It's
not everyday that the universe develops a rift and the temple shroud
tears asunder from top to bottom, and it certainly didn't happen the
next day as George and Mottles ascended their homemade ladder to nail
some fine cedar shakes on their little cabin roof. The effort was a
mite tedious but the results were spectacular and by evening the
front side of their refuge looked fabulous. George was excited. His
list of necessities was coming and he kept thinking on how he could
harvest that rice with his old row boat. It would be mighty hard to
push it into the grassy bays and his only idea so far was just to get
as close into the fray as he could and harvest from what he could
reach. So the next day after the next, after he had finished his
fine roof, that's exactly what George did. He rowed his little boat,
with his tarp all nicely cleaned up and tucked neatly over the whole
bottom, alongside the outer rice stalks and using a couple light
sticks as he had seen the experts doing, he began bending the stalks
over his boat and gently knocking the husks off. It was working,
sort of, as he learned which tufts gave up the most for his efforts.
Just
as he had a noticeable layer over most of his boat bottom he heard
laughter. “Snowball, yer a real pro” came from smiling faces as
his friends came closer. George had been so involved in his effort
he had not even heard them coming. They encouraged him though, and
told him he might even get lots from little tufts of rice along the
shore which no one usually bothered with. So George continued and by
the time his arms were ready to fall off from exhaustion, he had
enough in his boat to fill maybe half a sack. He rowed back in time
to meet his friends with their canoe loaded to the point of danger.
Albert Two Shoes and the younger Albert One Shoe, because he had
never been seen wearing more than one shoe as a little kid, had left
mom at home to dry rice and begin the processing. This would be
their last trip this year because the reserve was installing a new
sewer system and they had only gotten a few days off for ricing this
year. Oh, and they had put all George's supplies in his cabin. That
evening after a feast of juicy mushroom burgers which the Alberts had
brought in a cooler, and after he had spread out his own rice to dry,
George went up to his cabin to check out his new stuff.
Everything
was there, along with receipts and a carefully tallied list and his
bank card, with the total coming out to $1,258.49, all packed neatly
in the tub and plastic totes. Many items were from Canadian Tire and
the rest from Walmart. The quilt had a little handwritten note
attached which said “Hand sewn goose down, made by Emma, $50.”
The grain sacks were used but clean, and the hinges had once hung
another door with a bit of orange paint still decorating them. But
everything was there including a little case with his wood carving
tools. That night George and Mottles slept in their corner on their
new foam mattress with their down quilt, the coziest sleep they had
ever had. He should have asked for a pillow too. What a life.
Next
evening after they all returned with their loads and the Alberts were
preparing to leave, Albert Two Shoes told George in a very candid
manner “If anyone ever asks you what you're doing here, just tell
them you are here for some religious solitude with the blessings of
our First Nation. This island is actually a disputed part of our
reserve, but it is unlikely that anyone will ever bother you. We
sometimes come ice fishing out this way, so maybe we'll stop by for a
good cup of tea when the lake freezes over.” And with that they
were off, chugging away, slightly overloaded, canoe in tow, but it
was a calm evening.
(To
be continued)
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