Tonight I find myself in a place of comfort and warmth, a place that makes me proud of my desicions and moral beliefs, a place where I feel I can make a difference, a place I call home.

I've just returned from visiting friends in Kingston who have just recently built their own yurt and off grid systems. Almost 3 years ago when they first visited me here in my then meagerly appointed yurt, I never thought that they would relocate their entire family (four young girls) to an off grid yurt of their own in the north of Kingston, but by god they've done it. I've got to see this for myself. My drive east along the 401 found my mind racing faster than I could drive, thoughts of their experiences, their reasons, their transformations, their systems. I've found someone who finally understands...or do they? 

Here I am, standing infront of their two 30' yurts perched on a slight drop off with a beauifully decorated entranceway between them. Vanessa wraps her arms around me in a welcoming hug and says "see what you've done!". Their four young girls running around delighting in the surroundings of their new home, and what a home it is. Beautifully decorated and well appointed it truly made me feel as if I was truly hacking out a meager exsitance in my humble 24' yurt.

Washer, dryer, radient floor heating, shower, tub, full kitchen, telephone, internet, and a solar system that would be the envy of many. How is all this possible and why a yurt? I thought the idea of a yurt was portability? Isn't that why they nomades of Mongolia lived in them for over a 1000 years? Oh well, everyone is welcome to interpret and build in whatever medium they feel right for them. I truly was questioning my whole process of achieving 100% self suffiencency and portability all the while working extremely hard at it untill I walked back through my front door.

The cold air of the yurt hitting me as I opened the door, stumbling around trying to find a flashlight because my power was out...no flashlight, ah, here's a candel. Time to get the cold metal of the woodstove warming the cool air in here. Why's the power out? Where's my dam flashlight? This was my welcome home after spending the weekend in a toasty decked out yurt with Jeremy and Vanessa in Kingston. Why is it so easy for them?

As the fire slowly cracked and poped at the cold metal of the stove, my single candle and the glow of the fire gave my yurt a feeling that couldn't be duplicated in the Neven's yurt. This was home. I feel that in order to be off-grid, you need to be truly connected with your surrounding environment. It was evident when Jer told me that with a $450.00 a month propane bill and the generator running almost daily, they were still a long way from ever being off-grid. But you've got to give them credit for trying. Hey Jer, what's your eco footprint? "I don't really care, I have a family to provide for".

I commend people that take a step in this world to make a difference, both in their lives and to help others. Taking oneself "off-grid" should be a transformative journey, a journey that helps you unplug from the modern world and plug into the real world. It'll be an interesting story to see if the yurt works it's magic and is able to help them unplug.

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