The Sound of Silence

It's amazing how silence can seem deafening, even amidst the soft rustling of the already partially transitioned autumn leaves. This is my absolute favorite time of year.🍁♥ Whenever I step outside the cabin, I always take a few seconds to stand and listen to the forest. "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" I understand this is meant to be a philosophical question, but I whenever I hear it, I always think to myself, "of course it does".  Each tree, twig, leaf, and living being all make sounds within the forest, whether by their own volition or by the power of that lovely light breeze sweeping through the woods, so why not take a few moments to listen to those sounds and get acclimated with them? In doing so, I can learn to identify the sound of an approaching animal or person when I hear slight sounds that are out of place from the norm. It's a comfort having Tyson and Willow with us at camp for many reasons, and every once in a while Tyson will earn his keep by standing at attention while looking off into the woods, emitting a few deep "woofs" of warning to whatever lie beyond our sight that he feels is in need of attention. And though Willow is not allowed to wander the land, she keeps watch from the cabin. I think I need to expand her catio soon. The window screen placed in front of the open door won't keep her at bay for much longer.  Love that tail...  It's always going.

Willow is observing R working in the yard

One project on our list was to dismantle the a-frame tent we constructed for winter camping. It only consisted of 2x4s and heavy plastic poly, but we stayed warm [enough in 4℉!] with the small wood stove heating the tent. Mission accomplished!  It feels good getting things accomplished.  Sometimes it seems like there is always an obstacle standing between you and your ultimate goal.

R enjoys getting some sun while disassembling our winter accommodations

In the midst of disassembling the a-frame, we also disassembled some spider webs. ::shivers:: I'm overcoming many fears, and spiders is one of them. I have a hard time looking at pictures of them, never mind nearly walking through their web!  It was nearly painful scrolling through pictures online as I tried to identify our creepy neighbors...

Marbled Orb Weaver

Even in the cabin, the spiders move back in quickly...

We try our best not to kill the spiders we encounter. Despite the horror I feel when I see one, I appreciate their worth.  They just need to please stay out of the cabin... In addition to spiders, there are also other lovely creepy crawlies that are thriving this summer.

Cicada shell

Hickory Tussock Caterpillar

Nope Rope

Ants

creepies that sting...

slug

We hadn't been down to the river in a while, so R wanted to make the short hike down there to try and see how deep it actually is (again...his last attempt was not a success). It's a minor south shore tributary of a nearby 6,000-acre lake. Unfortunately, I didn't take as many pictures of the water as I would have liked; just a few of the magical forest heading down there.. I love this forest and can't wait to explore the rest of the land. The canoe was left behind by the prior owner and has seen many better days. Probably we'll bring our own canoe up to camp. It was a little bit of work getting the canoe out to the water, but we did it. We had to trudge through about thirty-feet of waist-height grass before it opened up to the smooth water of the small river. R had a six-foot long stick that he used to estimate the depth.  The edge was a couple of feet deep, but then dropped past the six-foot mark of the stick. Plenty deep enough to canoe and fish in!  Even as R was sitting there in the canoe, he saw little fish gathering around.  Next time we visit camp we'll bring a couple oars so we can explore the river a little more. Mental Note: I will have to remember our Go-Pro camera and set it up on the canoe.

Once we made our way back up to camp, Tyson was exhausted from swimming. He would swim until he died, I think, if we didn't put some sense into his actions. Good thing Willow is up to the job of watching the camp while Tyson sleeps at night. #careof vitamins offer challenges or meaningful quotes on their daily packets of customized vitamins. I grabbed a couple packets randomly as I was packing before our couple-day trip, and smiled when I read that day's challenge.

#unplugging

#attackcat

Probably I've already mentioned this, but when we arrive each time at camp, we grab the SIM card out of our trail camera that is situated at the end of our driveway on the trail leading in to camp to see what has been around the last couple of weeks while we were away.  This time was no disappointment!  We have a freaking caravan of animals traipsing by our driveway at all hours.  Here are a few of our visitors!  Check out the Photo Album for moar trail cam videos!

Porcupine

Raccoon

Bobcat in the rain; sighting #2

Coyote sighting #1

Bobcat sighting #3

Moose sighting #1

Moose (cont'd)

Wild Turkeys

Rabbit (zoom!)

Weekend of the Bugs

Another wonderful, albeit short, trip.  R was gratefully let out of work early on the Friday after Independence Day so we were able to get on the road by 3:30pm and arrived to camp in good time at 8:30pm - just in time to see a young buck with a small rack jog in front of our car down the trail when we were less than half a mile away from camp!  

