My cousin, Bernie, recently took a walk across the land and sent over a video of the tour. Watching it here from my room in Nova Scotia, it felt like I was right there pushing through the branches. The land is thick and stubborn, filled with young birch and aspen, heavy fir, and spruce growing so close together that you have to actively shoulder your way through the foliage. There are no paths yet, just a green wall of needles and damp ferns.

But it was good to see it. It brought me back to my boyhood days on Random Island, where we’d spend hours in on the level, or down by the brook, and coming home with spruce gum stuck to our pants.

Mind you, the video showed a few things we’ll have to deal with before we can even think about building. The first is a heavy black Bell telephone wire that has come off its poles. It is sagging down at eye level right through the trees, hanging like a lazy clothesline. My cousin checked the tension on it, and it’s clear I need to follow up on my ticket with Bell to get it cleared away before we start swinging any chainsaws or bringing in gear.

Then there are the rocks. The land is rugged, and right in the middle of the trees sits a massive, moss-covered glacial boulder. It’s a giant erratic, left behind by the ice ages. As a boy, we loved climbing those old stones. We won’t be blasting or moving these rocks; they are part of what I love about the spot, and an integral part of the lawn I see in my minds eye.

The land slopes down, running through the deep green corridor until the trees thin out. Right at the edge, you catch that sudden, clean view of the water of Smith Sound and the rugged Random Island shoreline. It is a beautiful sight, the kind that makes you forget the blackflies for a second. And dream of lawn chairs on a platform overlooking the sound, and a set of steps leading down to a small wharf.

And the best part is how close the road is. The camera turned around and showed the paved road just yards away where the white SUV was parked, meaning we have direct frontage and won’t have to carry our timber miles through the woods.

Of course, to make this work, we need a plan

I have lots of ideas in the works there.  I’d love an Aliner but they are hard to find used, so it’ll likely be a used pop-up tent trailer.  Propane for a stove (and furnace, if it gets cold), a charcoal barbecue, a solar generator that can become the basis of an off-grid power system. But that’s all for future.

Anyone have an inside line on winning the lottery?