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Cozy cabin time in North Carolina
I arrived to my cabin in N Carolina in late October. So good to be back and open it up. Five months away! A bit concerned about my only neighbor, who I imagine might poke around. He or his partner. As mentioned, a challenging lifestyle. Domestic disputes. Chaos. The well had been tampered with. I […]
Esperanza changing. Esperanza unchanging.
So good to be back at Esperanza! As was last year, I settled in to an old nurses’ cottage called “Fanny’s”, named after perhaps the most famous nurse during the hospital years. The two young families from last year have now moved on. So has last year’s director and his wife. So I arrived […]
A return to Esperanza
Daylight is lengthening, days are warming, and there’s a list of last minute stuff to finish here in the North Carolina mountains. One needed project at my cabin was more storage. I contemplated one of several storage building designs. Ultimately I settled on a ‘root cellar’ that I dug out in the ‘basement’, complete with […]
Back to North Carolina and settling in
A late season highlight (September 2022) was taking a ferry and ViaRail train trip with the Espy summer camp nurse on a circular trip in northern BC –— from Port Hardy – Bella Coola – Prince Rupert (ferry)….to Prince George – Jasper Alberta (train!)….Jasper – Vancouver (train), and back to Port Hardy (ferry, car). A […]
A post-COVID Esperanza
In some ways, Espy has changed considerably. In other ways it remains the same. The biggest change is that, along with the director, two families living there now, one newlywed and one with five children. The biggest change has been opening up the campus after COVID 19. This meant children’s camps again after two years. […]
Busy with NC cabin projects
As winter months wane, I am making preparations to return to Esperanza. I stayed for my niece’s wedding in early April to say goodbyes to family. Fortunately the cross-border quarantine also has lifted in Canada, which will make travel easier. Several tasks were accomplished here in North Carolina: My son Sheldon found for sale a […]
A quiet Fall in North Carolina
I have settled into the lovely Autumn in western North Carolina. Hardwoods changing color and leaves lazily falling. I have only one neighbor around the corner of our gravel road, so quiet and isolated out the back deck. Fortunately I border city property both in the cabin’s front and back so less chance of residential […]
2021 Canadian Summer of Agony and Ecstasy – Part 3
You may ask: Where’s the agony in my summer? What I am about to tell you was not only agonizing. It was heartbreaking. You may recall that I drove an almost-new van to my son from North Carolina to Canada earlier in the summer. It had been purchased in Atlanta by Sheldon, for the purpose […]
2021 Canadian Summer of Agony and Ecstasy – Part 2
Aside from the extensive workload mentioned in the previous blog, other commitments take precious time for staff. One is the fuel dock. Esperanza has a government-sanctioned diesel and gas depot for boats. Unfortunately it’s not self-serve! We have just enough traffic from sports fishermen, nearby fish farms, and commercial vessels to keep us on guard, […]
2021 Canadian Summer of Agony and Ecstasy – Part 1
During my 14 day quarantine at the Vancouver Island home of Jacqueline, my ex (with whom I have a miraculously civil relationship!), I contacted two places where I had volunteered previously thru my Victoria church. The first was Camp Quanoes, where I helped for a week or so, as mentioned in the previous blog. The […]
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