January 9, 2012

"Waves" on top of the valley fog

Sunday was a surprisingly beautiful and sunny day, and the fog even cleared out of the valleys.  The temperature got up to 33, so we almost didn't need to wear our coats.  I actually came back from a walk with the dogs with my coat tied around my waist.  We walked down our road and discovered how the cougar had arrived at Rose Camp.  There is a hairpin turn a little ways down from the end of our driveway and the tracks came over the ridge there, right up the middle of the road, up the steep part of our driveway, then veered west to our ridge.  We are packing the .45 whenever we go out, but I really don't think we have much to be concerned about.  As I said before, there have always been signs of at least one cat in the canyon, and they have a range of about 25 miles.

I baked a large batch of chocolate chip/oatmeal cookies yesterday, and JB made his sourdough bread.  It turned out really dry which may be due to the gluten free flour.  From the sound of the recipe, making this bread is not an exact science.  It's "add a little more of this, or a little less of that" to make the dough right.  He'll probably try the biscuits next.

Larry and Elsie came to visit last evening, bearing gifts, as usual.  They had been saying that we need to play Aggravation with them, but we don't have the game.  So Larry made us a board and bought the dice and marbles, too.  Of course, the first game went to the women who really whomped the guys.  The second game was so close that we were all within one or two spaces of winning, so we let the guys win so they wouldn't feel so badly. . .

And speaking of having a good time, whenever I am out walking in the woods, I lose track of all else.  All the worries and concerns melt away, and I am completely there.  When we lived in Illinois for those five years, we would go camping at several different campgrounds, our favorite being along the Kankakee River.  One summer weekend we were sitting by our campfire with our chairs facing the woods, enjoying the evening.  A few sites down the road was a large family with several tents.  We could not believe it as they hung up a sheet and started a movie!  We ended up seeing a much more interesting sight as we watched a raccoon family climb out of a old, hollow tree.  First the parents, then two small cubs.  The smallest one had to be coaxed out, but finally made it and followed the rest of the family into the woods.

Thought for the day:  What business have I in the woods if I am thinking of something out of the woods.  Henry David Thoreau