Benjamin Scribner's Blog, page 21

Rain, rain, go away

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

Rain, rain and more rain has been rolling through all week, though Sunday we had a few hours break and some sun managed to shine for a few hours. Long enough for Allen and I to pull a few more dead trees up.

I got a full load and just as I got them unloaded, the rain started again.

Today was another nice day so I spent it cutting, splitting and stacking all the firewood I have left. I would still like one more load, but I think that’s not going to happen before the snow hits us.

Picking up the parts for my UTV tomorrow and hopefully will have it all back together by the weekend.

My diesel generator seems to be trouble free for now. I just hope it stays that way for the rest of the winter. Can’t easily load it up in my UTV and haul it off this mountain, and with no backup, I will be pretty much screwed if it goes down on me again.

Haven’t seen much of the pilgrims since I had to haul their daughter into the emergency room at the hospital. I did find out she did need stiches to close the wound. I will be happy when they have left the mountain for town, another failed attempt by folks that have no business being up here.

To live up here requires a certain amount of crazy and no fear of dieing. Allen almost didn’t make it his first year, and still believes I am about the craziest person he has ever met.

This year should be better for Allen, he is better prepared than last year, even scrapping together enough lumber to build a small addition onto his cabin. I think he will be fine.

Down at the diner, the old loggers are still holding court in their own unique way. Everything from the weather to politics have been argued over at the round table. It’s a shame the world’s problems can’t be solved as easy as it is around that table.

It’s hunting season, and there have been a few diehards braving the rainy weather to get a shot at a deer. A few have been heard going up the “main” road west of me before the sun has even poked up over the horizon.

Snow is in the long term forecast. Looks like it will start around the first week of November and judging from the rain storms that have moved through as though they were on a conveyor, we might be in for a hard, cold winter up here.

I am as prepared as I can be, so I am not concerned.

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

October news

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

It seems the pilgrims have found a place in town close to where they work, and most likely be moving sometime in November. Though how they plan on that when it’s a good possibility we will have snow up here by then, but right now it’s not my problem.

I am happy for them, they wouldn’t have made it up here and things could have gotten out of hand quickly.

I have been told there is another couple that is planning on wintering up here. I haven’t seen them yet and they are on top of the mountain to the west of me. As far as I know they don’t have children, so it will be up to themselves to survive, and they are closer to Allen than me, so they will most likely find him first.

There’s been frost up here the last couple of days, winter is sending out scouts, preparing for a full assault soon I believe, much sooner than I would like, but that’s life.

It seems the more I get done, the more that needs getting done, again that’s life up here, but I can at least see the end now.

Still hoping to get, at the very least, two pickup loads of firewood in before the truck has to be left at the bottom of the hill for the duration of winter. I’m thinking this weekend regardless of the weather.

Speaking of weather, big storms are heading this way and starting Thursday, we are expecting rain, already above average rain has doused us this fall, and for at least the next five days or so we will be getting more.

Down at the diner, the old loggers have been holding court on the troubles of the world. If only things were that simple.

Well, time to stoke the fire for the night.

That’s all the news for the week. Bye for now.

Thoughts by the wood stove.

There’s something primal about a wood fire.

What does it stir in the most primative part of our brain?

What is it that sets off our senses when we smell wood smoke on a damp day?

Could it possibly be our ansesters passed this feeling down through time in our very DNA?

The smell of wood smoke brings me to thoughts of home and comfort, of joy and laughter, of families close by and safe.

Of sitting with a good book and a cup of coffee or tea, the animals laying by the stove, content with their existence.

October cold

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

October is here, bringing with it colder temperatures than I have felt up here in the three years I have lived here. I have had a fire going just about every day. This has me a little concerned for the coming winter, not sure now if I have enough wood to last until spring.

There’s been reports of snow in the mountains to the east and north of me; even the Grand Tetons have been hit with winter early; passes in Montana have been closed due to snow; and heard that Kellogg, a town just to the north east of me, got three inches of the white stuff yesterday. So I’m not sure I’ll be able to haul in more firewood before my truck has to be parked at the bottom of the hill for the winter.

I have been putting some distance between myself and the pilgrims as of late.  Though they are nice enough folks, they seem to subscribe to just about every conspiracy theory there is, and I really have no patience for that kind of nonsense. It seems other folks at the bottom of the mountain are of the same mind, as the pilgrims have been asked to stop coming around at a couple of homes down there.This will not bode well this coming winter when we all depend on each other to survive up here.Even Allen has been avoiding them lately, only taking his generator down long enough to pump their water and fill his jugs.

Down at the diner, the owner took out the only two round tables in the place and replaced them with four square ones. Now the old loggers have to pull two tables together when they hold court mornings there.

I have most of what I need for my winter projects stacked on my porch.  A few more days and I will be ready to work inside without having to dig out my materials first; unlike last year, when I left it out and had five feet of snow over it and gave up trying to dig it out.

