Some winter photos from off the grid, and an essay on the joys of chopping and stacking firewood

Jim, heading down to the brook.

I must admit, we didn’t take the whole polar vertex warning seriously here. It’s been an extremely mild winter for the most part, although Sunday a big Nor’easter blew through and dumped 30 centimetres of snow. We figured we’d be trapped back here for a few days with our 2.25-kilometre “lane,” a former logging road, but around seven p.m. the dogs started barking. Lo and behold, the plowing service, a couple of cowboys in a pick-up truck with a blade, made sure we were good to go.

Cleo (on the left) and Jim checking out the lay of the land.

But up until this morning temperatures have rarely dipped below minus five, and more often have been much higher. In fact, the day before the snow the temperature clocked in at roughly plus-10. In early February. Imagine that? Well, I don’t really like to, because it reminds me of the climate crisis, and all the work we need to do to try and stop the planet’s warming. We’re failing. Badly.

Climate change means bigger storms with more precipitation.

Don’t take my word for it though. Mark Carney, the United Nations envoy for climate action and finance (and former Bank of England governor and head of the Bank of Canada) recently said: "One of the biggest issues is you cannot self-isolate from climate," he said. "That is not an option. We cannot retreat in and wait out climate change, it will just get worse,” according to the BBC.

"When you look at climate change from a human mortality perspective, it will be the equivalent of a coronavirus crisis every year from the middle of this century, and every year, not just a one-off event. So it is an issue that needs to be addressed now."

Yes, I’ve quoted Carney before. I’m sure I’ll do it again. Rather than have me paraphrase more of what he said, why don’t you check his remarks here

A couple of wood stacks after a recent storm.

So how cold was it this morning? It was a shock to wake up and see the indoor weather monitor (yes, you can be off-grid and still have all kinds of cool technology) tell me it was minus-18 outside. I wasn’t expecting that. But, hey, it’s early February. Winter in Canada. So it’s not the least bit unwelcome.

Even though it was cold the solar panels received a full charge today under sunny skies.

I’d rather embrace the weather. At this time of year it feels normal. As much as I bask in the sun and warmth of an early spring day at the beginning of February, we’re not Vancouver Island, nor should we be.

The Peach House looks particularly pretty this time of year.

Cold will help suppress pests, such as the ticks that have become so prevalent here that they’ve been dubbed an “epidemic” in Lunenburg County. Nor do we want see species, animals or plants, moving up from further south as they acclimatize to the changing weather patterns.

I wrote this back in 2016, about lobster fisheries collapsing in the U.S. while Canada’s markedly improved because of the climate crisis. Back five years ago Labrador - Labrador! - fishers started applying for lobster licences because the crustaceans were moving that far up north because of warming waters. I probably should update this story to see what’s happened since.

It’s only one example of how locales are changing because of a rapidly warming planet.

A rush of ice and snow melt overwhelms the footbridge across the brook.

Anyway, end of sermon. That’s why we’re off the grid, to help be part of the change. I might write about that another day. How about you? Why are you off-grid? I’d love to hear your stories.

Chop, chop. Get to work. That wood isn’t going to stack itself.

Chopping wood is a fine way to spend a day

So I know not every subscriber is on my Facebook, or reads the National Observer, where I previously worked as a climate change reporter. They recently published my essay on the joys of chopping firewood

For those of you who have not read it yet I hope you enjoy it.

As always, thanks for reading. If you feel so inclined, please share this widely. I’d appreciate it.