River for My Sidewalk

Tamela Topolie was a student of journalism at Ryerson Polytechnical School, Toronto.

The story of man’s communion with nature has been recorded before, but River for My Sidewalk adds a new dimension to the theme. This compilation of essays records the thoughts and experiences of a woman who lived alone for nearly a decade in a cabin in the Cascade Mountains in British Columbia.

Like a modern-day Thoreau, Gilean Douglas savoured the satisfaction that isolation and self-sufficiency can bring. This book was originally published under a male pseudonym in 1953 because it was felt that the public would doubt a woman’s voice telling the stories. Douglas writes in a lyrical yet concise manner. The book is at times almost inspirational.

While many of us see nights in crime-ridden cities as times of fear and withdrawal, Douglas has a different outlook: “The night is my love. Dusk comes with the benediction of the thrush and the darkening of river water. The clearing is all shadow and the forest dim with mystery. The shade climbs higher and higher up the mountains which ring my valley, leaving only the peaks crested with sunlight.”

Douglas contends that if one is independent spiritually, isolation causes no problems. People with this complacency “can make companions out of trees, music out of rivers, laughter out of the antics of their furred and feathered neighbours — and inspiration out of everything. They feel at home in the universe.” Along with her thoughts, Douglas has written chapters that read like a manual. “How to Live without Money” tells of living off wild fruit, roots, and fish. She ate very little meat because “The animals I’ve met here have been mighty decent and I’d like to return the compliment.”

Some might see life in the wilderness as a test of manhood; but Gilean Douglas’s book is convincing evidence that a woman with fortitude and a strong backbone can live well and peacefully in the wild.