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

Misty morning

Mist hangs heavy on the mountain this morning. A snowshoe hare timidly peeks out from under the porch, then crosses the yard to its favorite spot to eat.

I have the fire stoked and drinking my coffee while a chipmunk scolds some critter nearby.

It’s supposed to rain again today, so I will probably work inside again.

So far the morning is perfect.

A rainy Tuesday

Cold and rainy here today, and I’m running on about two hours of sleep. Still have to get something done on my UTV, but not in this weather.

So today I have been puttering around inside, nailed up more pallet boards in the bathroom. Now I need to cut up more pallets, but that will have to wait until a dryer day.

To tired to write, so I will take it easy the rest of the day.

This week’s news, finishing up around here.

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

Finally got my firewood cut, split and stacked for the coming winter, though I would like another cord. Maybe I can haul in more before the snow flys.

I still need to get the UTV ready, but since Larry’s pickup broke down Saturday and is in his shop waiting for him to fix it, I will have to put my repairs on hold another few days. There are a few things I can fix up here, like the exhaust manifold gaskets and building the cab, but the axle bearings require a jack and two sets of hands to get the tracks off and on, so I will wait.

The pilgrims are buying a chainsaw tomorrow and he will be cutting wood in his off time trying to get enough in before November rolls around. Allen has offered to help him because he has quite a bit of downed trees over at his place that are easy to get to. I have one cedar still waiting to cut up near the end of my driveway that I told him he could take since I have enough cedar and don’t want anymore in my wood pile.

I’m loading up my porch with lumber for indoor winter projects now, though I plan on doing more writing than building this winter, I still need time to give my brain a rest and will pound some nails when I need time to think.

My diesel generator is still in town, the mechanic hasn’t had time to check it out. The gas one he loaned me he hasn’t used but a few hours in the last eight years so he has kind of given it to me indefinitely, so it looks like I might have a backup if the damn diesel quits again. Really don’t want to keep it, but I don’t think this late in the year I will be able to sell it and get a better one in before the road closes with the snow, so I will give it one more chance.

Hopefully be next winter I will have all the wiring finished and only have to run a generator when I need to use the old Maytag, or if we have a week of no sun or enough wind to keep my batteries charged.

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

Things just get stranger around here.

I often question my own sanity up here when the weather turns cold and winter approaches. But I grew up in New England and winter is just another thing to deal with.

Having said that, now I am beginning to question the sanity of most people.

The pilgrims showed up a bit ago and were telling me they met the gal that owns the lot below them. Seems her husband bought the property a few years ago and dreamed about moving to an off-grid life. Well, he recently died and hs widow now plans on building a cabin on the land and living here year round. She even had a contractor here over the weekend looking at the land.

Now normally this wouldn’t be a problem, but she lives in Louisiana and has never lived or driven in snow country before and is under some delusion that, because she has a pickup, she will be able to just drive in all year long…

Let that sink in a moment.

Not exactly sure when the building will start, but I doubt this year, so by the time her cabin is built, and she moves, it will be fall and she will be in the same situation as the pilgrims are now.

And to top it off, she also has seventeen dogs. Can anyone say coyote bait?

Yeah, now thinking about moving to the wilds of Alaska, it’s getting a bit strange around here.

Bears

Jack and Allen stopped by yesterday. On the way over, they ran across a rather large black bear standing in the road. They stopped and waited until it moved off the road. They told me it was heading in my direction.

I told them I wasn’t concerned, bears don’t bother me any more than the moose do.

There was a bear a few years ago that raided my old 5th wheel in the spring looking for food, messed up the inside of the trailer pretty good.  I didn’t really care, because I was dismantling the old trailer anyway.

(Mountain ) Lions and (no) tigers and bears, …

Fall is here

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

September is in full swing, though I don’t remember last year it being so cold. The fall rains seem early this year and I have had to have a fire going almost every evening. This has me a little worried about having enough firewood for the coming months. I would like one more cord, but I don’t think I’ll have the time before the snow hits.

The weather has been the main topic of discussion by the old loggers down at the diner these days. Most of the old guys are getting in a few more days of fishing before it gets too cold for their old bones.

Jack has been up cutting firewood with Allen’s help, though I don’t believe he will try and stay the whole winter. Jack is not the most ambitious guy, so I think Allen is doing most of the work.

Teepee guy is gone, left without a trace. I’m not sure if he realized what was coming, or if wolves right outside his teepee flap convinced him he needed to move on.

The pilgrims are still here, though still have nothing in the way of preparation to survive the winter. She doesn’t get paid until the end of the month, and he doesn’t start work until after the first of next month. At this rate, it’s doubtful they will have enough firewood  or any kind of transportation for the coming winter. I have done all I can to help, but I am already a month behind in my own preparations and can do no more. It’s survival of the fittest up here, and those that can’t, or won’t prepare do not make it.

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