Winter is coming…

Winter is coming. It’s inevitable, but it still seems to take one a bit by surprise. Temperatures shift from erratic to cold in a flash. And so far, we’ve seen a few frosty mornings.

A day of heavy rain set us back considerably in our lumber work this week. And it’s pooled and settled in the ground with nowhere to go. It makes working outside quite miserable when it’s like that. Avoiding puddles, fingers cold, toes cold, even wet.

And as for generators, if we didn’t have back luck, we’d have no luck at all. The generator bought last year has seized completely, beyond the capabilities of our limited repair knowledge. And now the generator generously lent to us by Dexter has started giving issues.

Yesterday afternoon we worked on troubleshooting it with our limited knowledge, and the help of friend via text, YouTube and the spotty manual. But so far have had no success. It will start, but runs rough and won’t provide power through the built in inverter.

On sunny days this would be of no concern. But after a few days of cold and rain and heavy cloud, it means we have very little power. Our two batteries in the camper drained late last night trying to keep the furnace running. So this morning we awoke to a cold camper with no power. It takes a few hours of sunlight for it to build up enough power to run the furnace, so it’s still cold inside.

We don’t have the funds to purchase another generator right now, which is frustrating, as the generator is supposed to be our back up for gloomy, low sunlight days for power through the winter.

The frustration of this cannot accurately be put into words. Last year had we been able to get the camper to the spot it is now right off the bat, we’d be going into winter with our own generator built specifically for use with campers, and probably have no issues at all. The reality is almost 2 years after the initial move we are where we wanted to be all along, but our equipment is already failing or failed.

However, should the rain hold off, today we’ll be back at lumber prep and potentially some actual construction of the build out. It’s not going to be exactly fun, as the forecasted high temp today is only 9c. And it’s still cloudy. This means little to no solar charge on anything, so less heat, less Starlink for connectivity, and a dampening of motivation and vigor.

It can be quite a challenge in times like these to focus on the positives. But there are many. One simply has to look at the window at the forest with its bright amber leaves still gently tumbling down here and there, and the mix of yellow, light green and brown making even dull days seem bright.

Or listen to the sounds of the birds as they call one another. Yesterday I even stood less than 10 feet away from a rather plump grouse who was pecking away at the trees we felled a few days ago. He was quite aware of my presence, but seemed very unconcerned. Honestly, they’re pretty stupid as far as birds go. I can’t tell you how many times we have had to swerve the truck to avoid hitting one lollygagging in the middle of the road.

So while there is the stress of power on dull days, there is much to appreciate about life out here. We feel connected to the earth, and to nature in a way I don’t think those who haven’t been out there for more than a few weeks could accurately fathom. It’s a soul awakening experience, and it creeps in on you and makes you look at the world completely differently.

For sure, it’s a better life. And it’s ours.