Driving back to the U.S. from Jacques’, we were surprised to see cars on the road, lots of people going for walks, McDonalds counting itself as an essential business… we imagined the whole of the world as one giant ghost town. That was, of course, silly of us, as people still need their Big Macs. We were stopped at a checkpoint, only to be hurried along by a Quebecois police after informing him of our plan to go back to the U.S. and stay there. Border crossing had never been easier. We were the only ones passing through that day and the border officers were expecting us. The first thing America had to say to us was, “Welcome back! There is no toilet paper left in stores!”
There were mixed feelings about coming back – perhaps some sarcastic patriotism. About half a mile from the border, we stopped at the side of the road, and marked our territory. Instantly we felt right back at home. There was also a dance party to Klezmer/Gypsy/punk/electro music where we all went wild and Elena blew us all away with her pro dance moves (on top of the van).
After 16.5 hours of driving, flash roadside dance parties, loud singing, attempted sleep, and many rounds of bannock, we arrived at Mahoosuc Guide Service, home and business of Polly, Kevin, and their beloved huskies. Jackie had arrived earlier that day, and welcomed us and showed us into the lodge we would live in for the next three weeks.
Polly and Kevin are extremely knowledgeable and experienced guides and teachers who opened their home, time, and supply of patience to us for very little in return. We could not be more grateful for this safe haven we landed in. Before long, we began living into the flow of life here at Mahoosuc: carving paddles with Kevin in the barn, coming along with Polly and Kevin for dog chores, working on our big jobs to prepare for all the ocean will be, and watching movies/documentaries with Polly in the evening. 
Each morning we wake up to the view of a long green boat and a field of dry grass stretching out to the beautiful red barn sitting underneath the protective watch of Old Speck, still topped with snow. Our days begin with a run, Tai-chi, or yoga, followed by breakfast and a chores period. Four of us meet Polly and Kevin to go look after their dogs’ needs (which mostly consist of lots of love and attention); everyone else washes dishes, disinfects the bathroom, sweeps the floor, or gets ahead on their big job work. On most days the group is split up so that half the group is working on their paddle while others tear through the wood pile or finish projects. Such projects included:
Sarah – Made two masts and booms for both boats and also completed boat repairs.
Eliza – Made two beautiful sails and bags to keep them in, as well as a bunch of gear repairs.
Elijah – Made (who knows how many) bow drill sets for us to use while on the ocean with Kai.
Kai – Made (who knows how many) bow drill sets with Elijah. Sharpened our axes and repaired spring tents.
Rachel – Researched islands in the Penobscot bay to create a rough itinerary and collection of possible campsites for us to use, as well as creating a beautiful map of the area.
Audrey – Completed a thorough cleaning of the van and trailer, figured out our road route to and from the ocean, wrote a bunch of thank you and birthday cards and organized the making of thank you gifts. And is in the process of writing the blog…
Julia- Made butt pads! And ORGANIZED EVERYTHING – created new packing lists for the spring.
Calla and Elena – Organized a lot of food! Packed out for expedition, and for the three weeks here.
Sydney – Managed the chore rotation and responsibilities checklist as well as recorded finances, and assisted on practically every other project.
Pele – Did many loads of very dirty laundry.
Katarina – Did complex mathematical calculations to figure out what out water carrying capacities are and how long we have before needing to replenish our drinking water. Located streams and water sources on islands by examining maps.
Celebrations
While living here at Mahoosuc we practiced celebrating life as often as possible. We had two birthday parties, one for Polly and one for Elena. We made a double-layered chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting and chocolate lettering on top. Kevin brought ice cream to accompany the cake on its journey to the depths of our stomachs.
There was a night when Polly came over with a big bag of popcorn and a carousel slideshow of her life in the Yukon Territory. It was in the Yukon that Polly first learned how to mush – dog sledding. The film photographs were amazing, straight from National Geographic, and her stories even more so.
We also celebrated spring holidays. Pele would pass out little bits of Passover snacks after meals and remind us to remember the Jewish people. On Easter Sunday we got up to all sorts of kitchen fun with improvised muffins and liver pie, as well as chocolate bunny droppings from Polly. 
We celebrated spring weather with a hike up Puzzle Mountain, but soon after starting we realized that winter still lay over the mountain. We, as recent survivors of deep snow, had mixed feelings about being back in post-hole central. We now know that rain boots are just as good at holding water in as keeping it out, and that the Mahoosuc Guide Service barn is visible from Puzzle Mountain’s summit.
A celebratory moment of the grandest kind was when Kevin and Polly’s gigantic pile of logs disappeared out of existence, well not quite, now it was bucked up, split by hand or splitter, and stacked all around the property. We had worked on the pile almost everyday; bit-by-bit it grew smaller until finally it was gone! While the accomplishment of such an intimidating task is a gift in itself; the fact that we accomplished this task to help Kevin and Polly added even more to the excitement – so when Polly brought out Oreos, we went wild. We have a lot of respect for both of them so they had no need to bribe our love with food, but we certainly appreciated the gesture anyhow.
