Benjamin Scribner's Blog, page 20

November snow

Well it’s been another quiet week up here on the mountain, my little slice of heaven.

Snow has finally arrived, leaving around six inches by the time it stopped yesterday afternoon, making traveling up and down a little difficult.

Winter, the first snow. Everything you know changes. The mountain takes on a different kind of quiet, and this new silence takes a while to get used to.

The trees branches hang heavy with their new crown, and even the feel of the air is different.

It is unsettling at first, this new silence, but in a few hours it becomes normal and life moves on in a fashion now slower somehow.

As children, we all looked forward to the first snow. It signified change, a new, fresh beginning, and we reveled in its purity. Then as we got older, we began to dread the snow. It became an advisory, something we had to vanquish. An inconvenience to our very existence.

I still try and capture that feeling of my youth when the first snow hits.

Allen is finally working on his snowmobiles, he doesn’t want to get caught like he did last year when he barely made it off the mountain with his pickup.

The pilgrims are gone, left a few days ago. Though they left quite a few things behind that now they won’t be able to retrieve until spring. Including a broken down van that the wife and kids showed up in.

They are now living in a camping trailer in town. Seven people cramped into a thirty foot camper. Doesn’t sound good to me, but at least they are in town and don’t have to worry about getting up and down this mountain now.

More snow is in the forecast for the week, so after today my pickup will be parked at the bottom of the hill.

Now that winter has arrived, things will slow down up here. I will keep busy writing and working on the inside of the cabin. I hope to finish one room by spring, and since I started on the bathroom, this is the one I will finish.

Besides My Kitchen, I have found a new place in town to hang out when I need reliable Internet. A coffee shop called Always Grounded. The owners are friendly and they serve good coffee.

There’s always good music playing there and a person can relax and enjoy a good latte or just regular coffee. I have been spending quite a few of my afternoons there recently while I figure out this book marketing thing. Which, by the way, is a lot more complicated than you would think, and I’m not as tech savvy as the younger generation.

Speaking of My Kitchen, I stopped in the other day for lunch and found a group of older ladies sitting at the table the old loggers occupy early in the morning. I haven’t been in the diner afternoons and had never seen them before, so I guess it’s the old loggers table mornings and the ladies sewing circle in the afternoon.

Well that’s all the news for the week. Bye for now.

Thoughts by the fire

 

Winter is slow to get here this year, so far all we’ve had has been rain. Which is ok with me, the longer I can drive my truck into my yard, the happier I am.

It is hard to hate when you live in the forest, something about the quite of the woods that puts ones mind at ease, and you begin to realize that hating anyone or anything is small minded and petty.

In the woods, with dangerous, at times, wildlife all around, you understand the power of nature.

When you step outside to find a bull moose in your yard, you understand the meaning of calm.

When you have to plow through four feet of snow to go anywhere, you understand the meaning of patience.

These are my thoughts for this morning by the fire.

Warm November

Well it’s been another quiet week up here on the mountain, my little slice of heaven.

It’s November and the weather is unusually warm. Temperatures have been in the high 50’s this week, with blue skies.

It’s warm enough that insects have come out from their winter sleep and have been pestering me.

Down in town, people are frantically raking up wet leafs in preparation for the other shoe to drop and we get snow.

Larry, Allen and I took a ride over to an old house that a friend of Larry’s is going to tear down soon, the used lumber is up for grabs, and Allen needs it.

He is anticipating the mountain of lumber and is hoping he can get most of it up to his cabin before we get snowed in. He hopes to have enough to build his planed addition, with enough left over for a deck and possibly a second floor.

I myself have no use for any lumber right now, so I passed on helping tear this building down.

All of my outside work is finished, and now with this nice weather, I wish I had more to do.

Instead, I am working on some of my inside projects and writing. By next spring I hope to have most of the inside of the cabin finished, though I will have to wait on the kitchen until I can replace the west side of the roof.

I have often said working on this cabin is like building a Rube Goldberg project. I have to replace the roof before I can finish the kitchen, because it leaks, and I can’t finish the roof until the spring rain has passed.

The guythat built this cabin put the metal roofing right on the roof rafters with nothing underneath. I was able to get the east side fixed before last winter, but with everything going on and not wanting to work with a hot metal roof during the summer, I waited, and the fall rains came early, and didn’t let up. So I will have to put up with it another winter.

Wolves have been close, this time it seems I have a pack to the east of me, where last winter there was a pack about a hundred yards to the west of me that stayed around for a few months before moving on. They don’t really bother me, I know they know I’m here, and if they become a nuisance, I will persuade them to move along.

