OFF THE GRID

Every now and then we all need some time alone. Some time with just you and your thoughts. No cell phone, no tablet, no internet, just you and nature. Anyone who works in the social services sector knows that in any given day your day can go from 0-160 and stay there till the end of the day. All that being said, I had to unplug from the matrix. So I packed my hiking bag (Western Pack) laced up my Puma’s and took off on my off the grid adventure.

Instead of taking the usual path to the top of Monks Hill I decided to take a path we used to take as children growing up in Falmouth. What I didn’t know was that this area was now over grown and literally a jungle to get through, but determined as I was I pressed forward. I left home at 5:05 and by 5:15 I had scaled a fence and pushed through more stinny nectle^ than I ever had in my life. By 5:25 I had climbed a huge boulder and made my way through the rest of the bushes. As I started my climb up the hill I realized that my chest was heaving and hoeing like I was running from the police. Looking back and seeing the sun setting off to the west caused me to take a moment to take in the sights and snap a few pics. I picked up the trail to the plateau but again decided to go in a direction that I hadn’t taken in a long time. I ducked under a few fallen trees and was making progress. A turtle dove caught my eye off to the right of the path and I paused for a few to enjoy nature at its best. I’ve never really been one for bird watching but just standing there watching this creature in its element was calming.

I made a path up the side of a cliff and stumbled upon a few tombstones. I figured this must have been the burial ground I had heard so much about as a child but couldn’t recall if I had seen it before or not. I snapped a few pictures of these soldiers as they slept and kept on moving. It was a bit ironic coming across some “jumby”* beads after passing through a graveyard not moments earlier.

Ten minutes later and I had arrived at my destination. Monks Hill. From this spot I could see all of Falmouth, Cobbs Cross, and parts of English Harbour and Picadilly. Falmouth Harbor lay before me with its entire splendor. A few boats were docked in the harbor while some sailed around no doubt to the enjoyment of those aboard.

My sunlight was fading so I struck my tent. It took me all of five minutes. I laid out the contents of my bag; sleeping bag, two bottles water, two cups yogurt, a cheese sandwich, sweat pants, hoodie, video camera, pen, paper and David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell.

Now that I had “unpacked”, I proceeded to watch the sunset. As I sat there thinking of nothing and everything at the same time, two thoughts came to mind; this is probably how the scene from the Bible looked when Jesus was tempted by the devil having him look down on the city below him and offering it to him. My next thought was “I must be out my mind”. I sat enjoying the ambiance until the sun was way behind the hills. I brought no flashlight so had to resort to my camera light as my reading light.
I dozed in and out of sleep for the next four hours, waking up every four to eight minutes to check the time. Guess your body needs time to adjust when you’re sleeping in the middle of nowhere. By 1 am I was up and about. Took a bathroom break and stayed outside for a bit enjoying the midnight breeze and embracing my solitude. I lay with my head outside the tent staring up at the moon hiding behind the cloud filled skies. Wondering how the universe was conspiring for and against me in its grand scheme of things. After a bit of light reading to set me back to sleep, I began to feel like I was right where I should be.

I was surprised that the sun wasn’t out in its entire splendor by 5:00AM. If the sun wasn’t up then why should I be? After all it was Sunday on an island, so I took another forty winks until 6:30. I sat on the cliff facing east and watched a herd of goats making their way down the hillside. I was so caught up in their movements that I didn’t realize the sun was rising. I caught it as it left the horizon in all its golden yellow majesty. The warmth I felt on the outside did not compare to that on the inside. I had been thinking of this adventure for quite a while now. It was good to finally have it as something I did rather than something I wanted to do.

^stinny nectle is the island equivalent to poison iv.
*jumby is the island equivalent of zombies.