Hello Dear Friend –
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ~! As my friend Miriam says ~ “He
will lead us in this world and eventually out of this world if we let Him.”
It has been nearly a month (-/+) since I have checked in
with you. I’m still here. This winter has been long, and the cold
weather here in northern lower Michigan is hanging on with a firm grip.
Yes, we are shovel ready – we carry a shovel
everywhere – outhouse/dog yard/our foot trail into the cabin/everywhere there
is snow.
Speaking of the cabin. We still have 4 dogs in our 15 x 20 cabin,
having morphed into a routine of “in and out” for the two who need to still be
tethered just outside the cabin door.
The other two are collar-less and stay put on our main core of our 40
acres. I had to laugh today after lunch
when hubby Russ headed out into our woods hauling a bright green plastic sled
to haul back a load of nice Maple hardwood from a dead tree he downed earlier
in the week. While Russ headed out on
the firm 4’ of snow base, our large smoke-colored wolfy dog, Mordecai,
stretched out his large body by the woodstove, sighing a deep sigh of
contentment as Russ clicked the cabin door shut upon his departure. Mordecai’s harness hangs in the feed room,
unused. Meanwhile, Russ will haul sled
after sled full of wood throughout the afternoon into evening. Oh well, perhaps next year the dogs will be
put to work full time.
There has been a few respites of warmth (above 20 degrees)
among the frigid temps. On those days,
my spirits soar. It’s not only me. On the first bright sunshine warmed day, baby
bunnies spilled out from under our cabin, hopping about under our window and
tree feeders. At least once a day I take
yellow dried corn cobs and toss them down the snowy “rabbit hole” that burrows
under our cabin. I just hope it doesn’t
entice a skunk to take up residence, as has happened in the past. Skunks are brutal to rabbit kits. Pure savages.
It amazes me how our free-ranging rabbits have bunnies year
‘round. On one below zero morning I went
into our feed shed to get a flake of hay for a dog I had moved in the dog
yard. Upon lifting the hay flake from
the bale, I discovered a “bunny nest” full of newborn kits. I gasped and quickly covered the rabbit
hair-lined swarm. I was saddened knowing
the temps in the next days would plunge to –30, with little chance of survival
for the little creatures. It wasn’t
until a couple weeks later, Russ mentioned the bunnies were hopping around
inside the feed room. How amazing they
survived. Rabbits aren’t like some
“mama’s” where they snuggle to keep warm.
They only visit the nest a couple times a day, if that, due to their
milk being so rich. (And if some of you
are wondering why we didn’t just scoop them up and take them into the cabin to
bottle feed – the mortality rate is high when you “mess with nature”.) Anyone who knows me knows I abhor it when
folks think they can do better than the “mama” and kick “mama” to the curb and
take over. ‘Nuff said. A positive note is when the babies are big
enough to make their appearance out and about, it is entertainment to see them
follow Mama around and squirm under her belly, flip on their backs and kick
with their little legs to position to get a good grip on the “milk
bottle”. {Smile}
Chickens have also come out of the barn and free-ranged all
over our cabin area, enjoying the sunshine during those warm days. A few eggs have even been found, announced by
a proud chicken. A preview of what’s to
come. It will be good to have a frequent
supply of fresh eggs again.
The sled dogs {total count of 13} have certainly had the
winter “off”, for the most part. I gave
up trying to snowshoe a trail. I
strapped on the webs several days (3) in a row and then we had a warm up and
heavy snow and drifting. I lost the
trail. However, I did find several
nights of inner upper leg “Charley Horses”.
The worst. Thank the Lord I have
a good liniment (J. R. Watkins) that swiftly takes care of such nuisances. Note to self:
pick up another bottle at my favorite Amish store on my next visit.
However, just because the sled dogs haven’t been running
doesn’t mean there hasn’t been excitement in the dog yard. A couple weeks ago we had a bit of excitement
once darkness fell. It wasn’t even my
bedtime when I was alerted to a commotion in the dog yard. Dogs were whining, uneasy. One of the dogs was barking an alert bark,
telling us there was an “issue”. Russ
was sleeping, I was fully awake. Earlier
in the day, I had commented to hubby, Russ, that our back gate that leads out
into the woods was opened about a foot, due to deep snow, allowing a dog to get
out. Or, perhaps a dog to get in. It looked like a super highway from our dog
yard to the woods, showing there had been some activity. Coyote in the dog yard? I shined my searchlight into the dog yard and
met with a pair of eyes near the gate.
All other dogs were where they should be. Oh no.
I grabbed a light, my Ruger, and shovel and hit the dog yard. After much shoveling, I secured the gate and
looked at our elderly gal who was in full-blown heat. She smiled.
I groaned. Upon coming back into
the cabin, I marked the calendar for April 15th – 63 days. We’ll see.
I mentioned reading Kathrene Pinkerton’s “Wilderness Wife” written
back in the 1930’s. I can’t say how much
I’ve enjoyed this book. It’s as if she
mirrors my very thoughts, especially the contentment she feels in her rustic
cabin, in the wild. I feel that way here
on our ’40. As I type this on my
non-Internet connected computer, I see the birds at the feeders in the
reflections on the screen. Smartwool
socks hang over the woodstove for a final drying. We don’t live fancy, but it is real. And it feels right.
I’ve settled into such a routine this winter, baking cookies
and bread, sorting through paperwork to fill our burn barrel. I am actually allowing myself to actually
“relax”. I have been “retired” from a
very busy State job for three years and it has taken me this long to “chill”
out. I get wide-eyed when I look at my
old Franklin Planner and the life I used to lead. I’m so blessed to have been able to follow my
plan to live a simple life. And daily, I
struggle to get it even more so, as LESS IS MORE.
I don’t travel in the winter, and hadn’t planned to go south
to a hearing for Baker’s Green Acres, (fighting to keep his pigs despite a
Invasive Species Order from the DNR saying his pigs meet the characteristics of
Feral…) but the near blizzard weather we had that day made me feel
better for missing it. (I attended last
July.) Turns out, it was canceled. Watch this video – you won’t believe what
happened at the next hearing, before the Judge entered the courtroom, as folks
discussed the previous cancellation due to snow. Be prepared to be disgusted. Dicky Bird – a must see for you.
Until next time, dear friend. Lord willing.
Sherry
