So, I am going to be quite frank with you. This was not an easy Christmas to get through and it wasn’t just because we lost so many famous people this year and the news of Carrie Fisher’s heart attack super fresh was just a stark reminder that we are ALL mortal.
I know that I know that I knew that it would be tough to be away from family, again, for Christmas. But, I guess I didn’t know how difficult it would be. And here’s another thing, and I’m not complaining, not at all, but it is bloody…deafeningly…quiet here! You sort of get stuck hearing that bloody voice in your head because there isn’t any other noise to drown the F#$%@er out! But, on the plus side, sometimes that F#$%er has some pretty decent things to say too. And stuff that makes sense even if you don’t want it to make sense. Get me? It’s about finding that peace, isn’t it? The peace within that will match the peace without. And isn’t that kind of what Christmas is all about? Peace and goodwill to all? Well, you can’t give peace to others if you don’t have it yourself. One can always pretend to have inner peace and talk the talk but until you actually WALK the talk, you haven’t really found peace. Sorry.
So why come to an isolated place like Brittany Lake? I have to tell you, I know there is peace here. Not just physical peace – in case you have forgotten, we are in the middle of freakin’ no where! But there is psychological peace to be found here too. You’ve heard the story: I now live right over the mountain from my first childhood home, the first home I have memories of and they were all good. Well, almost all good but I don’t want to shatter the dream just yet. It is here that I can hear the thoughts, hopes and dreams of that lil girl and I can help her to make some of her fairytale come true, right? And that is a damn good reason to live in the middle of freakin’ no where with an amazing husband who has the fortitude to live in isolation with me. And our dogs. Who deserve to live the life a dog was meant to live, not cooped up in some bare land strata where they were chastised for barking now and again. And our quiet kitty, Billabong. I know I don’t talk about him much, but he’s here and he is being a good mouser and he can even be cuddly, from time to time. I think that is a secret though so don’t let on that I told you.
Anyway. Christmas Eve was great! I spent the day in the kitchen cooking far too much. Luke did some chores after getting off work early and even brought in the cutest lil Christmas tree! And it snowed. All day long. So I don’t really know why I bothered to cook because the truth of the matter is that we would not be going to the Christmas social that our neighbours had invited us to.
Christmas Day, it all came crashing down. And the straw that broke the camel’s back was the Cold Room. It has been finicky since we arrived. Not keeping stuff cold, keeping stuff too cold so I bought frozen stuff! Now it isn’t keeping stuff frozen but it is freezing the fresh stuff. I just want to bang my head on the Cold Room door until the answer miraculously comes to me! So with food gone off, AGAIN, there wasn’t a lot to cook for a Christmas Dinner so I just didn’t. And that was my downfall. You and I both know that the kitchen is where I find my comfort. I should have just cooked something, anything, anything at all to keep the Blues away. But the Blues came crashing in. Buggers. Christmas Day was VERY quiet. For me. Luke kept himself busy doing household chores. Very busy.
By late afternoon I was pretty fed up with myself so I strapped on my snow shoes and went for a walk. Alone. On the frozen lake. And it was windy. And snowing. And it was enough to blow the Blues away. And I found a tree full of Whiskey Jacks. I sat with them for a lil while. We had a talk about …. stuff. They’re great listeners!.
Boxing Day was a whole new day. The sun came out! So yes, maybe Luke didn’t need to run the generator on Christmas Day but if there is one thing you can never be certain about, it is the weather at Brittany Lake! I collect weather from three surrounding weather stations and not one of them ever seems to coincide with the weather that we have. It’s a phenomenon! Oh, as I walked up to the dunny that morning, all the snow slid off the roof of said dunny. Upon entering it, I noticed that that last wind storm had done some damage; there was only one screw holding the back of the roof down!!! Anyway, just thought I would mention that in passing. I went into the house, told Luke about the situation and then I went to the kitchen and made a couple of lil bird feeders; I knew there was a reason we had packed 2 kg of bird seed with us to Brittany Lake! Bird feeders in hand, I strapped on my snow shoes and away I went to find the Whiskey Jacks. Bear and Sam came with me and maybe that is why I didn’t see a single one. Not to be disheartened, I placed the bird feeders in a couple of trees and headed back home. Just as we got to the trail to the house we saw Luke heading down; guess we were going for another walk! Brought Luke down to the Whiskey Jack Tree which is just beyond Swan Spit. And then Luke did a brave thing-he crossed over the lake! Right there! I always sort of head back to the mouth of the lake where it is narrower and I am more certain that the lake is actually frozen there. I was slow to follow but when I saw Luke, Bear and Sam clustered together out there I thought their 500 combined pounds versus lil ol’ me? I took a chance and I am here typing to you today so obvs it went well. We really wanted to go and do some exploring up Cassleman Creek but Bear’s health is not the greatest these days so he dictates what we can and cannot do. Anyway, we turned around and came back home, this time along the edge of the lake and creek, like I’m used to.
We came into the house and I made us some hot drinks to warm up and was happily fussing around in the kitchen, talking to myself as I worked. Honestly a cuss word or two may have slipped out and I said to Luke, “Hey. I’m feeling heaps better; I even said a few swears!” We laughed.
Today, I will just leave you with a few pictures of our snow covered oasis. If the dang wind would let up, the trees look so pretty when they are covered in snow! Oh, but we like the wind! It tops up our batts!