Today is a bittersweet day for me, it’s Fathers Day AND it’s my mother’s birthday, both of my parents are deceased, my mother many years ago, she never got to see my life as I live it now but I know she’d be proud. My dad however did get to see the first few years of our off-grid life, he contributed to it as well, bringing lots of goodies each summer when he would come for his annual visit.
My father and I had the dream of going off-grid long before off-grid was a “thing”, I can remember as a little girl, my dad and I planning on moving to Alaska, building a cabin and living off the land, he was an amazing man, he could do anything, much like my PB does today.
Unfortunately like a lot of us, my dad wasn’t able to really live his dream, he had a family to raise, he worked in and retired from building aircraft (civilian then military), he waited too long and had too many ties to the city by the time he retired. He did live vicariously through us though, with his yearly visits, he would spend a good month out here, enjoying the quiet and fresh air, I also believe it helped his health, in his latter years, he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, coming up to our altitude, it was hard for him to breathe, and that was before hiking up the hill to get to the SkyCastle.
We would set up a couple of “rest stations” along the way so he could sit down and catch his breath before beginning the trip uphill. By the time the final week of his visit, he would be able to go all the way from the road to the SkyCastle in one go without having to stop or rest, I know he felt like a million bucks by the time a month had passed and he went back down in altitude.
I know he loved what we are doing here, I sincerely hope all you fathers out there have a great Fathers Day, I also sincerely hope you have a great relationship with your family (parents, kids…), if you don’t, maybe it’s time to re-examine that relationship, we are here but a short time, yesterday is gone and tomorrow isn’t promised, you have now to take care of business :)
Here are a few pictures of my dad and family.
