As you can tell from the last dozen or so posts, I am struggling a bit here.  I know the blog is about living off-the-grid and should be mostly focused on that.  And, primarily I think it is.

But no man is an island even if he lives on one and so other issues creep into my thoughts that are not directly related to living remote.  Like politics.  Like current events.  And, if they come to mind, then I can honestly write about them.  I think.  It’s my blog.  Kinda.

Our blog?

So, anyway, I do not want to do too much on the Occupy movement, politics big or small, corporate rants or even grave threats to our existence from global warming, solar flares or any of the other many evils unleashed at us from time to time by mother nature, the devil, international conspiracies, the universe or Amercian presidents.  I’d prefer to write about ravens and seals and book clubs and garden boxes.

Well, actually, I’d prefer to write about the local people and the challenges of living in a small village spread out over 250 square miles and half a dozen islands.  The ravens and the seals and the squirrels are all very nice but, you know, I wanna keep it ‘real’.

So, let’s talk real.  For a bit, anyway.

Here’s something you probably didn’t know about living off-the-grid: movies are a big deal.  We subscribe to Zip.Ca, a mail-order movie store.  We frequent the old fashioned movie-rental store, the community DVD library, we borrow and swap movies from neighbours and we pore over what the library has to offer and, despite that, we still don’t have enough to watch.

“I thought you rejected TV!”

We did.  But we didn’t reject movies.  They’re different.

We are also very appreciative of those who put really good shows on those usb sticks and send them to us.  We watched Modern family that way and that was fun.

We also rely heavily on the books-by-mail from the public library.  It used to be such a good service but the woman who ran it retired a couple of years ago and the three dozen or so nincompoops they have hired to replace her can’t seem to get it right.  We are hoping that they hire the old staff person back as a ‘consultant’ so that she can re-teach them how to stuff an envelope.  I am not holding my breath.

Of course, it isn’t all their fault.  Sometimes the plane can’t get through.  And that can be problematic as well.  All our mail is always somewhat late.  Even when the plane flies regularly, the posting, shipping, transferring of Post Office bags and the plane’s schedule usually result in ‘somewhat late’ items. Throw in some bad weather and we can be ‘behind’ on our mail by two weeks or more.

The latest example of that was the mail-in ballots for the regional directors election.  Sal and I applied at the same time to the same person.  And we applied early.  We did what we had to do.  I got mine.  Sally didn’t get hers.  So, Sally tried again and her paperwork was posted a week later.  I voted.  Sally is still waiting.  The ballot will not get here and back (as a vote) in time.  So we went back to the district office on ‘townday’ but they said, “Sorry.  It’s now in the mail.  Can’t let you vote if there is a ballot out there flying around with your name on it.”

So Sal will not likely get to make her mark this election.

You’d kinda think that, if anyone understands our situation out here, it would be the local government, wouldn’t you?  But they don’t.  Some of the staff are surprised to learn that there are some constituents on the islands in their district!  Imagine that!

Living remote has so many positive aspects but I won’t go through them again.  You know, the ravens, the seals, the Orcas, clean air, blah, blah, blah…….clams…..blah, blah….oysters…….

And it has a few challenges as well.  Some of them are directly related to distance, weather, remoteness, short-time-frames and every thing else you can imagine from fallen trees across roads to cars that break down in the forest and on and on and on.  But that is not so bad.  You really have to expect that.  It was part of the deal from the very beginning.  No complaints.

But I confess to being surprised by the ignorance of city people.  Don’t misunderstand me, I was just as guilty.  Probably more than most.  I had no clue what it meant to live rural, let alone remote rural.  The average urbanite just doesn’t understand that it is quicker to fly to Toronto than it is to go from Vancouver to our island.  They don’t ‘get’ that cell phones don’t work ‘the same’ out here even tho we rely on them (for a cell phone to work well out here it has to be attached and fixed-in-place and usually with a large antennae, preferably with a booster pack installed.  That makes the cell no longer portable.  You don’t carry it around.  So you get your messages only when you get home.  Like the old days with ‘land lines’ and such). 

They don’t seem to understand that there is no other address for us other than the PO box.  If they do understand – which is rare – their computers don’t.  “What am I gonna write in for your street address?  We can’t proceed without one.” 

“Try 1-2-3 Doofus Drive.”  

“Oh good, that works!”

Mind you, the Campbell River urbanites are often pretty good.  One of the ways it shows up is quirky strange, tho.  When we go to Save-on and shop, it is often the case that something is ‘out’, stale, withered or ‘past it’s prime’.  Life in the grocery business.  But, of course, we have no choice and so we take it anyway.  Often the cashier, suspecting that we are from the outer islands (wearing gumboots is a hint) will say, “Geez, that lettuce is pretty droopy.” Or, “Hey, those avocadoes aren’t very good!”

“We know.  Got no choice.  Won’t be back for a couple of weeks.  And that is weather permitting.”

“Right!  Outer islands, huh?  I’m not gonna charge you for this.  Not worth it.  Sorry we don’t have better.”

That does not make the lettuce crisper but it is an exceptionally nice gesture and a recognition of who we are.  So, it is great.

And, I suppose, that is what this blog is about.  Who we are.  And it is really great when someone ‘gets it’ and treats you respectfully and accordingly.

Took awhile to get to the point on this one………………..sorry.