what we want and what we get

years ago, whenever I wrote a thinking reflective type of post I would begin with an image of Robert Service standing outside his cabin in Dawson City, pipe and papers in hand

for some reason that image made me think of a conversation waiting waiting to happen, something interesting

on arriving from Whitehorse I stood in front of said cabin and though it wasn't for the first time, it was no less special

no renovations have been done to it except perhaps the stairs, but two days after this photo the fence was taken down and in the process of being replaced

on that day we wandered up there for a last look before heading back to Whitehorse

it was too early for the cabin to be open to visitors but the Parks Canada employee working on the fence waved us into the yard to explore on our own 

what a treat to have it all to ourselves!

a faint path led up through the wildflowers and grasses of the front yard and for the first time I noticed the front door

every time I have been there over the years and decades the door has been open for the tours - I hadn't seen it shut before

random strips of wood,  cobbled together as so many things in Dawson City always were, it's full of creative inspiration

I would have loved to take a rubbing of some the textures but didn't dare press my luck; close-up photographs will do just fine

the old rusted hinges and padlock on the door keep it true to the Yukon

later, walking through streets of old buildings in this living ghost town we found this painted on one side

 

fitting words for my experience there... I went wanting one thing, came away with it but also a fresh perspective on life and lives lived, what lasts and what doesn't, what we want and what we actually need and how all of that fits in with the passage of time