A Drought Is Natural

I like to think in metaphor sometimes.  Especially when it comes to startups. A lot of people like to joke I am at a “Unibomber” cabin but I prefer to think of it more like Walden Pond.  When I write my manifesto I will let you know.

We are in the midst of a drought here in northern MN.  Droughts are funny things.  It is not the first time I have seen a drought up here.  Last year, we drilled a well so I am not as concerned about water.  We used to be on a natural spring my grandfather built.  We were always in danger of running out of water if we consumed too much.

One of the things I like about being pretty close to nature in the remote wilderness is it forces you to appreciate and pay attention to the little things.  It brings you closer to the feeling of conservation. Nature doesn’t reveal itself.  You have to look for it.  Droughts are like that.  They don’t happen overnight.

When nature does decide to reveal itself, you have to stop in your tracks, drop what you are doing and take notice.

Nature also has seasons. Right now, the lupines are blooming. They weren’t earlier and they won’t be in a couple of weeks.

Flowers can be like that.  We have some lady slippers on our property.  They bloom, and then they are gone.

One early morning my wife and I were making coffee and a cow moose swam right in front of our dock.  She got up out of the lake, shook, and just started walking to the road.  She was twenty feet from us.  As she made her way through the forest she was hard to see.  That’s the other thing about nature, it’s camouflaged.  It doesn’t want you to see some things.

She made it to the road.  I had run from our cabin to the road to see her.  I watched her walk away.  Not a trot, not a run.  But, not a slow loping walk either.  Nature does things with a purpose.  It doesn’t have time to lollygag.