August 22, 2011



Mount Baker in the distance (right)



Mount Baker up close



Too hot to work outside yesterday, so we both used the time for cleaning and organizing inside. I did an extra load of wash. I usually do three loads a week, but in the summer we really go through the clothes with all the extra sweat and dirt. I defrosted the fridge. Sorted out the bedroom closet. Finished the book I was reading by Faye Kellerman, entitled The Hangman. She is one of my favorite authors and this book is one of her best.

Later in the afternoon, we both worked on re-organizing the loft.  Having taken some things out to put in the shed, and cleaned and moved furniture and boxes around, we have some more room now.  Mainly JB's area that got redone, but it affected everywhere else.

By 10:30 it was 78 degrees outside, and almost the same inside.  By the end of the day it was over 80. I'm sure our inexpensive thermometer is not doing the most accurate job in registering the heat, which is why a reliable weather station is on our wish list. We want one that records temperature, wind speed and direction, humidity, rain and snowfall, etc. that we can place outside and read inside. Costco on-line has a couple we are looking at.

Our new traps caught another mouse Saturday night and work as advertised. Instant death. There is nothing I hate worse than having to kill a trapped mouse. As much as I dislike them, I hate to see them suffer.  Of course this morning I noticed that the bait (a chocolate chip) is missing in that same trap.  We're just going to have to glue it in.

On the weather front, there have been murmurs of another long, cold winter. Larry and others, who have seen adult bears up close this year, were surprised that they had such long, thick fur into the summer. Not a good sign. Kind of like the woolly caterpillars. Well, we will just put in an extra cord or two of firewood like last year. Fortunately we now have the shop in which to put MAX if we have to work on him.

On the numerous clear and crisp days we have Up Here, we can see many of the mountains in the Cascade Range. I was delighted when I recognized Mount Baker to the northwest of us. Growing up in Bellingham from junior high (that's what they called middle school back then) through college, it was a daily sight to the east on clear days. Not as many clear days on that side of the mountains, but being 100 miles north of Seattle, at least we had less rain than they do and more varied seasons. Mount Baker's familiar silhouette is a visual connection to that part of my childhood. I am also connected with the ongoing friendship of Pat, one of my Mother's best friends, who reads my blog every day and keeps me apprised of our other mutual acquaintances. She also updates me on her growing family of great-grandchildren, the newest of whom was born just this month.  Congratulations Grandpa Jeff and Great-Grandma Pat! 

My Mother has been gone for almost 16 years now, but it's funny how after a certain age time really does not have the meaning it used to. My 36-year-old son is still my little boy, and my Mom was just Up Here camping with us recently.  I am not yet to that point in my life where the past is more vivid than the present, it's just that time is not so lineal any more.  It rushes and it slows, often letting the past creep into the present.

Having been forced into being inside today, I seem to be waxing poetic. Don't get me started on that, it will probably just confuse the both of us.

A tale of three tails
Dinga, Jesse & Mindy (Mike's dog)