February 16, 2015 Community & Trespassers

A deer we saw on our hike.

Rocks we moved off the road.
(They are larger than they look.)

Friday 2/13. Sometimes I think how much easier it would be to live Down There and be taken care of.  Down There you simply trade your money for security of a sort.  Fire Department, Police, utilities.  You pay others to keep you safe and comfortable.  Up Here it is more of a barter system.  We trade our time and energy to help ourselves and our neighbors, which is much more personal.  A smaller sense of community, and one I prefer, even though it puts more responsibility on our shoulders.

With rain in the forecast, I drained more water out of the cistern.  The dogs and I took a nice, leisurely morning walk in the sun that had popped out early on when the cloud cover began to break up.  Then I just collapsed for the day with an intestinal bug I must have picked up on Tuesday, Down There, which would explain my very low energy day yesterday.  Occasionally that happens on the third day after going to town.  I just need to be more careful about washing my hands as soon as I get home.  

JB arrived back home about 2:00 pm with a beautiful bouquet of tulips for me, and I just napped.  Did wake up for a light dinner and to watch more Castle.

Saturday 2/14. It was 40, overcast and breezy this morning.  Looks more like April outside than February.  No rain though, and the forecast has changed to cooler but dry weather for the week.  The high temps for Down There have been almost 20 degrees above normal.

Wow!  Do I feel better this morning.  Those little 24-hour bugs are weird.  And with blue sky and sun by late morning, I got bit by another bug.  The Spring Cleaning bug.  So before lunch I cleaned out our bedroom closet and a couple of my dresser drawers.

After lunch we drove Miss Kitty down the road to our deer-season gate (about 1/2 mile) to clear some rocks off the road (see photo above).  Then we left Miss Kitty there and walked another 1/4 mile or so further to the wood spirit.  There is an old, steep logging "road" there that goes up and, for some time now, I have wanted to check it out.  So today Dinga and I did.

We all enjoyed the outing.  We have had too few this foggy winter.

Sunday 2/15. It was 33 with clear, blue skies this morning.  I was still in bed at 8:00 am when the dogs started barking and whining.  I heard JB go out on the porch and yell, "Hey, this is private property!"  It seems there were two "joggers" coming down our south ridge!  They turned around and went back the way they came.  To have arrived there, they would have had to go over/through several fences/gates.  Do people not realize that a fence indicates private property, or do they just not care?!

I called Randy after our late breakfast.  I figured that with all the problems he has been having at his place, he would not appreciate being woken up early.  On top of everything else, he hasn't been able to get a hair cut in four months and says he looks like a wookie!  Nene and I both want a photo!  Actually he probably just looks like the rest of his northern Idaho neighbors.

It was such an incredible day that the dogs and I went on a long hike up to the peak, then north along the east fence line to where it makes a 90 degree turn to the east; then up, up towards Erno's; down to his road and up to the top of his property.  Looked for antler sheds, but didn't find any.  We finally headed back down his road and up our driveway.  Because it was below freezing last night, most of the mud was hard, so it wasn't a sloppy hike.  Lots of snow mold though, and by the time we got home my nose was running and my eyes were watering.

No eggs today.  I think Sunday is their day of rest.

Monday 2/16. It is 30 with mostly blue skies this morning.  JB is making hot cereal for the girls as I write this.

Regarding a reader's comment, yes, we have heard of Berkey filters, but we actually purchased a Katadyn TRK Drip Ceradyn water filter.  I think it is a step up from Berkey.

Thought for the day: