It's been a little more than six months since Ingi and I took off for the trapline – me for the first time, and Ingi for the last.
Those months in the bush were the biggest adventure I'd ever had, and they percolate in my mind every day – the obvious memories like our first moose sightings, our first catches, my first skinning experience, and the anomalies, like showering from a bag in an old tub with hose running out the door to drain and muskrats drying out in the corner; and the subtle nuances of cabin life and the connection I had with Ingi.
I'm not done writing about it – I don't think I'll ever be done writing about it – but I'm done writing about it here, in this format.
This won't be the last you'll hear of it – I have a story to tell, and I will. A rich, compelling story fraught with wildness and humanity and incredible coincidences I couldn't make up if I had to. But it's time to move this particular project into the present.
Ingi was family – an adopted father, a mentor who left a remarkable impression on me in the brief time I knew him. Our time at camp in his final few months served a purpose, though perhaps not the purpose I had expected. For Ingi, it was a culmination of his time on this earth. For me, it was almost a rebirth, an awakening, a jumping off point. It inspired me in how I want to carry on with my life, and it's part of why I am where I am.
One day at the kitchen table at camp I was going on and on about all these ideas I have about places I want to go and things I want to do.
I can't think of a better way to honour Ingi than to do just that – live a real, beautiful life.
I hope you'll continue to join me as I explore some of Canada's north, and its south, east and west, and look at new ideas, new ways of living, and new adventures.
← In the middle of nowhere, there's still the CBC.
I am glad to have found your blog in the endless searches on WordPress for people to connect to that understand what it is to live and to find that niche in life in which to live. Wishing you the best on your journey Cynthia.
I look forward to the continuation of your life's journey as I follow along.