Monday, August 23, 2010

Back from the Woods



 Imagine our excitement at finding this wonderful abandon mill site. We had paddled past it in our tandem kayak countless times but had never seen through the trees to this incredible stone structure, silo and old mill house. On this particular summer day during our vacation we decided to paddle and have a picnic in one of our favorite spots. When we arrived at our usual destination we decided to take a walk through these woods because we were looking for a short portage route. My husband spotted a stone wall amongst the trees so off we went to explore. The next thing we knew we were standing in a wooded area staring in disbelief at an abandoned wooden mill house. As we wandered further into the area we came across stone walls and a silo. This is our second summer in the region and we had never even heard about this place.



We decided that we would investigate when we got back but we couldn't find anyone who knew about this wondrous site. However, now we have a mission and before the summer is out I am sure that we will know all about the old mill. Until then it provided us with a beautiful memory and felt like we travelled much further then simply across the lake. It felt like we travelled back in time.

Isn't that what vacations are for? Aren't we suppose to feel like we have left our everyday lives and wandered into another world? For me the best vacations are the ones where I feel like I have seen from a fresh perspective. What could be a fresher perspective then to think about what it must have been like to live in rural Canada before central heating! While we were exploring I was trying to imagine what it must have been like to live out in this region, at this site.  While it was incredibly beautiful it must have been harder then we could imagine. But perhaps it was only hard in a different way then it is today. Today life is hard not from the physical comfort standpoint but from over stimulation and moral confusion. Today people have lost touch with themselves in ways that they didn't in the past. Back then people were focused on the basics, certainly in a rural area like our mill site. When I looked around at the remains of their lives I could only guess at what it had been like. I would love to have been a fly on the wall in the days when that site was thriving. I am sure I would have enjoyed hearing about life from their perspective.


1 comment:

  1. What a find! You are true explorers....
    Beautiful photos KL.

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