Relief
Such a good sleep last night. Both partying parties were gone thankfully. I kept waiting for noise to bubble up and a new party to start but there was nothing. I woke up about 2am and it was pitch black and completely silent and still. It was almost like a sensory deprivation tank except I could hear Jubs breathing. As I lay there awake I noticed little lights, thinking my mind was playing tricks I realized they were fireflies!
It’s supposed to rain steadily for the next couple of days here so I’m sitting out in my Home Depot chair to take advantage of the decent weather while I can. That also means I’m going to have to pack up in the rain again, which really isn’t fun. It’s not the getting wet part that’s a bother but the storing wet gear. The drive to Pukaskwa is only a few hours so not a crisis but there’s always a possibility that I won’t get a site. They don’t have a reservation system, it’s first come first served. I learned that the hard way last year as I rocked up on the August long weekend. Doh. There weren’t any sites available so I had to think of plan b. The only option was to go back west to Neys about 30 minutes or to go east to White River PP about 45 minutes. I went back out to where I got cell signal and managed to book the last site at Neys. Phew. Pukaskwa told me to come back when the gatehouse opened in the morning, which I did and was able to snag a great site. What are the chances I can snag that site again this year? It was right by the canoe put in AND was electric AND had good hammock trees. Guess we’ll find out tomorrow.
Jubs barfed up a huge ball of grass this morning. Dogs are the best but also so gross. She’s happiest when she’s dirtiest. That means I’m dirty too because she needs to be so close all the time.
Gotta drive up to the highway today to do a board call and that’s the only spot where I can get reliable cell service. It’s a pain but I gotta do it.
We’re doing ball and swimmies right now while I have coffee. Love having easy access to water. Marie Louise Lake is crystal clear so you can see lots of little living things. There are a bunch of crayfish/crawfish/crawdads whatever they’re called, that hide under the rocks. When they flee they go backwards so will bump into my feet. Such weird tiny lobsters.
I’m reading Jesse Wente’s book Unreconciled right now. I honestly didn’t know he was Indigenous. I’ve always loved his film writing and food writing so I thought I’d like his book but it’s been a hard read. I think because I’m in education and a highly reflective person I’m feeling a social justice fatigue. It’s always been important to me to do my part (or more than my part) to level the playing field and to be an ally but as always happens in education the pendulum is swinging and because of my social identity I feel beat up and burnt out. Yes, this could be and may be construed as white fragility and a taste of the colonial medicine but I feel like current politics are pushing away people who were already onside. The anger Wente feels about his experiences is palpable despite having been the recipient of significantly more privilege than the average person. The argument he’d make (and I agree with) is that the system was built to favour those who are white but the dominating experience he talks about is being “othered” and being an outsider. We all feel that way on some level and why does it have to be a competition about whose experience was worse. Neoliberalism that’s why.
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