Last night Sadie and I slept on the couch. I was so cold. Sadie didn’t seem to mind with her thick coat of fur. She kept sentry duty and barked every time a critter passed near the cabin. I imagine it was deer.
In the morning I thought I heard snow falling. No such luck. The sky light was covered over with snow and it fooled me. The road was the same as yesterday. The morning was heavy with snow clouds. Sadie wanted to go out first thing so I bundled up and out we went.
Interesting terrain. I see the cabin is in a little valley with hills all around. I saw smoke coming up from an old farmhouse down the road. The only other settlement on this road. Two cars drove past the cabin early this morning from the farm. The smoke carried me back in thoughts to Currier and Ives and Christmas scenes. I identified wild asparagus stalks along the side of the country road. If I had some ribbon I would tie it around the plant and it would be easier to find next spring.
This morning I spent working on mailing our Happy Tonics newsletter. Ran out of stamps, don’t have enough membership applications to mail out renewal notices. At least I was able to mail out most of the newsletters. I did leave a $20.00 bill in the mail box asking the postal employee to bring me some stamped business envelopes so I can finish the job tomorrow. The membership renewals can wait. I will be one month behind but it is a holiday right?
I had a breakfast of great apple juice. This is not concentrate by real Wisconsin apple juice. Then I ground coffee and Sadie went ballistic. She has some kind of problem with noise. I just sang at the top of my lungs to avoid letting her get on my nerves. Fiber breakfast of raison bran cereal with potassium banana. I think of food as nutrients.
This afternoon we took another walk before lunch. I found out Sadie likes cut up carrots. This beats the treats she is always wanting. I had left over soup, salad and tea. I made tea and added a shiitake mushroom to the water. Shiitake mushrooms are supposed to be good for blood pressure. This is an experiment I am doing.
Mid afternoon I put on my snowshoes and walked twice as far. I don’t mean I really put in a distance. I tracked animals today because I wanted to see what Sadie was barking at last night. It looks like mostly deer came through. I do see a lot of little footprints near the trees. This morning I saw two squirrels so it may be them that are scurrying near trees.
Grass was dug up and I expect the deer were pawing for grass. They need to eat too. I didn’t notice a lot of fresh tree twigs bitten off. But I did see a tree that was gnawed and expect that was a hungry rabbit. They often nibble on tree bark.
I did find some mushrooms that I want to explore. I am a novice. I picked them from a dead tree because they looked like something I am taking now. This is what keeps me busy and happy – research.
Well, the light is starting to dim and I need to feed Sadie her supper so I will close till tomorrow afternoon. I didn’t talk with another human being in over 24 hours and frankly, I rather liked it. One observation in this slowed down mode is that I wonder how I am so active in my other life. Here I feel like I am settled into the rhythm of nature. She is my teacher and is sleeping now.
Stay happy readers where ever you are.
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