Archive for ‘January, 2011’

The woods I live in

My name is on the deed and I have probably called them my woods on occasion but I have always felt more steward than owner and I believe that is as it should be.

I had these woods logged – for the health of the woods and for fire safety…theirs and mine.

For the past 5 months plus 11 days especially, these woods have been my steward.

I have been able to relax with Karl in the last weeks, but there were weeks when I kept him very close – watching, being with him. I walked the woods in pitch dark, tethered to him, trying not to interfere with him and not once did I trip or fall…something I am able to do easily in daylight hours on my own :)!

One night, he had an intestinal bug – I believe unrelated to everything else. It came on quickly…you know the thing – the vomit/diarrhea bug that makes you want to sleep on the bathroom floor. We were out in the woods through the night, nearly on the hour until 3 a.m. when it started to slow down. It was November. It was snowing. Thankfully it was not cold – not arctic cold as it had been the week before.

I have never been afraid in these woods – day or night. I am watchful and I listen. I watch Karl and the birds and the deer and the only thing I have ever felt was peace.

The woods I live in.

An hour after Sunrise.

Remnants of the day

Karl and I took our late afternoon walk on snow so cold that it squeaked, with sunshine so bright, the white mountain tops hurt my eyes.

I stocked firewood as the sun set and the alpenglow crept up the mountainside. The mountain tops glowed orange-pink for as long as it took me to walk down the driveway and get the mail.

Remnants of the day.

In the clear

The forecast from Friday has been accurate. It changed from messy and slushy to cold and now very cold – it is 1F as I write this Monday morning.

But, yesterday, although in the mid-teens with a brisk north wind, it felt good to be out. I drove to Lakeside, on the west side of Flathead Lake stopping at “The Docks” to look across the lake, toward home.

I walked with Karl at our usual spot in Somers, past the Ice House, past where the foxes live, around the rocky cliffs and back. A cold walk seemed less cold as Karl and I made re-acquaintance with a Somers’ resident who we both knew from years ago when we lived in different places…funny, small world :)!

And then, the road home, with the sun still shining and the mountains in the clear.