I'm A Bushman

'Yes, I'm a Bushman', he said, full of pride, yet in a slightly awkward and bashful way.

'I like it that way', he goes on, 'you know, you know.'

He was waiting to pay for his fuel, and this young gentleman opened up a place in line to let me in.

'I'm in no hurry', he reported.

He continued to explain that the gas was for his machine.

I said, 'Oh you're a snowmobiler then?', and he got very engaged and excited.

'Oh, yes, you got it, you got it', he continued, as if we'd met on a common plane. A plane of thinking that is, when you discover that someone actually truly gets you and shares in your experiences and passions.

With his hands in his pockets, he gestured with his head and eyebrows, 'You know, way up north'.

At this point I was laughing to myself, because this exchange was already happening in Northern Ontario, but he further explained, 'You know, the Matheson area.' Thus assuring me that traveling an hour more up the highway was going to make a lot of difference in that distinction.

Coincidentally, way up north was were I was heading too, as I'm a resident of the area he referenced.

He had a twinkle in his eye, and I suspect a smile under his mask as he shared that he lived in the bush up there. This meeting took place during the first-wave of the COVID days, and from beneath his face covering he had revealed his true identity.

It seemed to me that, even though he was a modest type of person, that he had strength. He had a certain type of strength radiating from being true to himself and knowing what he wanted in his life.

It's not perfectly clear what the 'Bushman' definition meant in his perspective. A solitary existence, living in a self-sustaining fashion, off-grid in a cabin in the woods? Or perhaps it just meant living near a wooded place like the conservation trails? You could keep presuming that his interest in snowmobiling expands to ATVing and even further yet, possibly to hunting and fishing, but to me the simplest definition of Bushman is a person who can live quite well in a quiet and remote place with very little social interaction or material things.

And in fact, our conversation took that turn. He said something about COVID not bothering him. Though we were less than probably three or four minutes in line together, a bit more comradery grew between us because of that statement. I knew what he meant and agreed that I felt exactly the same way.

I have actually embraced COVID, and am doing well with it- as a lifestyle- certainly not for the fear and harm it causes, and not for the uncertainty of the economy and the future, but for the sake that some of the guilts and pressures of life are lifted because of isolation. The pace has slowed down, and the demands of external forces have relaxed. I'm an introvert and homebody at heart, and now I don't have to be someone that I am not. For example, to be out shopping, socializing, or to be going places I don't want to be.

At it's core, I suppose I could be called a bushwoman. I'm a woman who thinks the vista of nature all around is heaven on earth. I have a limitless ability to be alone and absorbed in creative endeavours. My personal joys in life involve foraging from the land, and lean towards old fashioned earthy ways.

I wouldn't say bushwoman is an obvious and full disclosure of me, as I normally wouldn't even call myself a farmer, and we live on a working farm. I'd go as far as to suggest that I'm a modern day hippie. I'm a blanket of all these things, but none of these labels in the extreme. Most accurately, I am an artist and maker. A creative person who likes to have as much quiet time as possible to work out my next project. Many of these finished ideas I share with you when I put a new listing on our Stein Haven website, or put my farm sourced, and handcrafted items on Amazon, such as these felted soaps shown below.

Happy 2021 to you all!