I have just finished reading The Millionaire Next Door, a book about the true millionaires of the U.S.A. Parts of the book are very dry, as it is a research-heavy book, but the message and the picture are clear. (Although, I admit to wondering how these millionaires have fared with the hits to the stock market.)

I don’t like to give away the content of books, but I will say this about The Millionaire Next Door. One, the millionaires are not who you expect. In North America we pay a lot of attention to high income earners. This book goes to great lengths to point out some of the faults in this, and certainly changed my perception of wealthy people. Second, people who are truly wealthy live below their means. Not even within, but slightly below. That takes an incredible amount of self-discipline in this era of spend now worry about it later. We live in a society that believes we all deserve everything – a nice vacation, a nice car, a big house – without regard to what we can afford. Not buying into that is difficult.

What the book did for me was make me look inward. I don’t think I’m going to become a millionaire anytime soon. However, there were some strong messages I took from the book about how to accumulate wealth and how to live in the now, that I hope to apply to some areas.

All in all, a very interesting read, although perhaps a little dry and a little dated.

Loveland Bay, May 2009

This was the view from our campsite just last spring (I’m taking the picture from the edge of the site). This trip was a good lesson in being flexible. We went out on the Friday of the long week-end, taking Bush Boy out of school so that we could hit the road early. We drove to every forestry site within an hour of this campground and they were all jam-packed FULL. We couldn’t believe it. We had made plans with our friends to meet at one of them, so were trying to find an area we could call from (cell phone reception in this area is spotty at best). We pulled into Loveland Bay (a provincial campground) as we knew the end of the lake had reception. We expected it to be packed up, and were going to tell our friends to just meet us out at Ralph River. We drove around the road to the lake, and the best site in the campground was still empty!! We pulled in and stayed put.

The campground of 28 sites didn’t fill completely in the end, although both group sites were full so it was busy. This site we were in was perfect, as it had a little stream beside it so we got this little bay in front all to ourselves. We think what happened is that, with economic times in our area being very tough (mills, forestry and mines shut down), people were camping at the rec sites where sometimes fees aren’t collected and they are usually cheaper when they are collected, rather than going to the provincial parks (although Loveland is still very cheap). Anyhow we were happy! We explored old roads, went fishing, and had a fabulous time enjoying this beautiful area.

I keep telling myself I’m not going to post all these cat pictures, but then I see them in these poses…. When Torti woke up from this nap, she was so annoyed to find Hubert there!!

What must it be like, to not live with trees?

To be in concrete, where buildings dominate the sky?

Or to live on flat land where vision becomes blurred on the distant horizon?

I am a child of the trees -

the trees of the rain forest of the coast;

the giant cedars and towering fir trees,

the lacy hemlocks,

ever-green and ever watchful.

The trees fill my landscape, fill my dreamscape,

form the basic images of home.

I have hugged my share of trees,

hidden behind them, walked among them.

The trees make me feel at once a part of,

and apart from,

the natural world.

Went for a walk this week-end as the rain stopped. The sun didn’t show up but the sky was certainly a lot brighter! For more pictures of the walk you can check out the family blog over at West Coast Bloggers, but I thought I’d share with you these pictures of mossy trees. It really shows what a rain forest we live in. It always makes me think of the stories of moss dripping out of trees in Louisiana. Of course, these aren’t magnolia trees but extremely big and tall evergreens for the most part, with the occasional maple tree covered as well.

Loon Bay, Summer 2003.

We found this recreation site the first summer we lived up here. Just seven campsites, right on the edge of Lower Campbell Lake. There really were loons there, we could hear them in the mornings.

My mum was with us on this trip, this is her kayak. Bush Boy was only three, and both the soother and the rubbing of his ear were security to him. He loved being on the water, though, and would ask to go out every day.

Loon Bay started our passion for picking a new campsite using the Backroad Map book every year. At  least once a year, usually in the spring, we try to find a new-to-us campground to explore.

We love stew in this house. Some chunks of meat, a thick sauce and some veggies served over rice (and with dumplings if Bush Boy gets his way) makes this little family happy any dinnertime. Once you have learned to make a good stew the possibilities are endless. Tonight in the pot we have stew beef, carrots, onions, celery, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper, flour, beef stock and red wine vinegar. Leave it to simmer on the stove for a couple of hours and we are good to go.

My favourite ’special’ stew to make is Tagine, a Moroccan beef stew flavoured with cumin, coriander, orange and dates. Chicken stew is usually a red stew – tomato sauce and red wine with bone-in chicken thighs.

Working from home gives me the ability to make a stew any night of the week without much prep, and I know it will be greeted with cheers as my guys come home.

What is one of your family’s go-to meals?

As promised, some art work around the family’s words for 2010. As usual, I have switched out the guys’ names.

I’m thinking of getting a frame for this and hanging it above my desk for the year. We just got the family pictures taken in November, and I have a larger one that I’d like to put with it as well.

This picture is a near perfect representation of Bush Boy. He is an odd mixture of outdoor living with modern edges, a rocker meets rancher, a hands-on guy with a love for technology. Both the hat and the iPod were Christmas presents, and both are used regularly (in fact the hat was worn to school today as his raincoat hood is too short and it is torrential outside). The focus on something else, staring off into the distance, is also classic Bush Boy, he is often in his own world.

May long week-end, 2007. Ralph River, our favourite campsite in Strathcona Park. Looking south.

We try to get out to Ralph River at least twice, and more like three or four times, every year. It is by far our favourite place to camp, somewhere we feel completely at home. Buttle Lake (along with the Upper and Lower Campbell Lakes) are part of our water supply as well as part of BC Hydro’s water system, so the levels can be adjusted based on the amount of water released from the dam further down water. In the late spring the levels are usually very low in the lakes, I think because they have the dam quite wide open to allow the spring melt to flow. (I’m not sure about this really, and why the lake is so low when in the winter we have flooding, I couldn’t tell you. I just know it is usually lower in the spring.)

As you can see by all these stumps that are exposed here, Buttle Lake was once narrower, pre-dam era, and was well logged. These stumps are massive and quite eerie to walk among on a still morning. They make a great wind break for the breezy days you can get out there in May, and also are a fun place to play for an exploring boy. In the summer the water is usually above them, and we have to avoid them with our kayaks/pontoon boats or we swim out to them and dive off them. But in the spring they add to the beauty of the area, and serve to remind us that many people have stood here. What must it have been like when these were logged, if it seems so remote and wild even today?