Well that’s all the news for the week. Bye for now.

This old house, (no not that one)

Went with Larry, Allen and another guy to look at a house that the other guy is tearing down starting this week. Allen needs building materials and there’s enough in this house to keep him busy next summer.

The only thing I want out of it is a king size headboard that I can use as a sign, so tomorrow I will be heading back up to pick it up.

The roof has caved in in one place, making it hard to get anything out right now. So tomorrow Larry is going up with his tractor and pull the front wall away from the house, causing the roof to collapse and then we can get in and take stuff out.

An update on the pilgrims

This morning as I was heading into town (in the dark) I came across two of the kids walking down to the end of the road to catch the bus.

Now for the last few mornings, I have had wolves hanging out nearby. I think a pack has moved into the area.

So I picked up the kids and dropped them off at the bottom of the hill.

Later on, I found out their car had a flat, for two days, and they have done nothing to get it fixed.

Today they called Larry and asked if he could come up and take them into town to get the tire fixed.

Since Larry was about to fix the roof on his garage, I headed up to get them.

The tire was still on the car because they have no jack. But they do have a brand new genorator ($600).

I told them in no uncertain terms NOT TO LET THEIR KIDS WALK THE ROAD IN THE DARK!!

Their answer; We didn’t know there were wolves up here…

I’ll let that sink in…

News on the pilgrims

Found out yesterday afternoon that the pilgrims didn’t get the house in town. The wife was let go from her job, don’t know why, and the husband is now full time at his. So, it looks like they will be stuck here for the foreseeable future. With no firewood.

Three people have tried to tell them to continue gathering firewood in case things fall apart, but they didn’t listen. So, now that the husband is full time, there’s no time to cut wood.

Going to be an interesting winter up here…

First week of November

Well, it’s been another quiet week up here on the mountain, my little slice of heaven.

It’s November now and the weather is mild so far.

The rain has let up for a few days, allowing everything to dry out before the next round of storms. Though, the next round will most likely be snow since some of the taller peaks to the east of me are already sporting a crown of snow.

It seems there are two new families up here now; they are above me and to the west, closer to Allen than me. I can see a 5th wheel trailer from Allen’s cabin, and I hope they are not planning on living in it all winter.

The south side of the mountain gets the snow drifts, ten to twelve feet is what Allen had outside his cabin last winter; so, if these new folks plan on living in the trailer, I hope they don’t mind being buried.

The other folks that are up here are not far from the trailer. Allen told me yesterday that there were a mother and son that have been living up there all summer. Funny, I have never met them going up or down.

I don’t know how prepared these new folks are for winter.  I haven’t seen any sign of a snowmobile or UTV anywhere around either place.

It’s not unusual for some people to want to get away from civilization; everyone has their own reasons, but if you live in such a place, it’s a good idea to know your neighbors. In an emergency, help can be a long time getting up here, and knowing a neighbor could make all the difference in survival. But if they don’t want to be social, I can’t force it.

Scared a young moose cow a few days ago coming up the road. I stopped and it stopped.  I think it’s the one I was talking to last year since it doesn’t seem to be that upset around me.

Wolves were running something down yesterday morning close by my place. They got my dogs all worked up. Later, a coyote came right into my yard close to the porch. I think it was after one of the many rabbits that live under my cabin.

Coyotes don’t normally stick around when wolves are present and don’t hunt in packs, one or two is the norm for them. So, I know the wolves were around first since there was more than two that I could hear. The coyote stuck around close to my cabin for a while, probably trying to avoid the wolves. It moved on after the sun came up and I haven’t seen it since.

I’m finishing up the UTV, putting the doors on it and cutting the windows out, I should have it ready in a few days, then it’s on to the snowmobile. I had to order the right size gas line, and while I was at it, ordered a fuel shut off since these old 70’s machines didn’t have one. I can’t see leaving fuel sitting in the carburetor if I’m not using the machine. By next week, I should have everything ready for the snow and be leaving my truck at the bottom of the hill until spring once again.

Well, that’s all the news for the week. Bye for now.

Wildlife at the door

Interesting morning, first, around 4:30, wolves ran something down nearby. I think they were to the east of me, close to the land right next to mine. Then, about an hour later, a coyote came right up to my porch. I think it was after a rabbit.

Later on, I went out on the porch and could still hear it below me, but still close.

Things have calmed down since the sun came up. The dogs aren’t quite so agitated now, and the cats aren’t staring at the back door anymore.

Going out shortly to bring in firewood and work on putting the doors on the UTV. I will be wearing my pistol.

