Monday 5th August
We went back out to the cabin to meet up with Josh and to do some work out there. Larry came out to put a new belt on the mower so Tayla could finish the lawns. We helped him clear some trees, cut and stack some wood which will help prevent fires next summer. Josh also finished mowing the airstrip. We said goodbye to the cabin which was really sad as it is such a special place, and we don’t know that we will get back there again.
Good-Bye, Little Cabin by Robert W. Service
O dear little cabin, I’ve loved you so long,
And now I must bid you good-bye!
I’ve filled you with laughter, I’ve thrilled you with song,
And sometimes I’ve wished I could cry.
Your walls they have witnessed a weariful fight,
And rung to a won Waterloo:
But oh, in my triumph I’m dreary to-night —
Good-bye, little cabin, to you!
Your roof is bewhiskered, your floor is a-slant,
Your walls seem to sag and to swing;
I’m trying to find just your faults, but I can’t —
You poor, tired, heart-broken old thing!
I’ve seen when you’ve been the best friend that I had,
Your light like a gem on the snow;
You’re sort of a part of me — Gee! but I’m sad;
I hate, little cabin, to go.
Below your cracked window red raspberries climb;
A hornet’s nest hangs from a beam;
Your rafters are scribbled with adage and rhyme,
And dimmed with tobacco and dream.
“Each day has its laugh”, and “Don’t worry, just work”.
Such mottoes reproachfully shine.
Old calendars dangle — what memories lurk
About you, dear cabin of mine!
I hear the world-call and the clang of the fight;
I hear the hoarse cry of my kind;
Yet well do I know, as I quit you to-night,
It’s Youth that I’m leaving behind.
And often I’ll think of you, empty and black,
Moose antlers nailed over your door:
Oh, if I should perish my ghost will come back
To dwell in you, cabin, once more!
How cold, still and lonely, how weary you seem!
A last wistful look and I’ll go.
Oh, will you remember the lad with his dream!
The lad that you comforted so.
The shadows enfold you, it’s drawing to-night;
The evening star needles the sky:
And huh! but it’s stinging and stabbing my sight —
God bless you, old cabin, good-bye!
Larry cooked us up some shrimps, and we enjoyed dinner with him as Robin and Robbie were on their way back from Anchorage. Tayla and Danika made a Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding and the Hicks came over to say Goodbye. We finished packing our bags.
