#86 read 30 books 1/30

I finally finished this book.... It was one that I found in my grandmothers collection after she passed away, I thought it perfectly described her "I am a lady, but don't be fooled I can do anything" approach to life, so I figured I should read it. It turned out to be a fantastic account of a woman and her husband who left Portland and traveled North to Bella Coola BC with the intent to spend one season and ended up falling in love with the frontier lifestyle and staying. This book is an account of their life and story of how they worked the land, loved their animals, and tried a variety of different adventures as they made their way through the years including fishing for local canneries, milking cows, guiding hunting excursions, and living through floods.
Oh how I admire the days of past when life was WORK yet at the same time provided satisfaction and joy in accomplishments... there was NO being lazy, or "after my video game" there simply was no time for such rubbish. So for as much as I love the every day conveniences I am afforded, the root of me still longs to be self sufficient. I long to raise stock, farm a garden and prepare stores for the season. I admire the woman of my past who diligently worked alongside their partners settling new homesteads, and those husbands who supported their wives and encouraged their capability. I admire my grandmother for her approach to life and my grandfather for so lovingly teaching her that she IS IN FACT CAPABLE.... "you may as well break a leg trying rather than let someone tell you you CAN'T", they often told me.
" Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, But rather skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and proclaiming.... Wow, what a ride!!!!!!" -Irene Lawrence (my grandmother)