#61 The first step towards home

Note: The blog and also the audio recording (1:12 h) are a bit out of place for reasons that will soon become clear. 😂

Here the link:

https://tinyurl.com/2x3pnc7q

On Monday it was time to say goodbye. From Frodo. We drove along Highway 20 together one last time for 1 ½ hours. Then we arrived in Alexis Creek, where I handed the car over to the garage owner. I asked myself why I cleaned the car so much on Sunday because he felt like he threw the wad of money into my hand as soon as I came in. 😅 Here in Canada people still like to pay in cash. Speaking of cleaning, hey, taking off those stickers, that was a pain. Although I've now made a good loss of 3,000 CAD, I'm happy to have sold the car. Even though Frodo cost me a lot, it was simply the best time of my life so far, in which we raced alone across Canada over thousands of kilometers. The fact that nothing happened and I always found a place for the car was the greatest gift anyway. And honestly, I'll remember my road trip for the rest of my life, but I'll be 100% not upset that I lost several thousand dollars. So goodbye Frodo! ❤️Then we continued to Williams Lake with David, who followed me in the truck to Alexis Creek. I had to cancel my car insurance and David had his things to do. After a few hours I was allowed to drive back while David took a nap. Meanwhile it “snowed” for the first time. There were snowflakes, but there were so few that I personally wouldn't call it snow.

The onset of winter came on Tuesday. The snow actually made it to us. So for the first time we had a completely white landscape. Of course we were “lucky” that the chimney people couldn’t come until Wednesday, so I was able to continue digging the shaft on Tuesday at -9°C. Then it went back to the wall paneling. That drove me crazy too. Since Jenny wasn't sure which wood she wanted to use for the wall a few weeks ago, I attached the roof paneling right up to the chipboard. However, since the boards are sometimes not perfectly straight, a perfect transition between wall and ceiling is unfortunately not possible. In one picture you can see what I mean. On the other hand, Jenny always left about an inch of space back then. Whether unconsciously or not, it was much easier there than it is on this side. Fortunately, I was able to get wood chips again and escape this construction site for a short time. I also saw two coyotes on the way. 😊 This time the trip was a little “special” because in addition to the wood chips I also had to pick up floor planks and therefore drove with a trailer for the first time. The huge advantage was that I was able to drive very, very relaxed thanks to this discreet trailer, the additional load and the fresh snow so that nothing happened. That's what I would have missed if I misjudged the trailer in a curve on the hill and then got stuck there. 😅 But everything worked out very well.

On Wednesday winter said hello for a moment. Relaxed - I had 17 °C when I started work. 🥶As a reminder: On Sunday I sat outside in shorts to eat ice cream. Luckily it was a very dry cold and therefore not really unpleasant. The only thing that was unpleasant was the work 😅 because we had a very stressful morning, or luckily for me it was just entertaining. But Jenny already told me on Tuesday evening: Oh Samuel, tomorrow will be tiring. Yes Jenny, do you know why?! Because you worked on Saturday and Sunday in summer weather and on Monday in slightly cooler weather, but you only worked on the second floor and didn't spend a second preparing the fireplace. Oh what a miracle, of course I couldn't prepare the entire floor in the large room and insulate everything....

Jenny's stress was clearly noticeable, but I really thought I wouldn't be able to handle it anymore. She could have avoided the stress. Solution word: construction schedule or schedule! If they had gone ahead with a schedule, everything could have been finished by Wednesday morning. But as it was, stress was the order of the day. This was rounded off with the horses breaking through, which fortunately came back on their own after a few hours. David and I then had to repair the fence and then we also needed new wood chips, so I had to leave with the truck and therefore was able to escape the construction site again.

