One thing that has struck me in the recent months is just how loud ‘modern living’ is. When our fridge went out, we were shocked by the silence, and decided not to replace it! (Hence the new walk-in/ root cellar in another part of the house, and transitioning our diet/lifestyle to be seasonal in a way that makes refrigeration unnecessary). The power was out more times this winter than I can remember (7-8 times, many inexplicable… 👀) and I was not upset in the least. Mostly awed by and content with a deep, electrical-free silence, a focus on the right now, the sky and weather. One of my goals is to figure out how to best make that a permanent reality. How does one become a modern Amish of sorts? Something I’m musing upon lots.
We’ve started being outside all the time (as long as a 3 and 5 year old can, which gets longer and longer each season!). We’ve fallen into our own seasonal living outside, our own re-wilding, and it just makes us want more. Would love to try winter camping some day! A canvas tent is absolutely on our purchase-list. I had the honor of spending time in one this late winter, and you’d never know the snow is falling outside until you stepped out the door!
Holyyyyyy hot sauce. That sounds absolutely DIVINE. For the most part, I truly love winter in Ontario but you have reminded me there is so much more depth and beauty to experience beyond my usual activities of nordic skiing and snowshoeing. I also REEEALLLYY resonated with what you said about feeling kinda cooped up by the end of winter. My husband and I own a small, mostly seasonal resort called Anupaya Cabin Co, it’s a wild and busy ride from April - November and the off season is SUCH a welcomed break. We need it, our family needs it. But maaaaannnn, does it ever feel too long. I start to feel a little restless and depressed come February. We went to Mexico for 3 weeks this winter, but to be honest…I didn’t love it. It just doesn’t feel like ‘us’. I missed home and this landscape and our food and our animals and…the cold. Tara, you very well may have solved my riddle! I think I may just need a winter adventure!! To YouTube I go!!!! 💕
mmmm, mmmm, mmmm all I can start by saying is mmmm.
Thank you Tara for transporting me across the planet.
As a Brit living in tropical Australia this post has transported me. Winter for me is something like 10 degrees celsius, I have acclimatised now and that feels cold. We are currently going from wet season into dry season, by June it will be winter.
Sometimes I long to go back to my ancestral lands, to the fantasy that never was due to much adolecent trauma....but really my life quality here living in the great outdoors, bringing up my wildling daughter in the Australian bush far surpasses that past experience of trauma and claustrophobia.
All praises to you and Troy, I haven't 'met' any other humans that appreciate the wild, as you do. The simplicity of natural materials, the steady slow pace and not knowing the time or what is happening outside this is how I live much of my life, and what joy!
I feel such grief alot of the time that I am doing this alone, as a single mama. It would be wonderful to share these experiences with others, but it is just as comforting to know you Tara are doing it.
So glad to have you back Tara, it brings me so much joy, solace and hope to read your words. I would love to hear about your process of waxing the organic cotton this summer. Be well, good luck with editing your book! :)
Maybe because I was on my way home from a short overnight trip to a cabin in the deep woods where my husbabd and i spent a night, sans kiddos, to celebrate our anniversary.
It was quiet and still and the rain pattered on the roof and there was a pond for cold plunges and we cooked our breakfast over a wood cookstove and drank coffee together. It was a beautiful beautiful time of connection with my man and lover and already I'm longing for more. I love our children dearly and they take so much time and energy! Why if I know this do I still want more children 😄🤭
I think we need more times like this in nature. I feel a stirring in my soul for more. I've always been that way and for now, we try to balance life and work as we can to get our souls rest too.
What a treat that was! Thank you so much for the audio version. It was a fun little adventure this morning as I muck around doing chores. What resonates with me so much is the shared adventure of these type of things with you and Troy.
I share so so much with my wife of 25 years, But one adventure I have yet been able to encourage her on is the cold exposure adventure. There is something about choosing to be cold and uncomfortable that just goes against the grain for her. Maybe that will change someday, I hope so. She certainly does not lack for toughness.
I think she would witness in herself a transformation like the one you described, from being cold all the time to running hot.
I’ve always run a little hot and so for me it’s always been natural and pretty easy to embrace the discomfort and challenge of cold exposure. I also think that as a young man I came to understand the benefits to my mental and physical health as I chased waves and mountains surfing and snowboarding in winter months. My challenge now is to get better at incorporating this more regularly into my day to day… and to, someday, help my wife find her way to a plunge or some naked winter walks!
Incredible! Thank you for sharing your experience with us Tara, so much hard work went into your winter camping and sounds like so much incredible solitude and peace came with it all❤️
Tara and others who have done this, anyone have a tried and true method to tanning rabbit pelts? I would like to try that this year and am looking at a "recipe" with salt and alum, a bucket of water and time. Does that sound right?
Hi Tara! Loved listening to your audio this morning. You have such a beautiful, evocative way with words. I would love to hear more sometime if you were so inclined in a future post on how you were able to become cold-adapted. I struggle with the same extreme sensitivity to cold that you described -- though it's getting better! And, being honest, an aversion to hard things in general at least some of the time. Your wisdom is always appreciated!
