The fairy tale forest
Setting off from Dawson We’ve been out for 6 weeks and in that time the forest has sprung up, fast as a million beanstalks from a million magic beans, and engulfed our home almost beneath it. Cabin's in there somewhere I can barely see the house as we pull in to land. Our trails up the bank are clotted with greenery and we push our way through with arm load after arm load of supplies. It’s a short summer, but the sun shines all night and plants go utterly mad with the joy of it. There is fireweed everywhere, blowing buff seeds into the air and casting a purple tint across the yard. The willows we cut in the spring have bounced back so vigorously it feels like they’re laughing at us. We missed the delphiniums but the bog star and lupins are still blooming. Our potatoes, beans and even our tomatoes survived their abandonment, and somehow hung in there beneath the towering chickweed. The last of our raspberries are moulding on the stems and s...