Woods & Water by Dick Herfindahl

 

Here I am, kicking back at the cabin once again, or so I imagined as I was driving up. Unfortunately, old Mother Nature had other plans for my week. As I turned up my drive, a large pine tree had fallen directly across my path, which meant I would have to clear it out of the way before I could drive up to the cabin. I walked to the cabin thinking what a stroke of genius it was that I had bought an electric chainsaw.

After retrieving said chainsaw from the cabin, I began the task of cleaning up the mess. My saw really works a lot better than I had anticipated, but there are a couple of exceptions, one being that like any chainsaw it can get wedged in a cut when it gets pressure on the blade. After rounding up some pieces of wood from the forest I was able to get the pressure off and the saw was free. Unfortunately, before we headed home after our last trip I had neglected to put a charge in the battery which canceled out my stroke of genius. After walking back to the cabin, I put the battery on the charger, which takes about half an hour to get a full charge.

While that was taking place I was outside surveying the damage and planning my strategy for removing the tree that had fallen on the cabin when my luck changed. My neighbor Chris, who was just heading home with his wife to Pemberton noticed my vehicle in the driveway and walked up to see if I needed any help. I said that I could really use some help moving that big pine that had fallen across the driveway. He said that he’d get his chainsaw from the pickup and we soon made short work of it with him cutting and me throwing branches. He also helped me with the bigger stuff, which seems to get a little tougher to do each year. This is the first time in a couple of years I have been up here when he has. He sure makes me appreciate good neighbors and I was especially thankful that he was here this time.

As we were cutting up that big pine I had to ask myself how in the world did I manage to move those five trees that had fallen across the driveway a couple of years ago. Even more interesting is that I did it with an axe and a bow saw. I was contemplating just turning around and going back home, but my stubborn Norwegian heritage just wouldn’t let that happen. That was the reason I bought the chainsaw, battery run or not it still works quite well. Although you really do have to remember to charge the battery.

After four days, the birds have finally decided to make an appearance at the feeders. The hummingbirds appeared right away and an occasional pair of blue jays, who always let you know that they are in the area, will stop by.  There are four ravens who make just enough noise to be annoying before they decide to move on. Today, the finches, chickadees and nuthatches are beginning to appear. When my wife, Jean, and I were last here the birds were everywhere and we sure do enjoy watching them.

This past week the weather has been exactly what you would want as far as vacations go. I don’t really call it a vacation when I’m at the cabin by myself. I don’t take the boat out by myself much anymore so fishing off of the dock is always fun. Unfortunately, there are way too many lily pads and what I call grassy weeds surrounding our dock for a longways out. These are both signs of a healthy lake. I was going to put our little boat in the lake and leave it tied to the dock so I could go out in the evenings, but two days of tree cleanup and a day of mowing pretty much sucked all of the adventurous spirit I had out of me for a while.

I did manage to go for a drive and visit Scenic State Park, which lies just a little east of Marcell. It has a swimming beach, picnic area, walking trails and a nice fishing pier. I will write more later about this park that definitely lives up to its name. I wanted to check it out because when my son Brad, his two girls and I come up in a couple of weeks it would be a great place to visit. Those girls like to fish, but mainly they like to stay busy. Last year they had a great time, but about five days seems to be their limit.

Until next time, I enjoy sitting on the little deck that we have down by the dock, and watching the wildlife and waterfowl. Just the other evening I was enjoying the sunset when an otter appeared in front of our dock. It was evidently just swimming along the lily pads in search of a meal, what a great sight. Last year we spotted three of them playing in the lake. Each year a pair of loons nest on the lake and I so look forward to hearing that wonderful sound for the first time each year. There is no sound that makes me feel more connected to “up north” than the call of the loon.

Please remember to keep our troops in your prayers. We must not let ourselves forget those who are still putting themselves in harm’s way so we can enjoy all of the wonderful freedoms we have today.