Willow has actually seemed to learn to time the trip so she doesn't have to use the litter box on the road.  When we stop for us and for Tyson, I offer her the litter box (a large tupperware container with a lid).  She used to use it at most every stop, but now she seems to wait until we get there if she can.  The day before we leave we usually start asking Tyson and Willow if they "want to go to camp in Maine for a couple days" and that we'll "take a ride in the truck to camp".  Repetition is key with training animals, and they seem to be learning what those phrases mean.  When we're almost there, we start saying, "almost to camp!" and they both get up and start looking out the windows with interest.  The same goes for when we're almost home.  It seems like they can smell the unique differences in each location and are growing familiar with them - that they're just not in some strange area.  Animals are so amazing.

Last time we left camp a couple of weeks ago I remembered to set up the trail cam.  Hooray!  We were fortunate enough to catch some wonderful images of two fawn frolicking in the clearing outside our camper!

Practicing for the reindeer games!

Mama doe must have been in the woods out of the camera's sight.  You can see in a couple of pictures where the fawn are looking into the woods, and sometimes you can see a slight shift in colors behind some of the leaves, maybe indicating Mama was there with her watchful eyes.  There are tons more images in the Black Birch Acres Photo Album, but here are a couple of animations Google Photos put together for me of the sequenced images.  Before we saw the pictures of the two fawn we thought there was only one fawn, but then noticed how the spots were different.  Then both came in to view!  Apparently, does give birth to between one and three fawns, and the babies keep their spots until they are about 4 months of age.

The mosquitoes and horseflies were not intolerable, but they seem to get consistently worse with every visit.  Probably I have at least a dozen or more mosquito bites covering my body.  I will gladly accept all of the bug bites so long as none of the itchies turn in to Poison Ivy.  PLEASE NO.

I try my best to steer clear of the plant with [sometimes] mitten-shaped leaves.  Unfortunately, all it takes is Tyson or Willow traipsing through some Poison Ivy, unknowingly getting slathered with the unseen urushiol (you-ROO-shee-all) oil from the plant, and then transferring it to our skin when we pet them or they rub against our bare leg.  Then if we were to wipe the sweat off our brow with the hand that just pet them.  It can turn into such a mess!  Heck, the oil can even adhere to firewood or gardening tools, so we need to be cognizant on where we place these items on the ground.  With the presence of Poison Ivy (I've gotten it once so far from camp but it wasn't bad at all fortunately), I'm very hesitant to mow the lawn.  It's getting tall, though.  I suppose one would wear long sleeves, a dust mask, pants, boots; then remove all of said items immediately afterwards.  Don't touch any of the clothing articles because the oil can stay on objects for weeks.  Wash them and you with water and soap afterwards immediately.  Say a little prayer..  Probably we'll take the mower next time.

Additionally, thankfully, what I thought may have been Poison Ivy may not be, and the rhyme "leaves of three, leave it be" is not always entirely accurate because many plants have groupings of three leaves.  What I thought was Poison Ivy may actually be blackberries(!), according to some people in a Native Plants Facebook group.  Apparently, identifying Poison Ivy is a learned skill because the plant has many forms.

The hairy/prickly stem is apparently an indicator that it is blackberries and not Poison Ivy. 
See the three-leaved wild strawberry in the left picture?

While "leaves of three, leave it be" may not be totally accurate, it does hold a bit of truth.  Some other rhymes I found for identifying poison ivy are:

• If butterflies land there, don't put your hand there.  Butterflies land on Poison Ivy because they aren't affected by it, and it sometimes keeps predators away from them.
• Hairy vine, no friend of mine.  Poison Ivy on trees has a furry raggy appearance.  If you see it, you may not want to touch or climb that tree.
• Red leaflets in the spring, it's a dangerous thing.  New Ivy leaflets can have a reddish appearance in the spring, but will eventually turn green, and become harder to identify as summer approaches.
• Side leaflets like mittens will itch like the dickens.  Watch for the little notches.  These can be a dead give away that you're messing with the wrong plant!

Keeping a keen...ahem...paranoid...eye out for poisonous plants, we took a little walk through the woods to see more of what beautiful nature has to offer.  It's awesomely amazing how you can see the clear division of wetlands versus forest as you get nearer to the river.

Forest/Wetland line

Do you see what I see?  A face in the formation?  Slightly creepy.

