Degrees of Luxury...

The other night in the early hours of the morning, [around five], I said to Fellette 'Isn't this a luxury?' She responded, 'I guess there are different degrees of luxury.'

We were at the Cabin at 100 Mile. For those that may not know, in 2001 we built a log cabin at a place called 100 Mile House, which is a town 440 K's north of Vancouver. There is not any running water, electricity, TV, phone nor any other distractions. The cabin is on our friends 160 acre piece of property in the heart of the wonderful B.C. Cariboo.

Seven days earlier we disembarked from our floating luxurious [in the accepted sense of the word] cruise ship, after a decadent 3 1/2 month round-the-world cruise. Sometime on that ship, after Tai Chi or an exercise class, our instructor told us to close our eyes and imagine that we were at some favourite place where there is peace and tranquility. My mind immediately went to the porch at 100 mile around seven in the morning having a coffee with just us and the birds, looking for late-leaving deer or coyotes. It was one of my goals to get up there as soon as possible after the lovely but intense time on the ship, in an attempt to get back to reality.

This is where the 'degrees of luxury' comes into play. What is luxury? Is it being served a wonderful meal with white linen, fancy china and superb wines with good company. Yes, of course. But to me it is also waking up in a cabin with the smell of wood-smoke, to the sound of Canada Geese flying overhead, then lighting the Coleman to get the coffee going as you jump back into your home made bed and wait for the tell-tale perking of the coffee. To each his own and God Bless the difference.

We took the opportunity of a long weekend with two of our grand-girls school curriculum to dash up to the cabin one week after getting home. During the weekend I sometimes drew parallels between our life for the past three months and what we were doing this weekend, and loving every minute of it.

 The girls are Adrienne, 6, Alicia, 10.

BBQ's...

Adventure riding...

Hairdresser on site...

Extensive wine selection...

 Single dining...

Or, family dining...

Lessons in arson...

Learn new skills....

Family time...

Quiet coffee lounge..

Queen-sized beds....

Private toilet facilities....

Unique bathroom facilities.

I hope that you can understand the comparisons between the cruise and 100 Mile.


This weekend we did a variety of things. Went for a walk and identified various kinds of animal scat, [droppings], flew a kite, flew airplane gliders, dropped a few trees, burned a pile of last years slash, roasted potatoes, marshmallows and hot dogs in the ashes, spent hours doing Sudoku, read a book on a lost gold mine in B.C., straightened the flag pole, put some tin on my shed roof, had naps, played with the kids, slept like a log and thanked the Lord!