Doctor’s Cabin, Tochatwi Bay, Northwest Territory (NWT), Canada
Doctor’s Cabin, as it’s known throughout the area, was founded by three doctors, all whom have since passed, from St. Joseph, Missouri. It was built in the 1970s and is located on Great Slave Lake’s Tochatwi Bay in Canada’s Northwest Territory. There are no roads to get there (we used a float plane) and the nearest “town” is about 90 minutes away by boat. I have the good fortune of being friends with three of the current cabin owners. I made my first trip there in the summer of 2024 - nearly four weeks with limited electricity (only when the generator was on), no running water and an outhouse. It was a grand adventure! Before going my first year, I worried I might be bored to death after the first two weeks but really gained an appreciation for nature, peace, quiet and solitude. Spending time there each summer is now one of the highlights of my year.
I just got back from this year’s adventure and decided to post some photos from the past three trips and a Buddhist inspired (poem?) that I wrote this year. It was done during early morning periods of peace and solitude just sitting on one of the boats. I tried to meditate but constantly struggled because of all the beautiful distractions around me.
Looking out at the stillness in front of me, on closer inspection, I see, actually, nothing is still.
Clouds creep above as the sun begins its long, slow journey.
Currents go where the breeze commands, dancing to and fro, like the restless thoughts in my mind.
I try to still them but rising trout, filling their bellies with bugs, in violent splashes, distract me.
And a mamma bear and her cub sneak into our camp, drawn in by our smells, causing temporary excitement.
But the sturdy trees across the lake refocus me and I merge myself with their emptiness.
The mountain’s reflection in the lake reminds me of the illusory nature of this life.
The musk ox’s carcass, lying on the water’s edge, reminds me of the impermanence of this life.
As mayflies emerge as spinners in the final moments of their life, completing their cycle, I wonder, whence will they begin anew?