A sad reality of the virus is that Semester must now try avoiding all spontaneous encounters with humans instead of encouraging them. All of us were looking forward to being able to do service in N.Y.C., which now of course will not happen, even though the city probably needs help now more than ever. Luckily, Polly was able to connect us with a few amazing people who could use our help with some service work. We enjoyed being of use and getting the chance to work outside. We received delicious treats in return for our enthusiasm, but the most valuable gift given to us was the chance to meet all the amazing people who had so many stories to tell, a lifetime worth of knowledge to share with anyone willing to listen. We were inspired, acknowledging our own hope to live lives as full, complex and meaningful. We also realized that there was no summit in life: it only grows and gathers until the very end. Who says you need to slow down with age when you can run a farm, wood mill, food distribution system… ?
We leave Mahoosuc inspired, introspective, celebratory, and creative. Ready to feel the cold spray of salt and lonesome howl of the wind upon our tired frames.
Please everyone stay safe, go outside, celebrate Spring, watch seeds sprout and flowers bloom, make towers of rock along the shore, and fairy houses in the woods, read poetry and write back in reflective inspiration, improvise recipes out of simple, beautiful things: Flour, Salt, Butter… And rejoice in all that life still holds. We are sending thoughts of love back to all of you as we continue on our adventure.
Sincerely, Oddtree
Recipes
Liver Pie
The idea for liver pie was born from a fridge full of liver given to us by Polly when she offered it to Calla and the food manager could not refuse. Calla doesn’t even like liver, but the appeal of free food, especially during the spring season when we are going through exorbitant amounts of food withdrawal, was too much for her and we needed to figure out what to do with all this meat that was given for free from the butcher’s shop. Audrey was convinced that liver pie was the way to consume the meat, Sydney pushed the project along with her enthusiasm for trying weird things, and Julia made the crust using all her British Baking show practice…
Pie crust:
4 cups of Flour
1 1/3 cups of cold butter
cold water
Salt
- Add and mix together ingredients a little at a time to make sure it doesn’t get too watery. Massage together to get a smooth consistency without clumps.
- Store dough in the fridge until it is ready to roll out to fit the pan.
Liver:
As much liver as you can stomach
Onion
Garlic
Salt & pepper
- Marinate the meat ahead of time with seasoning and garlic
- Cut up the meat into tiny little cubes. Chop up garlic and onions as well
- Fry it all up on the stove.
Filling:
Split peas
Cabbage
Carrots
Fry the pancakes – thin! And serve with whatever toppings you can spare if any, save a little bit of apple sauce for the birthday girl.
- Cook split peas to a slightly mushy consistency like mashed potatoes
- Chop up available fresh vegetables
Assemble:
Crust (on top)
Liver
Fresh veggies
Split peas
Oat Latkes
Created By Jackie… “a good cook can prepare a meal with whatever’s in the kitchen.”
Ingredients:
Rolled Oats
Dehydrated potato powder
Salt & pepper
Nutritional yeast
Butter
- Boil oats for 90 seconds or until barely soft
- Combine oats with all other ingredients to form a moist dough
- Form little pancakes and fry in a desired amount of butter.
Birthday Crepes
Due to a lack of eggs (we ate them all), we substituted apple sauce for the eggs, and while it didn’t quite result in the classic Russian Blini that she wanted to make for Elena’s birthday, it did taste good and looked like a crepe, so…
Wake up early (5:30) to make the applesauce as you will need it for the batter and it adds a bit of prep time.
- Cut up and skin two to three apples
- Let the apple chunks boil away on the stove until they become soft enough to easily press a fork through them.
- Drain the pot of the extra water. Pro tip: add the apple water to the other grain you are cooking, it adds flavor that goes well with oatmeal or seven grain.
- Mash up the apples to a pulp
Batter:
- Whisk together 4.25 cups of cowpow milk and the apple sauce
- Stir in 1/3 tsp of salt and 2 Tbl of sugar
- Mix in 4 cups of four then 3 Tbl of melted butter and 1 cup of boiling water
Fry the pancakes – thin! And serve with whatever toppings you can spare if any, save a little bit of apple sauce for the birthday girl.
Pizza
Pizza night is always a good night! Especially when you have an entire pizza to yourself.
Dough:
1 1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
Toppings (optional):
Tomato sauce
Mozzarella cheese
Hotdogs
Onions
Cabbage
Garlic
Mix all the ingredients together
Rollout the dough into a baking pan
Bake the dough at 350oF – this will help the pizza cooking go along faster later
Chop up all the toppings
Sautée the onions, garlic, and cabbage
Decorate the pizzas and stuff them into the oven until it has all melted together
Birthday cake
2 cups sugar
3 ½ cups flour
1 ½ cups of cocoa
1 ½ tsp baking
1 ½ tsp baking soda
pinches of salt
4eggs or 2 tsp of cider vinegar
2 cup milk
1 cup melted butter
2 cups boiling water
- Combine dry ingredients, then stir in the wet to get rid of clumps
- Butter two pans and split the batter between the two of them
- Bake for 30ish minutes on 325o F
Cream cheese frosting
(whip it all together – a good arm workout when you don’t have an electric mixer!)
1/2 cup butter
Cream cheese
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp of vanilla
No comments:
Post a Comment