This weeks news, moose, snowmobiles and things.
It’s been another quiet week up here on the mountain, my little slice of heaven.
It appears winter is finally here to stay. After weeks of abnormally warm temperatures and rain, we are getting cold temps and snow. If we hadn’t had all the rain, I believe we would have a record amount of snow this winter.
Since getting rid of the money pit that was the UTV, both of the snowmobiles decided to pick this week to break down, leaving us with no transportation off the mountain. Enter the local satellite company, whose site I take care of up here. They called to say they were giving me the use of their UTV so I could make the trip up to the tower, and if I needed to bring in supplies, then that would be fine also. Great bunch of guys there. Using this, I was able to get the Yamaha Phaser towed up to the cabin from where it had been sitting when it broke down. I was then able to tighten up the bolt to the clutch. It had come loose and was causing the clutch to slip. This machine has electric start capabilities, so I bought a battery in town, installed it, and now the snowmobile will start without having to pull the cord. Next week, I intend to take the recoil starter off and take it into town for the local shop to put a new cord on it. As for the Arctic Cat, all I am waiting on to fix that are the drive belts. Those were supposed to be arriving by UPS today but the current weather seems to have delayed them. I am also looking into buying another, larger sled to pull behind the snowmobiles to haul in needed supplies.
Though I like small towns, goods bought locally tend to be more expensive than goods bought in the city north of us, and buying some things online has proved cheaper then buying from a dealer. Case in point, the drive belts for my snowmobile. In town, the shop would have had to order them, since my machine is so old, and I would have had to wait a couple of weeks for them to arrive, at the cost of sixty dollars per belt. A quick web search found me two belts for that machine for just under sixty dollars and free shipping, with them arriving within the week. It does pay to shop around, especially when you’re on a fixed income.
A few days ago, as my lovely wife and I were coming home from a day in town, we came upon a cow moose and her calf near where we had spotted a cow moose and her day-old calf last spring. Moose tend to stay close to one area, so we are thinking this might be the same ones from spring, just now the calf is close to the size of her mother. The cow also looked pregnant, which means she will be kicking the older calf out of the nest, so to speak, this coming spring when she gives birth. Calves often stay with their mother up to two years, barring death of or birth of another calf. Often, cows will give birth to twins, then both will stay close to their mother for a time. I have crossed paths with a lot of moose up here since I moved in, and there’s nothing like seeing them up close. Often, they will stick around to listen to me as I talk to them. Other times, they run at the first sound of my machine coming, and when I see them up ahead, I slow down to give them room. I would hate to see one fall over the embankment and get hurt.
Last winter, when I had taken my Arctic Cat out for it’s first run to check it out, I came upon a young moose that had fallen from the bank above the road onto the road, breaking its left front leg in the fall. I stopped, but it was already scared and in pain, so it ran through a large snowdrift ahead of me on the road. I don’t believe it survived the winter; an injured animal is easy prey for the predators that roam after dark up here.
Moose are such magnificent creatures, their stately antlers, their slow stroll through the forest. They are far more intelligent than most people give them credit for. At one time, an army in one of the Scandinavian countries decided to use moose instead of horses, since moose were plentiful and horses were not. Now, a horse can be trained to run towards gunfire and will not be bothered by the sound. Moose can be broken to ride, yet, no matter how the army tried, the moose would always run away from the gunfire. Smart creatures, moose.
Down in town, I still don’t know where most of the old loggers have wandered off to for their morning coffee. I stopped by My Kitchen the other day and was the only one at the table for almost an hour before the sheriff and a couple of them showed up. I have been stopping by Always Grounded most of the time now, since the old loggers have been going elsewhere. Sam, her mother Hanna, and her father Dave, are much more fun to talk to. The sarcasm is thick and the laughter loud when I’m there. I also have my weakness for a good latte; it’s better than the regular coffee I normally get.
I’m looking forward to spring, though it will come late to the mountain now since Mother Nature decided to wake up. I have plans for a greenhouse this year, but can’t start until there’s bare ground. So much for the early spring we had seemed to be getting.
Well, that’s all the news for the week. Bye for now.
