It's all I can Bear....

Choosing this particular location for the cave, was a decision based on several key factors.

- Peace
- Beauty
- Livable property
- Immediate access to nature
- Neighbours, but not too close

The peace is rarely disturbed up here, typically more by an Oriole or Cardinals song than anything else. The occasional howls of the wolves creating more of a soothing effect on the soul, rather than disturbing the peace.

The beauty as I see it, is just plain everywhere! It's country living at it's finest. The red, yellow and white wildflowers cast against the brilliant white and silver birches, bringing a constantly new definition to the natural HD of colour.

There's just a couple of acres of property that require any kind of maintenance. Almost the perfect number is this two. It takes just long enough to maintain, so as to give you time to clear your brain of the days clutter and confusion. But not long enough that it actually becomes one of the daily chores that task your desire to do so.

There's also that 48 acres of unkempt bush in the background. A zone of nature where we become the intruder, the deeper we decide to penetrate it's core. The Osprey, Coyotes, Deer, Wolves, Beaver and Bear all have managed to remind us in someway, that this is their place we trespass upon while visiting.

Occasionally, the boundaries blur to a nothingness for us all. Making it possible for these creatures to present themselves in our backyard, just as we may appear in theirs. With the simple respect required by all parties involved, it's not that uncommon for us to gather at a twenty to thirty foot distance on either side of the imaginary border. Although surreal and incredibly wondrous moments for this kid, I've tried to maintain the respect between us that keeps it all in order. I like to send the simple and understandable message to my neighbours of the wild that says, "Hey, good to see you again. Like you my friend, I'm just passing through."

I don't feed and I don't hunt. Not that I think either is actually wrong in any way. In fact, I come from a very long line of hunters on Betty's side of the family. Then on Barney's side of things, I'm told that my Grandfather actually helped keep the Deer population alive around his neighbourhood, during several of the harshest Winters the area had seen. Both can be necessary, neither is evil. I just choose to belong and for me, it's what's worked to make the balance I so enjoy.

Sometimes a form of entitlement creeps into my peanut brain, causing one of my neighbours to remind me just how much bigger and stronger they actually are and exactly why I should remain, just a passer by in their world. Being a somewhat educated kid, the message is typically received loud and clear. Then other times just a short and very casual thirty minutes down the road and on a very similar plot of land to ours, a man my exact age has this happen to him on his own soil.

As in Poker, life itself is all about balance and variance. Allowing entitlement to rear it's ugly head within your own, often leads to nothing but the true ugliness that can occasionally define us as a species.

We may belong but we must also always remember, WE DO NOT OWN!

My sincerest thanks for dropping by....