Wintry Wilds

Okay, I can not tell a lie - the following pictures are not from my most recent weekend in the wintry wilds of Maine. AGP and I completely forgot to bring any of our cameras with us so we were left with having to make mental memories. To be honest, it wasn't all that bad to be away from the lure of the shutter and just soak in all the magic a long weekend in the woods can be.

So here is the deal: as I have mentioned earlier in my loving descriptions of AGP's cabin in Maine, where we stay is completely off the grid - even more so in the winter. The large, summer cabin is impossible to heat in the winter, so we have to move all the essentials to the little cabin where we can heat it efficiently, and you know, survive. And even though we normally take a boat in to the cabin, since the lake was icy, we had to hike in with all of our food and stuff. At night. In the rain.

To put it in perspective, we were probably the only people around for at least five square miles, in a tiny cabin with a tiny wood stove. No bathroom, no running water, no electricity. I really makes me appreciate the luxuries of my everyday life! And also how dangerous it can be to be so isolated. It's crazy how much seeing coyote tracks in the snow can freak me out.

Although it is incredibly romantic to be holed up with your beloved in a tiny spot of warmth (that AGP built himself) in the middle of a snowy and cold wonderland. Just the two of us for miles. Life in a cabin in winter is actually full of a LOT of chores, mostly centered around lugging firewood, tending the fire, and getting drinking water. All day, everyday.

Of course, we found plenty of ways to entertain ourselves outside of the chores. The lake is full of hiking trails and the woods weren't all that impassable. In fact, the first day we were out there it was downright moist. I had never seen the woods so alive in the middle of winter. Although, maybe I have never took the time to really look at all the moss, lichen, ferns, and cold-loving mushrooms that transform a landscape you expect to be barren and frozen into a cryophilic ecosystem, still brimming with life. And at night we played a Cold War themed board game (nerds).

While I wish I had photographs of bright green moss, rocks bearded with icicles, cedar trees that perfectly match AGP's eyes, and angelic captures of puffy snow falling in the hilltops, there's no way I could have captured the full beauty of the landscape. However, it will be there forever in my mind.