The Road Home

Bob on the walk

Bob has taken to coming with Karl and me on our evening walk. In the past, he would come to the edge of the woods and then be waiting for us at the point where we returned to the property. Last week, one night he came the entire loop – only half a mile, but he follows along. He has been coming along most evenings since. He usually stays well behind Karl as Karl sometimes wants to play and they have differing ideas of proper play. Karl, though, keeps an eye on where Bob is and if he thinks Bob is to far behind, will wait for him.

Are you coming???

On the edge of our property, we wait for Bob…

Bob is a blur as he heads inside for a bit of a munch after a long walk…

And then a nap…

Fall and Winter collide

this afternoon…

…as Fall and Winter collide with the gold of Fall, the snow of Winter and blue sky over dark clouds.

A day in the woods

Ok, not really “IN” the woods, but on the edge of the woods – my (by the Grace of God) woods. I never “traded” before moving to Montana, but since I’ve been here trading has been part of my life and a wonderful part! My first trade was a hot tub for a snow blower and we were both very happy! The hot tub needed some work that I could not do and I really needed a snow blower.

Circa October 2008 – I’m talking to my friend Kris and lamenting the fact that I have this pile of dry logs and some dead/dying trees and have been unable to find someone to cut for a split of the wood. Kris puts forth an idea for a trade – she and her carpenter husband, Hal need some computer/photography help and Hal is waiting for a job to start…match made in heaven! Someday, I will tell the story (part anyway) of Kris and Hal and how they came into my life, but for now the important thing is that they came to my woods yesterday and Hal cut up the logs – Kris and I moved and stacked – in preparation for another day of splitting and stacking.

Current state of the firewood supply… – not enough for Winter!

Logs that were not sellable or did not fit on the last truck after Logging ’07.

More logs that didn’t fit on the truck.

It was a beautiful day! – golden larch against blue, blue sky. I didn’t get the exposure quite right – in “person” it was a much more vivid contrast. The larch are approaching their peak of vibrant gold!

That smoke??? – the smoke of an 80’s vintage chain saw starting….the BIG saw, the saw big enough to handle the logging remnants.

I learned about a new tool – a peavey. It is a handle with a sharp point and then a kind of sickle shaped extrusion. It works like a lever to move large logs. Hal used it to get the pile of logs parallel enough to cut through several at a time with the BIG saw.

Hal cut a few rows and threw the cuts out of the way. At the start, I was back and forth from the computer to the cutting area – taking the cuts to the splitting venue and out of the way. As things progressed, the moving (my part) became more fulltime. Kris arrived with Arrow, their Samoyed. Arrow is 15 1/2, loves to ride in the car and even though they have beautiful acreage to walk in, enjoys a “new” spot. We had a nice long walk and left Hal to sawing. Karl, the beardog, was in the house…he has a thing about chain saws and also gun shots (hunters are practicing???).

After lunch, things stepped up and we all worked until all was cut up and mostly grouped to allow me to put a tarp over and keep it all dry until splitting day.

We finished for the day about 2:30 – I was pooped! Hot shower feels so good after a day working hard – even if it was really only half a day more or less.

Below…the “after”:

A day in the woods – wonderful!

Sky fire

My property sits on the eastern edge of a heavily wooded foothill. I can see through the trees to the east – to the Swan Range, sunrise color, and sunset alpenglo – but sunset over the valley is something I rarely see. I don’t go out much evenings… But last night, the sky overhead and over the trees to the west was shot with magenta and fiery orange. I called to Karl, grabbed the camera, jumped in the Jeep and drove down the hill. I gasped at the first site of the clouds and color and then sped to a spot where I could park the Jeep before things changed – the light and color can be so fleeting sometimes. But tonight, the show went on for awhile. I took some photos but also just sat with Karl and watched – sky fire – beautiful!