There is a movie, No country for old men. That cabin, we were going to spend a year there when the wife retired, except for a few months 'south' (meaning like Florida). When I was hospitalized and started to feel like I might pull through I wanted to go to the cabin. So many good times. I prepared by walking around the block here, a month and I could leave the cane at home. I wasn't really well enough, we went for 2 weeks in September. It was uneven ground, no strength to use the chain saw and deal with the wind thrown trees, not enough omph to split 'big wood', just kindling, and somedays the trip to the outhouse was a mile. No phone. No Tv. My hearing was shot and I had no hearing aids yet, no birds were singing for me, just for those who could hear. I couldn't hear the otters splashing and go down and watch, I had to rely on the wife to hear them. Even the loons were almost silent.

No Country for Sick Old Men. I aged 30 years in 3 months.
On the other hand the compensation for hearing loss thing has been my sense of smell is 10 times better/ The grocery store is weird, I can smell way too much. Don't go down the aisle with cleaning products, man that smells harsh.

We have spent 3 to 4 weeks a year at that cabin since it was built about 15 years ago. Before that 10 years running around north america in a tent trailer, except for CA, OR, NV and Utah. (I think I did a few miles in the latter).

But my favorite place was always that cabin, just north of Temagami.

I've spent 8 winters in bush camps. Sometimes home for Christmas, but at one camp I had a house in because I was in charge on holidays and weekends. My 2 oldest kids were raised there. 40 miles to town if the road was open. Someone would come back from town and say they had a new TV at the Hudson's Bay store. We'd all go in to see it. 1 tv station, now I have 800 or something. Still nothing on.

I live 2 blocks from the regional cancer treatment place. Until things are 1 year clear, I'm staying close. I could move north we have land, we have trees to haul to the mill to make the lumber, the neighbour to our cabin owns a cement company and I cut the trees that die along his right of way so the foundation would get done, but it's 30 miles to town to the doc, and a 4 hour drive to see any kind of specialist or 8 hours to go for cancer treatments. I didn't have the energy to drive a few blocks the last 4 weeks I was in daily radiation, so I guess I'm staying put until things sort themselves out.
l
I have advice. Do what you can now. Stay up late and make the grand kids a CD. Go places and do things. Saving for the future, I did that. Enough air miles for the wife and I get 12 (24 actually) return trips to Europe. A paid up house. I'm just waiting for the test results to come back on the 19th. And for the bad part of the chemotherapy to go away so I can walk, or reach out and grab something. I can live with the hearing aids, the ringing in my ears, but I want the walking to come back. I find out on the 19th. Until then....well I'll go and inject some morphine into the gut tube and see if I can get some sleep tonight, though I slept almost all day...

John Conley
Musica est vita