One thing that has struck me in the recent months is just how loud ‘modern living’ is. When our fridge went out, we were shocked by the silence, and decided not to replace it! (Hence the new walk-in/ root cellar in another part of the house, and transitioning our diet/lifestyle to be seasonal in a way that makes refrigeration unnecessary). The power was out more times this winter than I can remember (7-8 times, many inexplicable… 👀) and I was not upset in the least. Mostly awed by and content with a deep, electrical-free silence, a focus on the right now, the sky and weather. One of my goals is to figure out how to best make that a permanent reality. How does one become a modern Amish of sorts? Something I’m musing upon lots.
We’ve started being outside all the time (as long as a 3 and 5 year old can, which gets longer and longer each season!). We’ve fallen into our own seasonal living outside, our own re-wilding, and it just makes us want more. Would love to try winter camping some day! A canvas tent is absolutely on our purchase-list. I had the honor of spending time in one this late winter, and you’d never know the snow is falling outside until you stepped out the door!
Holyyyyyy hot sauce. That sounds absolutely DIVINE. For the most part, I truly love winter in Ontario but you have reminded me there is so much more depth and beauty to experience beyond my usual activities of nordic skiing and snowshoeing. I also REEEALLLYY resonated with what you said about feeling kinda cooped up by the end of winter. My husband and I own a small, mostly seasonal resort called Anupaya Cabin Co, it’s a wild and busy ride from April - November and the off season is SUCH a welcomed break. We need it, our family needs it. But maaaaannnn, does it ever feel too long. I start to feel a little restless and depressed come February. We went to Mexico for 3 weeks this winter, but to be honest…I didn’t love it. It just doesn’t feel like ‘us’. I missed home and this landscape and our food and our animals and…the cold. Tara, you very well may have solved my riddle! I think I may just need a winter adventure!! To YouTube I go!!!! 💕
mmmm, mmmm, mmmm all I can start by saying is mmmm.
Thank you Tara for transporting me across the planet.
As a Brit living in tropical Australia this post has transported me. Winter for me is something like 10 degrees celsius, I have acclimatised now and that feels cold. We are currently going from wet season into dry season, by June it will be winter.
Sometimes I long to go back to my ancestral lands, to the fantasy that never was due to much adolecent trauma....but really my life quality here living in the great outdoors, bringing up my wildling daughter in the Australian bush far surpasses that past experience of trauma and claustrophobia.
All praises to you and Troy, I haven't 'met' any other humans that appreciate the wild, as you do. The simplicity of natural materials, the steady slow pace and not knowing the time or what is happening outside this is how I live much of my life, and what joy!
I feel such grief alot of the time that I am doing this alone, as a single mama. It would be wonderful to share these experiences with others, but it is just as comforting to know you Tara are doing it.
Thanks for taking me on your wild winter ride.
So glad to have you back Tara, it brings me so much joy, solace and hope to read your words. I would love to hear about your process of waxing the organic cotton this summer. Be well, good luck with editing your book! :)
This is so beautiful it made me cry this morning.
Maybe because I was on my way home from a short overnight trip to a cabin in the deep woods where my husbabd and i spent a night, sans kiddos, to celebrate our anniversary.
It was quiet and still and the rain pattered on the roof and there was a pond for cold plunges and we cooked our breakfast over a wood cookstove and drank coffee together. It was a beautiful beautiful time of connection with my man and lover and already I'm longing for more. I love our children dearly and they take so much time and energy! Why if I know this do I still want more children 😄🤭
I think we need more times like this in nature. I feel a stirring in my soul for more. I've always been that way and for now, we try to balance life and work as we can to get our souls rest too.
Oh I have missed you x
It is such a treat to read this post. Thank you so much.
What a treat that was! Thank you so much for the audio version. It was a fun little adventure this morning as I muck around doing chores. What resonates with me so much is the shared adventure of these type of things with you and Troy.
I share so so much with my wife of 25 years, But one adventure I have yet been able to encourage her on is the cold exposure adventure. There is something about choosing to be cold and uncomfortable that just goes against the grain for her. Maybe that will change someday, I hope so. She certainly does not lack for toughness.
I think she would witness in herself a transformation like the one you described, from being cold all the time to running hot.
I’ve always run a little hot and so for me it’s always been natural and pretty easy to embrace the discomfort and challenge of cold exposure. I also think that as a young man I came to understand the benefits to my mental and physical health as I chased waves and mountains surfing and snowboarding in winter months. My challenge now is to get better at incorporating this more regularly into my day to day… and to, someday, help my wife find her way to a plunge or some naked winter walks!
Incredible! Thank you for sharing your experience with us Tara, so much hard work went into your winter camping and sounds like so much incredible solitude and peace came with it all❤️
I can’t wait to do more camping!
Tara and others who have done this, anyone have a tried and true method to tanning rabbit pelts? I would like to try that this year and am looking at a "recipe" with salt and alum, a bucket of water and time. Does that sound right?
That sounds simply amazing! Did your doggos stay in the tent with you?
Like others have said, I so enjoyed your post. It’s made me ponder a lot in it ,and it is so good to have you back Tara.
Hi Tara! Loved listening to your audio this morning. You have such a beautiful, evocative way with words. I would love to hear more sometime if you were so inclined in a future post on how you were able to become cold-adapted. I struggle with the same extreme sensitivity to cold that you described -- though it's getting better! And, being honest, an aversion to hard things in general at least some of the time. Your wisdom is always appreciated!
So glad to have you back, Tara!! ❤️❤️