The end of October, and the year my mother and I tried burning the barn down.

Well, it’s been another quiet week up here on the mountain, my little slice of heaven.

We’ve had almost an entire month of rain, though the sun has peeked out once or twice for a few hours. In between storms, I managed to finish up work on my UTV, at least the much-needed repairs; finishing the cab will have to wait for another day.

The few hardwood trees we have are now past peak fall colors, and leaves blanket yards in town, waiting for homeowners to rake them up.

When I was a boy in New Hampshire, people would burn the dry leaves along the roadside, I used to associate fall with the smell of the burning leaves

I even remember the year that my mom burned the leaves.  I shoveled the ashes into a wheelbarrow, soaked them with water, then dumped the whole mess in my dad’s garden. After we were through, my mom went in for a nap and I went for a ride on my dirt bike, coming home a few minutes later to find flames three feet high in the garden and heading for our barn. Mom and I did the best we could trying to put out the fire until she decided to call the fire department.

Now this was a small town with no fire department of its own, so the trucks had to come from the next town over, and it was, as most small towns, an all-volunteer fire department. Well, by the time they showed up, she and I had the fire out and saved the barn, which was full of dry hay for the horses. The firemen gave everything a good soak down and headed back to town. I still kid my mom from time to time about the time we almost burned the barn down.

The pilgrims did a walk through on a house in town today.  They are hoping to be off the mountain by the end of next month; though by then, there could be a few feet of snow, and with no transportation, that could make the move almost impossible.

Jack showed up yesterday afternoon.  Not sure how long he plans to stay this time, or if he is hauling in more firewood for the winter. He is pretty much Allen’s problem, as his cabin is closer to his than mine.

There had been rumors of another family moving in before the end of this month, and it was confirmed today when a pickup towing a trailer loaded with firewood came up the road. The truck had no wood loaded in it, and as it came up the steep grade, it was struggling for traction. These folks are supposed to be from Northern Montana and should know better, but that might be a pipe dream.

I don’t want to sound heartless, but quite frankly I am sick of folks that know nothing about what it takes to live up here moving in last minute and hoping to survive. These new pilgrims have one child I believe and, from everything I have heard so far, no means of transportation off this mountain this winter. But it’s not my problem.  They have a cabin further up the mountain, around the south side close to Allen; so he can deal with them if there’s trouble.

I think I am as ready as I can be for winter, though I would like another load of wood. Don’t think that will happen, as cutting wood in the rain would cause my hands to quit working and take a day to recover.

My pain in the ass diesel generator is coming off the mountain for good this weekend; can’t afford to spend any more time nor money dealing with it. The mechanic says he will fix it one more time and I can leave it there until it sells. With winter storms forecasted soon, and the possibility of power loss, it hopefully won’t take long to sell.

Well, that’s all the news for the week. Bye for now.

My town

I’ve mentioned in the past that I borrow heavily from Garrison Keillor in his intro to his monolog on Lake Wobegon.

But unlike Garrison ‘ s fictional town, mine is real, as are the characters that inhabit it. Though I have changed a few names and some names I do not know.

So, let’s take a walk around town and I will introduce some of the folks that are often mentioned in my weekly updates.

First, there’s Larry and Moe at the bottom of the hill. Larry is retired and dabbles at woodworking, while Moe cooks and bakes, especially around this time of year her kitchen will be covered in flour and carts of ingredients will be blocking the doorways trapping their two dogs out of her way.

Next is Allen. He’s in his 60’s short and skinny as a rail. He almost didn’t make it his first year up here and even left for three weeks after Christmas. When he came back he was more determined to survive and has made great strides to be better prepared for this winter.

Then there’s the pilgrims. They will be leaving the mountain soon and I will most likely not see them again so they will fade from the story.

Next are the old loggers that hold court every morning, first at Bud’s diner until it closed, now at My Kitchen, a small diner on Main Street.

I call them the old loggers, though they come from every profession. They have lived in town most all their lives and have known each other since school days. The local sheriff joins them now each morning until his day starts, having his regular glass of ice tea before work.

Then there’s Lynn, a waitress from Bud’s diner that should have retired, but went to work at My Kitchen instead. I haven’t talked about her much, but she is one of the characters and will show up from time to time.

Another character that will be popping in soon is Steve, the manager at one of the local markets. Steve always has a smile on his face and a great personality, often joking around with the customers he knows well as he’s ringing up their groceries. I’ve been trying to figure out how to work him into some of my weekly updates. It will happen.

That’s pretty much the cast of characters in the small town below me, as I meet others they will be added as time goes on.