The Call of the Wild

I have a terrible hankering to be in the wilderness somewhere. A desperate longing in fact. I want to stand on a mountain or hillside and look at a sweeping view. I want to look at miles of space and not see any sign of human habitation. I want to see forest and lakes. I want that feeling of awe and freedom it gives you. I want to feel the earth, smell the rain, hear the silence and wonder at the power of nature. To be surrounded by the raw elements.

I feel hemmed in by suburbia even though I live in a rural village. It's too tame, too busy, too crowded. I live in the South East of England within 50 miles of London and there definitely isn't any wilderness anywhere near here. Nor any within driving distance. Even our recent trip to North Norfolk which did have some wild elements has not satisfied my longing. I would love to move to Canada, The Pacific Northwest, North East USA or New Zealand and live in a log cabin on a farm somewhere but I am too close to my family to even contemplate moving so far away.

We are planning on moving next Spring as they are building two houses on an old garden right next to ours and we feel very crowded and overlooked. It is bad enough being in a cul-de-sac but at least being at the end we had some space. Not anymore. Our garden is so small (20ft x 30ft) it doesn't really offer that sense of outdoor space that I need. I dream of finding a detached cottage with a big garden and no neighbours to feel some of that sense of nature around me. However in this area they are waaaaaay beyond our tiny budget. In fact anything decent is beyond us. But a large garden is my number one priority followed by a rural / isolated location. Maybe we should try buying a plot of land and a caravan! It would suit me but I'm not sure hubby would agree.

I was looking at Amanda's beautiful photos of Maine on Soule Mama and I am deeply envious. Maine looks truly beautiful. I don't care that it snows all winter, I love snow and they have lovely hot summers! I am really jealous of the sense of space they have. The forests, national parks, coastline and mountains.

I love American literature and especially books about small town America (a la Garrison Keillor) or the wilderness. I read Call of the Wild and White Fang by Jack London when I was a kid and loved them. And Little House on the Prairie of course. Nowadays I adore anything by Annie Proulx and also the Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy. At the moment I am part of the way through Dee Brown's Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee - about the genocide of the Native American Indians. It's excellent and deeply moving.

So for the moment I guess I'll just have to keep getting my fix of wilderness through my books.