see on TV. On the straightaway after the second turn I checked my rear view mirror to see how far back Thor was and he wasn’t there. I then glanced to my left and he was looking me in the eye, pacing me, tongue out and having a grand old time. I checked my speed and sure enough I was doing 40k! I hit the end of the track where it joins the county road, tapped the breaks and pulled the wheel down hard to the left and sloughed the car around so I was facing back the way I had come. Thor dodged left as I hit the gas and shot back down the track. He paused to bark at me and then hurtled himself down the track after me like some crazed hound after its fox. Again he caught up to me and gave me a look as if to say, “Is this all you’ve got?” I have since found out that he will do this at least three times before losing interest – thank fully one of us can be an adult about these things and knows when enough is enough. So…when I have to go into town I can either ask Louise to hold him when I leave, or allow time for our little game. When we walk him in the pasture and he gets excited he likes to sprint in a figure 8 pattern with us at the centre of the pattern, at the intersection. It is a sobering sight to see a 100lb dog coming at you with such speed. The trick here is to remain perfectly still as he approaches and then brushes your leg as he passes by. I often find myself thinking of a comet passing by the Earth as he hurtles towards me – I wonder if this is what the guys at NORAD experience every time an asteroid whizzes past the planet?
We now have chickens. They arrived as chicks and have grown and thrived. Their clucking now fills the air around the summer guest house. Thankfully we have surrounded their villa with an electric fence, as they don’t seem to be either friend or foe to Thor, though possibly a food source. The chicks spent some time in the basement after the snow storm knocked out the power for a couple days so the heat lamps in the guest house couldn’t keep the little ones warm. We both woke up around 4 am for some reason. Louise realized the power was out so we got up and quickly moved a bunch of stuff we had not yet unpacked around in the basement to get access to the woodstove and the wood. We got the fire going and then moved the chicks inside and set them up downstairs. That went on for a couple days. Thank fully the cats wanted nothing to do with the chicks.
We also have a new furnace now. Apparently the old one was done and not functioning well, giving off carbon monoxide, which would explain my headaches when I would work in the basement!
We got to witness a spectacular aerial attack on a wildfire burning very near us, which took the home of our neighbour. That was an anxious day, and a sobering one, as I realized how vulnerable we were and dramatically different our life could be if it came our way. As I worked on renovating the guest house in preparation for the chick’s arrival I watched the billowing clouds of smoke and made my evacuation plan.
There were other adventures and challenges this past month, most of them small in magnitude. To some degree they were the fruit of adjusting to our new environment, growing pains if you will. Louise summed it up with the statement, “Country living!” This was both justification and observation, which left me with the sense that nothing more needed to be said – this is reality, learn how to be in this new context.
As we drove through downtown last night I felt a rising sense of excitement; all the energy, the hustle and bustle. I found it appealing, and then I became worried. What will it be like when we return to the farm? Is the honeymoon over? Will I feel lost and isolated out there on the edge of the wilderness? Then I woke up this morning after a very brief sleep in a room that seemed to warm and in a place that was way too noisy for me with sirens and cars and people hootin and hollerin…and no Thor standing watch through the night. No, I don’t think I’ll be missing this, not now, not ever. I miss people. Maybe this is part of my sadness over the murders in Florida, a tragedy effecting innocents…effecting my friends here.
…grant us healing.
Peace be with you always.