My Turn Around

“Discovering the natural world gave my life purpose, and led to a great job too”

Everyone always says how boring it is where we live. They had to close the rec centre because of the mould, and there aren’t any malls or anything, and you have to drive for hours to go to something like a dirt bike course.

Me and my friends were always bored, so we partied. Mostly we’d drink and one of the guys even knew how to make his own stuff so it was really cheap. One night I got really wasted and when I woke up I was out in the bush. I kind of remember walking out on one of the old lumber roads but I’m not sure how I ended up there. Anyway, I felt really bad and I just stayed where I was until I felt like walking home. After a while I started noticing the different birds and bugs and stuff, and where the moose had eaten the bushes, and I got interested in what they were doing. It was like this whole little universe. It’s kind of hard to explain, but I started going out more and more. I’d buy jerky and Snickers bars at the gas station and go out for the whole day, or even stay out overnight at one of the trapper shacks because they’re not locked up. Sometimes I would just sit under a tree and have a smoke and just watch what was going on.

Once in a while I’d see other people out too, like my friend’s grandmother picking berries, or one of the men going to his trapline, and we’d talk a little bit. Then my cousin came home for a funeral, and he told me all about this lodge where he’s a fishing and hunting guide for the tourists. He gets paid to go out in the boat fishing all the time, or set up a deer stand. Cool job, eh? So this outfitter was hiring and he asked if I wanted to come and see about the job. That was a couple years ago. I still will drink a couple beers with my friends but I don’t party like I used to.