July Happenings

Unfortunately, not too much has been going on...except everything that's been going on!

I did go up and got about three quarts of huckleberries last weekend. It was pleasant and relaxing.

I spent last week in the woods marking timber for an upcoming sale. It's an interesting prescription in that it's for research. They are replicating a study they put in up at Priest Lake...making openings to facilitate white pine planting. The interesting part is the "free selection" that goes on in the strips and in the areas between the strips. Looking for the best and biggest trees, maintaining 50% canopy cover...but clumping and spacing like an irregular shelterwood. This really leaves the decision to the person with the paint gun in their hand...and everyone's idea is different. The outcome is a really interesting landscape. It's almost like being a silviculturist, a forester, and a landscape architect all at the same time!

But, it was extremely hot....upper 90s all week. And, wearing a pack full of paint (about 30 lbs), going up an down the hill, in an area simply INFESTED with yellowjackets and bald-faced hornets for 9 hours a day makes things fairly interesting. I got stung four times the other day. Once was while trying to take a "break" away from the group. These bald-faced bastards waited until I had my trousers around my ankles and in half-crouch before they decided to launch their attack! It would have been fairly funny to watch me trying to run through the woods with my pants around my ankles, swatting at the air! We walked through numerous nests...luckily, simply putting some quick distance between you and the nest works well. Makes a guy kinda skittish though.

I watched a bird jump off the ground, grab a huckleberry off a bush, and then fall back to the forest floor...using his weight to pop the berry off the stem. Over and over. It was pretty interesting, I guess you had to be there. Just one of those things a person experiences with a lot of time in the woods.

One late evening, we all went swimming. The water is PERFECT right now!

Lucca enjoying the sunset (and waiting for us to throw the bird)

The power has been going out at my place a lot lately. Four hours at a time! All that with bluebird days and no wind...I can't figure out what's going on. And after a 12 hour work day, not being able to simply cook dinner is frustrating. So the other night I donned the headlamp, broke out the dragonfly, and cooked breakfast for dinner.

Bacon!

Taters on the way

Eggs of course

All on a backpacking stove!

I was sitting in the office yesterday and I swear I felt a concussion. Didn't think much of it, but later heard firetrucks and saw cops racing down Sherman. Finally getting down by O'Shays I thought they were just closing the street for some protest that was crossing the street. (Still don't know what that was about.) But the concussion was a guy who had just filled a propane tank and put it in the front seat of his car. Then, he lit a cigarette! The car was a fireball but luckily someone pulled him out and he ended up being fine. Interesting place, this town.

Sarah's folks are in town, we met for the first time last night. It was a nice mellow dinner at the brewery...a perfect sunset and a perfect atmosphere for a meeting like that. Kind of a big deal! We are planning to do a lot of things while they are here...picking huckleberries, going out on Fernan in the Jon boat, dinner cruise on the lake, Art in the Park...and so on. Busy!

Unfortunately my landlord wants to show my place to other potential inmates...err, tenants this weekend. She knows I've been working long hours all week. She knows Sarah's folks are in town and I'll be busy. She knows that it's still three weeks before I move out. I cannot imagine that she's that hard up for money that their can't be a small time where no on is in this place. Grr, whatever. The point is that I have had to find time to make the house presentable (just for her) and make sure all the valuable stuff is hidden (guns and whatnot) in between everything else. Meanwhile, more people are in the B&B and they have 4 or 5 young children. Sleeping in this morning? Negative...those kids have a lot of energy and were on my deck and outside my bedroom window running around, slamming doors, and yelling at 0700 this morning! Then the landlord was on my deck at 0830! Then the noisy hose got turned on at 0845. Ugh, I don't think she understands the stresses this all puts on a guy.

I'm living on Sarah's words: "Anytime something over there happens that pisses you off, just remember that you'll be out in a couple weeks." Really good line to help me through. Helps me just smile and roll with it.

Now, I must attend to the house. Luckily I got a lot done yesterday, so this morning will be dusting, floors, and miscellaneous straightening up.