While I was away, people came to work on the gas fireplace. Luckily, Jenny doesn't install her own fireplaces. 😁 I then had to continue doing the floor and Jenny told me that she had marked her finished areas...it took a while until I discovered her oh-so-big arrow. In addition to the incredibly terrible floor and the even worse "insulation", I also entertained people with my German swearing because of the wall and the stupid boards. 😂 We also all ate dinner together, where I apologized for it because it was definitely tiring in the long run. The boss of this company is retiring at Christmas and then his two employees take over the company and the two are only 22 years old. They both like living in Williams Lake, which was obvious. It was really nice to spend the evening with younger people. I was also with Jordan on Wednesday evening because Molly (his dog) gave birth to eight puppies. ❤️ Jordan's daughter was visiting a few months ago and one of her dogs got her pregnant. I've never seen puppies before and now I got to see some that weren't even 24 hours old. Shit, they're cute! Even if the dog mix is very very crazy. 😍❤️

Thursday it was more pleasant at -9°C, but still very cold in the first few hours. That day I also experienced all the emotions because it was really my last day at work. I had to “submit” to Jenny for eight hours one last time. 😂 She also started with unnecessary hints, reminding me that when I screw the chipboard into place, I make sure that I screw it into a board underneath. Oh?! I always try to put the screws next to the boards, I thought the air-screw connection was strong enough.....then I had to take the wall paneling off again. I had attached a straight board for orientation, but this wall is also crooked, so that the wall paneling didn't fit with certain intermediate elements as it progressed, so I had to shorten each piece again and the fact that everything isn't straight is really just bad . But yes, of course I also felt a bit melancholy. Just as the last half hour began. When you think about the fact that you yourself helped build this huge “Jennifer Hemmings cathedral”. How much sweat, swear words and, in the case of my injuries, blood must be involved in this construction site. 😅 I've been in Canada for 14 months now and I've spent almost a full nine months here alone (December 1st - June 4th & August 25th - October 28th). That's pretty awesome. And then the time had come... one last time I cut a piece of wood, screwed in one last screw and contributed to the completion of this construction site. THEN IT FINALLY HAPPENED! I finally got off work! 😍

In the evening we went to Molly and her sweet babies one last time. Of course I named a puppy Sam. No question. But they were so sweet and Molly is also such a sweetheart that it was difficult for me to say goodbye. 😔 How cute these puppies were.

Thankfully I had Friday off to prepare everything for departure. Luckily I didn't have to work outside because at -18°C this was the coldest morning so far and thanks to the nighttime fog everything was frozen "snow white". This time the ice was even able to support me as I stood on the lake. I broke in on Thursday. Oh yes, I will miss this place by the lake. Just like the cracking of iron. I don't know if you've heard this before, but sometimes it sounds like a gunshot and then you hear it spreading across the entire lake. Otherwise there wasn't much going on today. I brought a few things to the “share container” that I just can’t take with me. For example, all the information booklets about all the places, books, camping gear, mattresses and also a few private clothes so that I can take my second-hand things with me. 😅

In the afternoon we said goodbye to Peter, Jordan and his daughter. We spent a few hours before finally saying goodbye, perhaps due to age. Even if one denies climate change and the other has wild theories, they have somehow been my best friends here over all these months. I was always invited for tea or a cold drink and was therefore able to spend a few relaxing hours with them. I also told them that Peter was my “grandpa” and Jordan was my “uncle.” Oh man, I'm just grateful that I had her and I hope I'll see her again sometime.... ❤️

And so this phase of my life ends and so here are a few final thoughts:

revue

Here I write down the thoughts that come to my mind during the week. Any confusion and time jumps are therefore to be expected. 😂 Oh, and of course this is all my perspective, when I'm very enthusiastic about something, you can notice it subtly. So I completely understand if you don't understand some things.

Monday:

I was just standing outside watching the snow on the mountains and the clouds coming towards me. While I was looking at this, I realized again how incredibly grateful I am for this place. To have always had these mountains in front of my eyes is a gift that (I think) not many people have. I've been here for a total of almost 9 months now and despite all that time, I take a few moments a week to look at the lake and the mountains. The interaction of sunrise, fog and snow makes every morning seem individual. And I'm just grateful for that.

