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.
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| 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.
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| 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...
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| Marbled Orb Weaver |
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| 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.
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| Cicada shell |
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| Hickory Tussock Caterpillar |
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| Nope Rope |
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| Ants |
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| creepies that sting... |
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| 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.
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| #unplugging |
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| #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!
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| Porcupine |
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| Raccoon |
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| Bobcat in the rain; sighting #2 |
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| Coyote sighting #1 |
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| Bobcat sighting #3 |
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| Moose sighting #1 |
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| Moose (cont'd) |
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| Wild Turkeys |
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| Rabbit (zoom!) |