The canoe left behind by the former owner still...er...holds water.  I guess that means it should still float!  We will bring a bucket with us to empty it next time.  Can't wait to take the canoe out on the river!  The river flows in to the lake nearby, flowing east.  R and Tyson actually walked out through the tall grass to try and see the actual river.  R walked up to about his waist.  Tyson was literally swimming, the current almost taking him down river before he was able to recover and come back to shore.  R said it pretty much just dropped off at one point and was a good depth.  We look forward to fishing the small river eventually and wonder what types of fish are present.

After our explorations, we headed back to do some work solidifying the cabin shell that was put up by the former owner.  It's coming along slowly but surely.  Our plan is to make it safe and button it up the rest of the way so we can move from the tiny camper into the larger space of the cabin temporarily.  Once the coming winter passes, we'll begin plans to properly build our own cabin.  While we were in the cabin shell discussing plans for a bathroom with an indoor composting toilet, R noticed something on the wall.  Is that an eye shining in the camera flash?!?!  THE EYES OF A BIG FREAKING SPIDER.  NO THANK YOU AT ALL.

I still have trouble viewing this and avert my eyes quickly when I do.  <insert nervous laughter>  I just can't with spiders.  Can't.Even.  R and I agreed not to kill it.  I don't like killing any living things unnecessarily, and we haven't claimed this cabin as our own yet really, so technically the bugs and animals still "own" it until we put our mark on it and seal the building up.  This spider gets a second chance; just DON'T come back and you'll be ok.  I think we would need a goddamn sledge hammer to kill it anyways because surely a flip flop would NOT do the trick.  

I basically fled the scene and retreated to the camper.  I would have NO PART in capturing this...spider.  It's funny.  As I type this, I keep starting to refer to the spider as a monster, but alas, my rational side says no, it is not a monster.  However, I tell you what, my life nearly flashed before my eyes as I was standing there before this arachnid on the wall and pictured this...huge beast...going on the offensive and leaping off the wall at my face!  AAAAHHHH!  <throws arms up in front of face> Ok.  Getting ahold of myself.  Sorry.  Let's pull the rational thinking rope back in.  I'm sure this big spider just...just eats..the...bad..spiders.  I can't even bring myself to research spider pictures to identify it.  UGH.  R came in to the camper to get a cup and a paper plate to trap it.  BRAVE MAN.  I took a video and pictures before he deposited it far up the driveway.  Please stay away.  I don't want to have to hurt you Big Guy.

Memorial Day Weekend

This visit was quite enjoyable because it was our longest stay so far.  The four of us arrived late Friday night, and headed back south Monday afternoon.

We started to cut and install some 2x4s to help support the rickety cabin shell, so I got to use some power tools.  A little intimidating, but R gives good instructions.

Rob measured and marked; I cut.

Willow enjoyed time relaxing in the camper looking for mice and bugs that were heard crawling around in the walls.  A friend suggested sprinkling whole cloves throughout the camper next time to help repel pests, and then just sweeping them up upon return.  Duly noted!

Willow taking a break from her "duties"

Speaking of bugs...they were plentiful.  We'd heard of Bug Season but had yet to experience it.  It was borderline intolerable but not so terrible that we couldn't get anything done.  In moving wood that has not been touched in ages, we came across a few creepies and crawlies.  I don't mind salamanders, but spiders give me the willies...  I did a quick internet search and I'm pretty sure there aren't any poisonous spiders in Maine. 🤞

We'll most certainly need to bring a lawnmower next time because the grassy area will probably be much longer by then.  Ticks are a big concern.  Tyson is protected by a topical flea/tick/mosquito medicine, and Willow has a Seresto collar, but that doesn't protect R and I.  I keep a lint roller at camp to use after we've trudged through the woods to try and remove ticks that way (a "hack" I read somewhere).

We took our Yamaha Banshee ATV this time.  The view from about half a mile away from camp of Borestone Mountain was amazing.

In cleaning the camp area of debris and seeing what we can repurpose, we found a nice pile of aluminum roofing we'll use for something.  Score!

We also discovered a gnarly old skeleton near the cabin; probably it's a porcupine.  Look at that front tooth!  That's what caused all the chew marks inside the cabin shell.  Notice the other teeth are flat and blocky.  I have to say - as much as I love nature in all its forms - I don't really look forward to the day that we encounter a porcupine.

As I've mentioned in the past, Willow is not much of a cuddle-cat at home, but when we're camping she's all about letting loose and enjoying the company of her humans.  I woke up in the wee hours of the morning to find her on my pillow next to my head (which is why the picture is off a bit, because it was dark and I lightened the photo a little).  I can't get over how freaking cute she is.  Can't. Get. Over. Her.  Obsessed.

Willow