The weeks news. An outlaw from the mountain on the lamb, and a few other things.
It’s been a quiet week up here on the mountain, my little slice of heaven.
Spring is here, the smell of damp earth is all around. Farmers are out in their fields planting, and the trees are blooming down in town. There are a few new buds on the trees up here, but we still have snow in places, such as our driveway. It’s melting off fast and should be gone in another week. We are finally able to drive our pickups all the way in for the first time since November, and that is making life a lot easier around here. Now, we can get started on our summer projects. We have two dead snowmobiles to drag up this coming week; one died early in the year, the other just at the end of the season. The first machine will be repaired, but the other one will be torn down and sold as parts. The rest of our machines will be readied for storage for the summer and, once stored, will not to be seen again until fall, when we start maintenance on them, getting them ready for use over the coming winter. Up here, we are constantly looking forward to the next snowfall. It is always a race with the clock to make sure we have the necessary equipment ready when the first signs of winter appear.
The 4-wheeler I bought will most likely be put up as well. I will be working on the ATC (All Terrain Cycle) instead, using it when I need to run around the mountain this summer.
I have been busy with spring cleaning up here, finishing the living room yesterday. It’s on to the kitchen next week. The kitchen is the first room I added to this cabin, and it is the first room I want to finish. From there, I will begin completing the other rooms as I gather the materials I need. This time of the year, when we can drive in, I start haunting sites on the web where people are giving away, or selling cheaply, building materials. This practice has gotten me a lot of barn board, old weathered fencing, and many other things I have been able to repurpose around here.
My faithful traveling companion, Kiyo, is showing some signs that he can feel his hind legs. It’s not very much, but we are hopeful he might regain some of the use of his legs again. The lovely wife is still making modifications to his wheelchair in hopes he will be more comfortable. Right now, he still isn’t really happy being in it for any amount of time, and would rather lay beside me as I write. I think he is enjoying being waited on by us: bringing him water, his food and snacks, etc. However, he still doesn’t enjoy the almost daily baths he has to endure so we can keep him clean and health; though, he does enjoy the treats he gets after each hated bath. At times, it’s a lot like having a newborn in the house again: we are changing diapers, washing his behind, feeding him, having him wake us up in the early hours of the morning, and a host of other things. In short, he is getting spoiled despite all the “torture” he must endure in the process.
There was one unusual thing that happened this last week. Two Sheriff’s deputies appeared on my doorstep looking for an individual that had previously been in the county jail this past fall on charges of shooting at loggers and the two deputies that were with them. This guy had bonded out over the winter but, for some reason, his bond had now been revoked and the deputies had trekked up here to see if he had come back to his property on the mountain. They weren’t sure exactly where his land was but knew it was in this general area. After finding out they still had a mile hike around the mountain to get to his place, they opted not to continue. I assured them that if any of us up here saw the guy, we would let the Sheriff’s department know immediately. Since he and his wife had moved up here, but prior to his arrest, he nearly caused a number of accidents on the road because he couldn’t keep his speed down when he was angry. I will be happy if he never comes back.
I was in town earlier this week and ran into one of the old loggers at the local market. We chatted for a while, catching up on the goings on of some of the other old loggers. I really need to get into town early some morning and have coffee with them.
Well, that’s all the news for the week. Bye for now.
