I finally made it to the cabin, although there were a couple of hiccups to overcome. As I turned up the driveway, I was met by a couple of fallen pine trees. It seems as if there must be a rule that if a tree falls it has to fall across the driveway. My “electric” chainsaw had a dead battery, so I had to take the battery out, walk to the cabin, stroll through the woods and turn the power on. The next step was to put the battery on the charger and wait. Once the battery was charged, it was time to saw up a couple of trees, so that I could connect a tow strap and pull them out of the way.
There have been other times when I’ve had no chainsaw, so I would have to play Paul Bunyan and resort to a bow saw and an ax. It seems like every year there are challenges and every year I mutter under my breath, “I’m getting too old for this stuff.” After all of the things are put in place and I am able to sit down, relax, and watch the birds that come to the feeders and see all of the wildlife that surrounds the cabin; it is well worth it.
After I put out the feeders, it took until the second day before the birds came. The first was a grosbeak and then the female grosbeak. They took turns eating until the female chased the male away. After that, there were goldfinches, purple finches, wrens, chickadees and nuthatches. The next day I put out the hummingbird feeder and in a matter of ten minutes the first one arrived on the scene. On my last day at the cabin some blue jays arrived and they primarily eat off of the ground, so the squirrel that had been feeding there knew that it was outnumbered and begrudgingly scampered away.
There are always a few obstacles to overcome when going to the cabin, but in the end, I wouldn’t change a thing. We have no running water, so that makes for a little more work, but over the years we have made it work. The owner of the little store in Talmoon is nice enough to let us fill our water jugs there. Once the water barrels that we have get full, we can use that water for washing dishes, cleaning and taking showers. It’s too rustic for a lot of folks, but my wife and I like it and my sons and grandsons have all enjoyed it for many years. We didn’t have electricity for the first ten years, just a generator which we used for running power tools when we were building the cabin. I believe that the biggest convenience that we have added is the wood stove. I had that stove a blazing on Thursday night when the weather turned to rain with a strong north wind. Inside of the cabin it was warm and cozy and needless to say, I fell asleep in a wink.
I guess that it is just those simple pleasures that I enjoy the most. The first day I heard the screech of an eagle calling and that evening I spotted an adult eagle flying in front of the trees that line the shore of our cabin. I have heard the sound of their call each day, and each day an eagle has flown by. This tells me that they have to have a nest somewhere nearby.
Until next time: There is nothing better than falling asleep to the calling of the loons or waking up to the sound of the resident trumpeter swans signaling the beginning of a new day.
Please show our support for the troops that are serving our country today. These servicemen and women are making that sacrifice, so that we may have the many freedoms that we enjoy today.