Reflections..Or stuff you want to forget!

With all that has been going on lately in my life and those around me, I haven’t been finding much time to reflect on what is on the horizon and what has already come and gone.

And for the few moments that I did find the time to do just that – “reflect”, well, it was this ONE particular moment – a traffic jam in front of the Ford Plant in Oakville- I smirked and thought to myself “Oh yeah, I TOTALLY forgot about that!” as I mindlessly crawled forward at 5km/h. Yeah, that’s right, 5km/h. I can walk faster than that.

So let me draw you back to when I ventured out for a 3 hour trip north, to my old stomping grounds once again.

I knew I was in for quite a hike – as to be expected,  but I felt confident. At least until the point when the car disappeared from sight. Then, that confidence seemed to wither away pretty quickly.

And so you know what made me think of this while I was stuck in traffic? My stereo. You see, I have this channel on XM radio called “Chill” and it’s a relaxation station that plays soft, ambient music to help calm the nerves. Something that I need after a long day at work and a grueling drive home.

Yeah, it was my stereo; as soon as I tuned it to chill, I had a flashback about that hike into the bush – the car was out of sight, and the first thing I did was grab a small portable radio from my knapsack and I tuned it to whatever I found comforting, playing it at a volume that was loud enough to say “I’m here” but not loud enough to be disturbing. And it was those voices – other people talking – that had such a calming effect over me.

Now I’m not saying that I became totally oblivious to my surroundings but It gave me that extra “umphhh” I needed to get me into the woods to the point where I was going to try and plant a trail camera. Yeah, the little radio was the company I needed and it was welcome. You see, this place is pretty desolate. In fact, a lot of areas of Ontario can be downright intimidating and spookey.

So as I approached the area , I turned down the radio and took a peek at the GPS. I was within 100 meters of the small clearing where I was going to mount the cam. I looked up after viewing the GPS and that’s where I saw a flash of Red and the soft chatter of humans not so far off in the distance. I was stunned at first - “People? Here? Why?

I did not believe they noticed me so I immediately retreated to take cover and try to observe the group with my binoculars. I just couldn’t get a good enough view through the bush, but I could hear them. At this point the radio was obviously off and I just waited, huddled down to see if they were transient or locked down to that one area. It seemed to be the later, so I decided to backtrack and reconsider a different area to plant the cam.

Now the thing is, I had never seen anyone is this area before. No signs of life (humans), nothing. To see this was quite unusual and I felt compelled to find out what they were doing, which meant that I had to get within viewing range of these folks, so I held off backtracking to plant the cam and I went into Ninja Mode (LOL!! ;)

Lo and behold, I found myself gazing upon two couples who were doing pastel paintings of a small rock outcrop that had a group of trilliums growing from it. I’m guessing students on a art class adventure, how the heck they ended up here, I had no idea, but it was a peaceful discovery that had me leaving the area satisfied that all was good.

And so I spent the next 2 hours scouting around the area. I did a big “loop” around the students to plant myself further north of them – much further north, and I found a beautiful spot that would please even the most fanatic trail cam operator – not saying that I am one LOL but I wanted to really give it a good run for the money. After all, It was a 3 hour drive there and back!

I was meticulous about the mounting of the equipment and I spent some time camoflaging everything to make it look right at home. And it worked. Quite well, for the next planned trip up there – two weeks later for fishing, I followed the GPS until I arrived at the cam. Low battery light was on, but it was still running.

I removed the camera from the mounting strap and opened it up. Voila! Lets see what we got!

Damn!!! I forgot to put in the SD card!!!!!

I needn’t say more. When you are distracted or overly-ambitious, you sometimes forget the simplest things.

And in this case, I think I just wanted to forget the whole thing…but now, in hindsight, I learned something and I can only chuckle at it. Nothing more.

Good night!

The Hermit

We often tend to think that we are "normal" in comparison to others; Self comparison leads to a level of sanity that we follow along with to ensure that we keep in line with all those who push the envelope. The term "your crazy" is so common now that we don't even consider it a threat to our existence and comparison to what we do. No, we simply strive to look at ourselves and with any luck say that we conform to everyone else's standards and so we are "cool". We fit in. We are ok. And that's that.

So what about those who to want to live a life alone, away from society? Does that seem crazy? Out of the ordinary? Why do some people, albeit perhaps only a few, decide to live this type of life? Is there something that attracts them to this solitude?

It would seem that this sort of lifestyle is referred to as being "a hermit". And the more I think about it, I believe it represents people who may have had a "jaded" past and this becomes part of the healing process, even though that healing process might be the wrong process - running away and avoiding the problem. Life away from it all.

Social structures are very different in all parts of the world and as we look at each nation and culture, I'm sure that many of us have turned our nose up to the way that others interact and survive on a day to day basis. As a Canadian, seeing what the rest of the world has to offer, I would really have to say that I am indeed one of the lucky ones. I really have no beef with anything or anyone that would drive me to the point where I would say "Fuck this, I'm done with everyone...I'm outta here".

Yet, some do that. They just get pushed one too many times. They have had it and they want an extreme change to put them in control, and the only way that is going to happen is if they are left to live on their own. A hermit. In the middle of nowhere.

With the paragraphs that I have written you might be saying to yourself "Ok Jason, what the hell are you trying to say here? What has this got to do with?"

And so we draw the conclusion. Solitude and peace are methods of escape. Being out of "radar range" gives people the comfort of knowing that their actions are not noted or monitored, rated or condescended upon. You are left to your own devices and lifestyle.

And these "hermits" as we call them, they do a damn fine job of being just that - I mean, when was the last time you ran across one? We know they exist.

Now take these same thoughts and apply the considerations and assumptions to sasquatch. Does it want to interact with humans? Perhaps, but there are scarce reports that solidly point in that direction. In fact, we have too little to go on and so with all the reports that we have - from vocalizations to actual sighting reports, the only thing that sasquatch wants to do is a) leave the area and b) not make a big show.

So what does that sound like to you? Something much like a hermit? Wants to be left alone and wants to live it's life in seclusion? I don't blame it!! It's got enough to worry about being out in the wild, let alone human interaction.

And then we have one other thought to consider, to be fair until we actual find out the truth about sasquatch - Feral humans. Outcasts, Strays. The sheer disgrace that may follow. Enough intelligence to know that it does not belong in society yet it must survive. What it boils down to is that when you compare a feral human to sasquatch - for whatever sasquatch really is, their objectives would more than likely be very similar to each other.

If we are looking at feral humans - people who are so far removed from society yet withold an intelligence that we ride closely against, then yes, I can see the hermitage. I can see the displacement from society. I can see, even if it wasn't a feral human, but just something that had a human-like intelligence.....something that just wanted to be alone. For it's own good. For its survival. Yes, I can see a hermit. And that hermit is trying to survive.

J.