Houses come in all shapes and sizes. Some are big and some a small, each serving a specific purpose. There are guest houses, green houses, dog houses and unusual houses. Houses on wheels and houses on stilts. Houses made of wood and houses made of stones, straw and mud. Some houses are nestled in a tree while others are situated out in a wide open space. One particular type of house which is not a house, is the outhouse. Despite its differences and reputation for being overly aromatic in an unpleasant way, the outhouse has many surprising similarities when compared to other houses.

Such is the case with four grand outhouses at Tribune Bay Provincial Park on Hornby Island. These golden orange coloured houses, constructed of cedar logs resemble elegant, classical log homes perched atop a hillside. All four outhouses were wheelchair accessible, built upon large white cement slabs overlooking paradise-like views. Lush evergreen mountains encased the bay, numerous sailboats, big and small, floated in shimmering waters all pointing towards a most pristine beach. Atop and around the fine warm white sand was mother nature’s grand artistry. Beautiful sun-dried, weather sculpted tree trunks lay scattered everywhere and unique sandstone carved landscapes enveloped the beach at either ends. The bay was a spectacular feast for the senses!

Stepping into one of the outhouses was actually a surprising experience as there was no nose-wrinkling odour but only the beautiful scent of sun-baked cedar! The interior was bright and spacious, revealing yet another surprise: happy inhabitants! Yes! Little black winged flies buzzing joyfully around! This revelation dispelled entrenched myths about outhouses. Our mind is powerfully influential in creating our realities. If we stop the inner chatter and stay open in the moment, who knows what we might discover! We could break a lifetime of patterned thinking and delightfully discover something that was never ever perceived possible before!  After all, who would have known that gorgeous outhouses filled with delightfully sweet aromas exists on our planet?!