I remember a writer speaking at the Sechelt Writers Festival. I wish I could remember her name…Chris something? Anyway, she was from Northern British Columbia and had written her story about building her home herself in some place that was a zillion miles from nowhere. She had to be flown in to a lake and then hike in for four days…you get the picture. Far away.
And. She spent most of her time completely alone.
During the Q&A period, someone asked her how she could handle being alone so much? Didn’t she miss people?
And this woman said, “You’re asking the wrong question. You should be asking, how can I do this? How can I manage being surrounded by all you people, speaking here, and being so social? And my answer is, that it’s only possible because I spend so much time alone.”
At the time I remember being quite amazed by the reversed question. I’ve always enjoyed my alone time but that seemed like too much.
Until this weekend…when I was completely alone and I felt like an empty cup that couldn’t get enough of it. I read, I wrote, I puttered and I just wanted it to keep stretching into more and more. There have been so many times on my self-imposed Sunday techno-fast when I get restless and looking for connections…but this time…nope.
And clearly I had enough time on my hands to film Courage, Confidence and Karma in their search for that elusive perfect word.
And at the risk of being very inconsiderate to the aforementioned girls I made myself a wonderful chicken dinner. One of my best. Seriously. Hands down.
Had a lovely glass of Viognier, added some sides of roasted organic carrots and red pepper along with some short-grain brown rice and voila. Heaven.
I have linked to Lidia Bastianich’s Pollo con Olive e Pignoli recipe here. I used organic chicken thighs, fresh bay leaves out of my garden and honestly…it was delicious.
They may be smart but they haven’t learned how to roll in the paper!
Exactly. And yet they’re so smug about everything…
The chicken dish sounds heavenly – I’m waiting for my husband to bring home dinner, and he is late and I am starving. Although I might have trouble eating chicken thighs with Courage, Confidence, and Karma looking on 🙂
The solitude – yes, I can definitely see the attraction there. Sometimes a day alone, minus the internet, sounds sublime.
Yes, since we got the ‘girls’ I’ve been sneaking our groceries in so they can’t see 🙂 It has made me very conscious about eating more ethically. I can’t abide the thought any more of those mass production chicken plants. I want to know that anything I eat had a bit of a life. Our girls are certainly having a great time running around our yard. And amen on the solitude. I think I need a big fat stretch of it to really get my writing off the ground.
The womans name is Chris Czajkowski! I too have met her and read several of her books. It amazed me also that she could be so alone. She is quite an interesting character. Spending more time alone this year, than I have ever spent before, has been a new and rewarding experience . It is almost as if this year with all its alone time has been a gift . I know it won’t last much longer, soon Stan will be finished his course and be back home permanently. I won’t forget it though, these days of peace and solitude and the way it has changed how i feel about being alone . Chalk it up on the list of life changing experiences, and now I will appreciate the time alone when it is given to me in the future! Might just try out that chicken dish too!
That’s it. I knew it ended in a “ski”. Maybe we’re getting old and wise and needing our hermit time 🙂 Let me know what you think about the chicken dish. I just loved it…