Clare lies in bed in prayer.
Clare passed away at his home in the woods in early March 2020. I met Clare in 2012 and began photographing his life for a project that I ultimately feel I never finished, despite the fact that we kept in touch until his death. Clare was an amazing man who touched many people in western Manitoba. I am re-editing work that for years I thought wasn't good enough because I miss my friend. Below is some Clare's story.
Clare Haralson has lived alone on his family’s farm near Erickson since his wife and kids left in the fall of 1986. That’s over 30 years of solitude. He says living alone was difficult to get used to at first. “When you’re with somebody for years and then all of the sudden you’re by yourself, you’ve gotta adjust.” Like most of us, his days are dictated by routine. He has his cats to tend to, more than a dozen throughout the farm. He has his chores around the home such as gathering fire wood or fixing his deck. Prayer and Bible study fill up a significant portion of his day as well. His log cabin-style house sits nestled in poplar trees mostly hidden from view from the nearby highway. Family photos and other mementos adorn the walls of his home. The majority of his food comes from what grocery stores throw out and his cupboards and fridges are better stocked than most people’s. He brings empty four-litre milk jugs to Brandon and fills them from a natural spring for drinking water. He has no television, no radio, no computer and no telephone. He feels he has no use for them.
Clare in his kitchen with one of his many cats.
Clare cinches his jacket to keep out the cold as he begins his walk north to Erickson on Highway 10 on a cool day in May. The bible scripture was painted on his barn more than twenty years ago and is a common sight for travellers on Highway 10.
Clare peers into the well house on his property while looking for a cat that lives inside.
A calender from 1989 adorns a wall in the hallway. A wedding invitation from 1996 on his fridge is among the various momentos that Clare holds onto.
Strawberries for lunch.
A ride to Brandon appears quickly as Clare hitchhikes on Highway 10. He no longer drives and hitchhikes or walks for his trips into town. He makes it into Erickson most days to check his mail and run other errands. Other days he heads to Brandon.
Clare collects items from an alley behind homes in Brandon.
Clare opens the blinds in the former bedroom of one of his children to allow in sunlight on a cold winter day. His children's rooms have been left in the state they were in when they left, with toys, posters and children's books filing the room.
Bundling up for a walk into town.
Clare looks out a west-facing window in the dining room of his home while in prayer. Prayer and bible-study take up much of his day.
A Bible as well as some notes sit at a desk in the corner of the living room.
Clare rests in his bedroom. Clare is often up at all hours of the night, sometimes doing chores such as chopping wood by moonlight.
Light filters in through a window in the bedroom illuminating the pattern on the blinds.
Deadfall bordering the dugout in the woods behind Clare's home is gathered to use as firewood in the coming winter.
Clare eats lunch by the window in the dining room as Pumpkin sits on his lap purring.
One of the cats receives some affection during chores outside on a winter's day.
Paw prints mark the frost near a bowl on the deck.
Clare would wash an reuse all the containers he collected through dumpster diving behind the grocery store in Erickson.
Photos of his children, food collected from dumpsters and cue cards with biblical writings collect in the upstairs washroom.
A horde of Campbells soup collected from a dumpster behind a supermarket sit atop the toilet in the upstairs washroom.
Socks dry near the wood stove.
Fixing a broken saw blade requires a bit of ingenuity.
Tomatoes rest along the bathroom sink as Calre goes through his religious cue cards; part of his daily ritual of prayer.
Drinking spring water from a reused peanut butter container.
Clare waits in the dark for a passing motorist to give him a lift home from the town of Erickson after collecting groceries from the town's grocery store in the dead of winter.
The light of the rising full moon is reflected by snowdrifts surrounding an abandoned house once belonging to Clare's grandparents on his property. Clare uses the home for storage now.
Fruit dries on a chair in front of a large chalkboard covered in religious writings.
Jugs of spring water line a pony wall in the basement of the home as the most outgoing of the cats, Pumpkin, scratches itself on the staircase.
Recyclables fill counter space as Clare looks in a basement fridge for some food to feed his cats.
Clare lies in bed with one of his cats after lunch one afternoon in September. The cats purr so loud that sometimes Clare can't sleep with them in the room.
Looking for kittens in Clare's bedroom.
Clare carries food out to the well house for one of the cats that live on his property.
Clare rummages for discarded groceries in the dumpsters behind the CO-OP grocery store in Erickson.
Fall colours frame an old combine parked in the woods surrounding Clare's home.
The trodden path through the snow leading from Clare's house in the woods.