At Last

Saturday, August 24

Enjoying myself this cloudy but seasonably warm Saturday evening. The crickets have been serenading me for the last hour or so as I sit here by the fireplace watching what must truly be a wonder of nature. Mutitudes of dragon flies fill the air around me. When I make the effort to watch a single individual, I find their aerobatic skills to be amazing - rolls, loops, flips, slides, stalls and spins - they’re all there and performed faultlessly putting any man-made flying machine to shame....

Speaking of hunter and hunted, I found another small red squirrel, dead, among the cedars bordering the cabin which brings to three the number which have fallen prey to Molly the killer Collie in the last twenty-four hours.... Her tally, to date, is half a dozen grey squirrels, a chipmunk and a muskrat in addition to her latest victims.

Sunday, August 25

Dreamt that I was back in class last night and was panicking because I was unprepared and had no idea what I was going to do next.... old habits die hard as this is the time of year when I would be going in to school to prepare for the upcoming year. Got to admit, it feels pretty good to know that, for the first time in twenty-three years, I won’t be going through this ritual ...

Monday, August 26

Had a surprise visitor about a half hour ago...a plain clothes police officer.... He explained that he’d noticed fresh tracks in the driveway so wondered if anyone was living here. He asked a few questions about whether I’d be living here full time, did I have a well, was my truck 4-wheel drive and so on...

Cooked a salmon filet on the open fire tonight and had rice for the first time since I’ve arrived. Also picked some raspberry leaves off young shoots and made tea...

Tuesday, August 27

...worked on the last bit of trench for the telephone cable. It was by far the hardest part of the entire job due to the variety of numerous large and small rocks in the soil. 

It’s a beautiful day, warm and sunny but with a cool breeze. Went to neighbour's to download e-mail, then we took the dogs for a walk...

While there, I mentioned my visitor of yesterday evening. My neighbour immediately proceeded to ask questions about his appearance... He...told me that I’d been visited by the local narc whose job it was to drive the local roads in search of grow sites. And here I thought he was just looking out for my best interests. I can be so naive sometimes. 

For lunch I had pancakes with blackberries I’d harvested at the bottom of the hill... I again roasted some corn and it was delicious. Also had potatoes, onion and garlic roasted in foil all cooked on an open fire.

Wednesday, August 28

Walked the woods again this morning to see if I could figure out where the western boundary of my property is located.... 

...phoned Bell who, after a frustrating  half hour, said that I’d have my phone by September 20. Whoopee. So…came home and went for a walk... As I was nearing home, I heard what sounded like trucks or heavy machinery and as I rounded the bend what should appear but just that and they had a telephone pole to boot...They said they’d gotten the work order on Monday so, going by what I’d been told on the phone earlier, they hadn’t put the work order in because they were waiting to hear from me that the tree trimming was completed. It’s quite obvious that the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing. Hmmm a lack of communication in a company whose business is communications. Just a little bit of irony there huh? Bureaucracy, you gotta love it... 

For the present, I’m relaxing, sipping on a Glayva and scotch on the rocks (my version of a rusty nail), by way of celebration at being one step closer to getting a telephone. What a headache this little convenience has been. 

I also have a batch of sumac tea steeping in the sun which I will soon strain to drink later.

Thursday, August 29

Skipped meditation this morning so I could get down to fell the last tree obstructing the path to my newly installed pole only to find that there were already two Bell guys there putting up the line!...Now all I have to do is get the cable hooked up at the house, do the interior wiring and I’ll be in business...

Friday. August 30

Recieved another pleasant surprise today. It would seem that the September 20 date for my telephone installation got moved up to today with the result that, are you ready for it?, I am now officially hooked up to the outside world. That’s three weeks minus a day early. Consequently, I have a working telephone, and internet to boot.

On another note, things have evolved such that Thanksgiving dinner will be happening here this year.... Guess I’d better get to work on the summer kitchen some time soon. If everyone comes, I could end up with a dozen guests not only for dinner but for the better part of the long weekend.

So, that’s about it. Life is not terribly exciting here but it is peaceful and each time Molly and I go for a walk in the woods we discover something new even if it’s just a bunch of mushrooms which weren’t there the previous day or the way the sun’s rays reach through the trees, casting shadows and highlighting the vegetation making it appear completely different from the last time we walked the same path. Life is good.