Bacon, Bagels and Beer

What do you bring to a friend's cabin for the weekend? Well, really, we were just going for an overnight stay, so we brought some fresh king salmon steaks and some bacon, bagels and beer.

It is interesting to see different places and projects and what other people concentrate on. Dave is a systems guy, so six years into our place we have hot running water, abundant solar electricity and a flush toilet. But we don't have any fruit trees or fresh arugula.

Our friends' place is such a contrast to ours and it was delightful. It was our first time visiting them and it was fun to see all of their projects. Their land is flat and spread out, with a tight little log cabin and a lot of space around it. There is a lively creek off to one side and a large adjoining lot with a fine start on a new cabin. They have spent many hours in the garden and landscaping the grounds over the years and it really shows. They are on the beach, which is salt water with big tides, so the very air and all of the natural sights and sounds feel quite different than our lakeside spot.

Rick's place, on Shelter Island, the site of Spanish camp, is another variation. His site is upland from the shore, in a large muskeg meadow and he has focused on his organic garden and fashioning a summer only, outdoor living kind of retreat. He has many roofs but few walls. He has a wood fired hot tub and a propane stove and oven but only a small solar panel to charge his cell phone. There is no generator, but there is a monster rope swing. Rick, and his friends, have carried everything up to his land over a half mile trail that is still rough enough that one cannot use a wheelbarrow. Priorities get defined by such limitations.