Time to refocus on being off-the-grid in an isolated island sense.  Mind you, being in Central America was definitely off-the-sane-grid.  They are off-the-hygiene-grid, the safety-grid and the desirability-grid as well.  So, in a way, I have been kinda true to the title of the blog if you’ll allow a little (or a lot of) slack in the definition…………….

…………..regardless, we are back and ‘off-the-grid’ in the more conventional sense and I have to say, “It does not get any better.”

Garden is starting to grow.  Which is weird since nothing was planted.  But Broccoli is still producing, onions are poking up and parsely and rosemary are pretty prerenial, anyway, and ‘lookin’ good.  Crop of garlic is on the way.  Even the carrots are still looming in the loam.  That’s very good.

We’ve had a woofer (two, actually) ask to come and visit and help and so we have our first working guests scheduled already for April.  They’re coming from England. Could be good.  I need some help with the never-finished funicular and the greenhouse I want to build.  Hope to work ém like dogs.

More like rented mules.  The dogs out here live the life of Riley.

We’ve had woofers from Australia, Japan, Switzerland, Germany, France, The US and, of course, from Canada.  They were all good but the French.  What a couple of useless doofuses they were!  And so, natch, they are the focus of this blog post.

It was two years ago when A and F showed up to ‘woof’.  The chores at the time were simple.  I was gonna put in a new window in the boatshed (and wanted some assistance) and we were going to carry boulders from one pile to another.  Each boulder being beween the size of a cabbage and a bowling ball.  Heavy but still an easy-to-grasp, one-person job.

They were beyond useless.  Couldn’t walk and carry a boulder and chew gum at the same time and no inclination to try, either.  The window installation was rocket science to them – beyond their conceptual grasp.  They looked at the tools I gave them as if they were ray-guns from the Planet Zorg.  They stood dumbstruck the whole time.  They were very pleasant to be with (except when working) and they loved the wine and food.  But labour was not only beneath them, it also seemed too intellectually challenging.  They just didn’t seem to get it even as we were doing it.

A and F, of course, were teachers back in France.

We share our woofers around and they eventually made a similar impression on a few others but a favourable one at one of the local lodges.  Seems A and F liked working in the kitchen.  So, that was good.  And, I guess they ‘hung around’ the islands for a month or so before returning back home to France.

I didn’t miss them.

Last night at a dinner party, J asked, “Have you heard about F and A?  Seems they went back to France, felt they needed to grow more independent in some way and so emmigrated to Canada last summer.  They are working on a cattle ranch in the Chilcotins!”

“WHAT!!!  They are the last people I thought would ever get it together!!!  OMYGAWD!  How are they doing?”

“Well, they are riding horses, chasing cattle, mending fences and building buildings.  Really into alternative energy, too, I gather.  I saw a picture of the cabin they had to build for themselves.  It was pretty good!”

“What the hell happened to them!?”

“Well, F wrote to tell me that their time on our island taught them that they were lacking in real life skills and they were very impressed with all of us and how independent we were.  After a time in France, they decided that they preferred to live ‘our’ way and made application to come – not to Quebec – but to BC.  They got another woofing gig at a ranch and are now employees.  They are really into óff-the-grid’ learning and are picking up skills wherever they can.  They seem pretty pleased with themselves.” 

I picked my jaw up from the floor.  I stammered.  I was stunned to say the least…………“those guys were the least capable people we have ever encountered and bear in mind that we, ourselves, are barely functional out here.  I would never have guessed that happening in a million years.  That’s astonishing!”

“Yeah, me too.  Pretty cool, huh?”