Riverwood, a Story

Once upon a time, a divorced, middle-aged woman started a FWB relationship because she wanted something fun and uncomplicated, with lots of freedom and independence. The evenings turned into canoeing dates, then weekends away, and then canoe camping trips. Lots and lots of canoe camping trips.

And she happily continued this way until about 9 years later, when she and her partner decided to buy a piece of land so they could camp anytime they wanted. They found it a year later, a piece on a river with pines and deciduous trees and a meadow. In her head, she was so invested in the story of fun, freedom, and independence, that being partnered with a piece of land took her by surprise. Despite her full participation in all of it. She can be kind of dim in these matters.

But she rose to the challenge. They called the land Riverwood and started to build a campsite. And the fun, freedom, and independence continued, along with black flies, felling trees, digging a large hole in the ground, and shoveling gravel.

This isn’t a story about homesteading, or how to build a cabin in the woods, or a happily ever after, or even a cautionary tale about what happens if you let your FWB situation spiral out of control over 9 years and find yourself in a committed relationship with a piece of land.

As always, this is a story about being me, Sandy, doing Sandy things. Which includes this: As a city girl who prefers reading to moving around for pretty much any reason and is a content, sedentary desk jockey, what business do I have at the tender age of 60 working outdoors with my hands and making things like a campsite in the woods? None whatsoever, but I went ahead and did it anyway.

I’ll occasionally post our adventures from our first year. Stay tuned!