Today we “broke through” the slash pile behind our house. I can see the woods beyond and the sun on the green was beautiful. We have had these mini-monsoon rains lately that come and go within five minutes–sudden downpours that leave the earth glistening.
We’ve had an interesting week. My computer crashed and got sent to the HP emergency room. We have had a difficult time finding the last four logs we need to raise our roof. We finally found them but they are on the forest floor for a few more days. Then last Friday we went to look at a larger trailer that a man had for sale and when we saw that it had a separate bedroom and living room, we realized that we have both been avoiding the issue of not enough space for two people in our tiny space. We bought the trailer the next day and moved it onto our land. We finally realized that if the river is not going to be pushed, it will probably be 6 weeks to 2 months before we finish our cabin. In the meantime, we need to be able to rest and be in a comfortable space. It is amazing how much one small bedroom space can improve one’s mood.
Tonight we had supper with two of my old high school buddies and their husbands. Once again I can see the span of decades between who I was then and who I am now. While it is true that we change and grow, it is also true that we are always who we are on some level.
No more tonight.
Jamie
Jamie Lee
No, I am not feeling down. I wandered into the woods today and picked my first quart of wild blueberries. Heaven. As I was picking I kept hearing songs in my head that had the word “blue” in them. And yes, I was singing to the berries. It was fun to crank my body around with something besides raking and belly dancing.
Things are coming together for building our strawbale. We got set back a bit when the “indestructable” tamarack logs we bought last summer were rotten. Since we want to start with good materials, Milt has been out searching out the log situation. I think he has it covered now and the roof should go up maybe next week. Then we play with straw. I think we will be like the three little pigs. After the straw house, I want to build a stick house (cord wood), and one from brick (cob). For now I have been breaking down mountains of slash and spreading the composted dirt over the “yard.” Do you call it a yard when there are ten acres of undeveloped woods and field? I guess it will be–I planted grass seed into part of it today.
It is time for me to get back to my own writing. I can feel the itch begin to build and I think I will start with returning to the novel “Still Mountain” which I never finished. Or maybe morning pages to see what is “composting” down inside of me.
Tomorrow we start a three day festival in Cass Lake with the Bead People. I am looking forward to it but I want it to warm up. The blueberries must like this cold weather but I am longing for a bit of sun and heat. We have been running our small heater in the camper to stay warm. Brrr.
Life in the northwoods . . .
Jamie
I couldn’t let this day end without writing at least a short post. It was quite a day. We shipped the textbook to the printer today along with a few quick prayers for it being as error free as it can be at this time. To celebrate, I got on the Bobcat for the first time and dug into my slash pile. I am usually a bit intimidated by pieced of equipment that are that much bigger than I am. But I have to admit, I got what could possibly have been a testosterone rush. I have been plucking at that small mountain with a garden rake and this was definitely the right tool for the job.
Then, to further top off an amazing day, our rafters were delivered this morning at 8:30 am, and at sunset we swam in a wonderful lake appropriately called “Grace Lake.”
I still have quite a bit of work to do on the Instructor’s Manual for the textbook,, but for the first time since I left South Dakota, I felt free. This Saturday we are doing a Bead People event and I just spent an hour with a wonderful magazine called Northwoods Woman. I had to smile because the fiction story in it seemed so, so familiar-my kind of story. Do you suppose that is it for me? I am a Northwoods woman who has found her way home again? I have been out in South Dakota for over 30 years. The other day I couldn’t resist checking up on my favorite blueberry path to see how “my” berries are coming along.
Life is good.
Jamie
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