We’ve been busy beavers at the cottage this week. There is simply just so much to do! We went kayaking around the islands, sun basked on the raft (plunging into the Eagle Lake waters to cool down, A doing so eagerly, me doing so timidly). We took a long walk out to the Narrows Country Store, rewarding our trek with Moosetracks ice cream – believe it or not, I had some! (And by “some” I mean a shit ton and it was awesome). We roasted marshmallows over the fire pit, mashing them between gluten-free chocolate chip oatmeal cookies for an indulgent treat. We’ve been collaboratively doing Jigsaws and Sodukus and Crosswords, one-over-ones shoulder. Parked in twin Muskoka chairs on the dock, we watched the stars rise one night, filling the infinite sky with tiny lights. It has been marvellous.
It has also been adventurous. Yesterday we went on an exciting journey into the wilderness. We’d been looking for a more challenging day hike and indeed did we find it. Pointed in the direction of the NW corner of Algonquin Provincial Park, we headed out in search of the Beaver Loxton Trail. The trail was originally carved out as a winter ski route, but was now maintained as a summer hiking destination. Take “maintained” lightly – we later learned from a park ranger back in Mikisew (a park near the cottage) that it is “maintained” twice a year. Fitting, as the access point sign where we parked indicated that it was a “Forgotten Trail”. Certainly was, as the trail appeared extremely un-trodden. Despite passing a family on the way out as we headed in – who they definitely looked and sounded as if they hadn’t made it very far – we saw nary another. The signpost at the start described Beaver Loxton in this way: “While most of the trail is of moderate difficulty, it does feature a few challenging climbs and descents…some sections can be muddy”. “Muddy” is a serious understatement. There were times when we found ourselves ankle deep in bog mud – and had to get pretty crafty in our off-pathing skills to avoid trenches of muck. At about 7km into the 8.5km trail, we took a wrong turn (this Forgotten Trail neglected to mention that it also featured Forgotten Trailmarkers) and ended up flipped out to a road at another access point. Rather than venture back into the woods, we decided to stick to the road, as we needed a break from the incessant bugs anyway. And in pure us style, we seized the opportunity to get a training run in, all the way back to the car. Backpacks bouncing and camera straps chafing aside, it was a sweet way to finish our epic trek. We were hot, happy, thirsty, and very, very muddy.
Back at the ranch, Annabel propelled forward. Our morning reading sessions had become not “ifs” but “whens”. Coffee, tea, your turn, my turn. The book continues to impress and there are numerous passages that prompt internal and external musings. We sometimes break to reflect on something that has happened, other times we just let it sit in silence. Today, I wanted to dig into a quote that stood out early on in the book. A very special character, a woman named Thomasina, is deciding whether to share something with the main character very personal about said character. It will be painful and possibly shocking and thus Thomasina knows not what to do. She asks, “Would you rather be told a scary truth or a comforting lie?” The question seeks to invite the character into the other’s internal debate, to decide for them whether to be told a scary truth. Of course the truth is the only choice, right?
But then again, of other course, we all know people, perhaps likely ARE people, whom knowingly or unknowingly choose the comforting lies. Maybe there are lies we tell ourselves – “I love my job”, “I’m happy where I am”, “I don’t love that person”. Maybe there are lies we tell others – “We will do that someday, I promise”, “I love you”, “I forgive you”. Often we become so comfortable in these comforting lies that we can’t quite recall what’s true. For whatever reason we do it – adaptive, protective, or otherwise – it happens.
And so I can’t help but think that we ought to protect against this inclination towards the comforting lie. That we don’t let truth become like a forgotten trail. We could endeavor to forge along the path, wearing it down as we go. Tend to the truth with your actions, words, and thoughts. When faced with the fork in the path of “scary truth” or “comforting lie”, I hope we will always choose the former. Though it will have challenging climbs and descents, thought it may be very, very muddy, I hope that it can be a path worth following.
xo shades
otherwise healthy 