I also thought about Jenny and David's business on the drive to Williams Lake today. Phew, I really think next year will be tough. They actually had other plans, but unfortunately they may have to reschedule. In that regard, I really just wish you the best, because your plans are anything but bad. Just, well, here and there.

Thursday

I just came back from the lake below. What can I tell you... today, on my last day at work, I am of course even more aware that I will only see this view for a few more hours. My goodness, it's amazing how the body reacts to things like that, so it's not like I'm in tears down there, but it's already making me sick to my stomach to have to leave this place. It also made me realize again that I really loved everything except work. This view is the most beautiful I have seen in my life so far. In my opinion it is an absolute gift and being able to see this beauty of nature individually every day. Craziness.

And yet (and now all the people who don't want to see climate change can skip the next paragraph - better yet, you can stop reading straight away) you can see the consequences of climate change in its full severity here. Not just the forest fires, which have far broken the last negative record. No, you can also simply watch the lake evaporate. In one photo I showed you where the lake went about 20 years ago and then the comparison to today. It's scary. When I came back from my road trip, I was shocked. The lake had receded dramatically in just three months. I didn't know then that things could get even worse. When we had this bad smoke, the lake was full of ash and of course it washed up on the shore. This meant you always had a good idea of how high the water was at that time. Just two weeks later the lake had receded by around 10 centimeters. And if you say now, yes, maybe. Did the wind cause larger waves that carried the ash further “in”....no, because now even our boats are on dry land and that was definitely not the case at the time of the smoke. In addition, two new areas in the lake are now dry. If this continues, the lake will definitely only start to turn the curve in a few decades. 😔

It is frightening to see how climate change is causing ever more extreme weather conditions. Extreme temperature jumps are becoming more and more frequent. I just remember the 50°C difference at Christmas or this week. In addition, it gets warm too quickly, so the snow melts off the mountains far too quickly and therefore too much water “disappears”. The meadows here are mostly brown and the forest...it's a wonder it hasn't burned down yet. The forest still has many living trees, but down on the ground it is covered with dead wood...

Friday

It's like that... Jenny and I have one thing in common: We don't have any friends here. 😅 This is something I “regret” a bit, although I mentioned it before. In the winter I didn't have the desire or time to drive for miles here, then it got hot in the summer, but then I had my road trip and after my road trip I actually only wanted to work here again for three weeks before I went to the Yukon - I did yes it didn't work. But I also thought that it wouldn't be worth looking for young people here for a few weeks. But for me it's also the case that I go back to Germany and my friends are there (now I even have some in Hawaii or Scotland 😎😁). Unfortunately, Jenny really doesn't have any friends anywhere and I really hope that at some point Jenny will realize that a healthy and well-functioning neighborhood is extremely important, especially here in areas like this. Everyone needs help at some point and you can tell that some neighbors don't want to help her anymore because she has simply "scared" them away with her behavior.

I also just wish she was more open to other opinions. She acquired her knowledge herself and is now building this huge complex and she really has my absolute respect for that. I think it takes a lot of effort to take such a step. That's why I would like to emphasize this again here. No matter how much I sometimes didn't understand Jenny's ideas and procedures, I have a lot of respect for her for doing it all on her own!

And yet sometimes it's good to simply accept or listen to other opinions. She has to realize that she is not always right and that she has to accept help. She should also seek help with her above-average enjoyment of wine. Drug abuse is a really dark chapter here in Canada and probably, like in Germany, alcohol is the most commonly used drug here. In my opinion, Jenny simply consumes too much wine and it's terrible to see how she keeps changing it. I hope she finds the way there.

I could write a lot more, but at some point there will be enough.

The things are packed. The cabin is reasonably clean... now only two very bad things are missing: I have to say goodbye to the view and especially to Trooper. Oh, that was a good dog through and through and I will really miss him very much. ❤️😔

I'm sorry this post was a bit confusing, but that's how it is sometimes. 😅

We hear or see each other.

Samuel