Not much going on around here lately. We spent a quiet weekend doing mostly chores. Saturday we finished stacking the two cords of wood, so now we’re ready for colder weather. Our weather over the weekend, however, was balmy and sunny—and mid 60’s! Now, I ask you Mother Nature, why couldn’t you have given us this weather earlier on so the trees would have been happier? Speaking of the trees, that’s another time consuming chore. I ran Johnny over the yard again to mulch the final leaves that had fallen and Rick did leaf blowing duty in various spots. The big oak in the back yard still has leaves, so I’ll wait until they drop to go over the back yard once more and then it will be time for us to change out the mowing deck for the snow blower.

We did take time out on Sunday morning to take the dogs for a walk on the old Jungle Habitat grounds. Not much remains of the old enclosures except some fencing and tall, heavy wrought steel gates. Some of them look like they used to keep T-Rexes and velociraptors captive. You just have to use your imagination. But in reality, where lions, tigers, and elephants used to roam there are now only squirrels, chipmunks, deer and bear, bicyclists and dog walkers. The dogs love it because they can be off-lead, meet other dogs and people. On this walk we didn’t see any other dogs.

I hadn’t realized there was so much bittersweet growing here! It covered the trees. Next time I come I’m bringing my garden clipper so I can take some home with me! I know it’s parasitic but it’s so pretty.

And talking about parasitic ... the vines here are pretty creepy. They take over the trees.

This one looks like it created a loop to catch someone or something in.

The bark of some kind of birch tree glowing silvery-gold in the sun.

A watering hole along the way is always a good thing Bella says.

The moon looks like it’s being embraced by the tree branches, don’t you think?

We do a loop of about a mile and a half. It’s a nice walk along the abandoned road system with some short climbs. The dogs were pooped when we got home and slept while Rick and I did the outside chores. A very full weekend of just “stuff.”

Unlike Dorothy I have no need to click my heels together and repeat the phrase above. I am there. We arrived home right on schedule last night and pulled in to our driveway at 6:57 p.m. How’s that for a good guess? The house seems huge after spending two weeks in our 1,000 square foot cabin. So much space! We were gone long enough that things look and feel strange to us. It will take a few days to acclimate to the East coast again, just as it took us a good 3 days to settle into the cabin. The dogs are having no such issues. They are home and that’s all that matters. All their familiar habits that were out of place at the cabin have resurfaced now that they are back in their home environment. Some of them are good; some are not.

More later. Just wanted to touch base and say that we arrived safe and sound. Now there is unpacking to do, but the laundry will have to wait at least one more day. Our dryer died the day before we left, so a service person is due out tomorrow to see what the trouble is. I do have to visit the grocery store though since the larder is bare. I’m thinking maybe some Salt and Pepper Shrimp for dinner ...

It’s now 8:00 p.m. mountain time as I sit writing this post. Our last night in the cabin. Tomorrow we head home, tackling the huge state of Nebraska with the hopes of making Council Bluffs, Iowa as our first stop in the eastward trek home. Sometimes with all the animals on board I feel like we should be piloting a covered wagon instead. But then it would take us much longer than 3 travel days to reach our final destination.

It’s sad, but I think we are all ready. The dogs watched us getting out the suitcases, loading things in the Suburban, and finally as a last chore tonight, loading their crates. They know we are going and they seem okay with it. The cats didn’t even freak out like the usually do when we bring their kitty crates in from the front porch so they aren’t too cold to load them into in the morning. Usually they hide in anticipation of the trip home. Not today. As “at home” as the cabin is, it’s not home.  New Jersey is home now. For now. We are not sure what the future holds as far as our place of residence. We’ll let it unfold as it should.

We saw Mr. Moose again the other night. Same moose, nearly the same location, different night. I was lucky to get this shot as it was getting pretty dark.

The dogs will miss their walks in the high prairie and big sky.

We’ve seen so many hawks this time around, I am certain they will not miss us.

Bella will certainly miss her daily dips in the pond.

We will miss the true unfolding of Fall here but we know we’ll have our own glorious display in NJ.

So many things I could have/should have blogged about but in the end went unspoken.

We know we will miss the people, creatures and flora of this special place, but will it miss us?

Today we had company at the cabin. More about that later, but what I wanted to capture now, at this particular moment in time, was what I felt just now when I stepped out of the cabin. When our company left at about 3:30-ish it was raining. Now at nearly 4:30, upon stepping outside I can smell the sage, aspen and pine, all mingling in an earthy damp smell. There is no other smell quite like it. If I could bottle this scent I would be rich. It is truly heady. Thunder grumbles in the not-too-distant distance and the sky holds dark, forbidding clouds. I think our rain is not over yet for the day. As I type I can still hear the protesting clouds. grumble, grumble, grumble. A nuthatch lends its song to the already present thunder song. My eardrums don’t know how to react to hearing next to nothing. I know I’ve talked before about the silence being absolute up here when the wind ceases, and it’s true. Sound (or lack thereof) can be deafening.

In a clear departure from my previous posts on this blog where I have skirted photos of myself (mostly because I am always the person “manning” the camera) and also because I am not one of those photogenic type people, I give you this photo of Rick and I taken on Picnic Rock with Hailey and Bella.

Our company today consisted of people we have known since we got married. They are mentors as well as friends and even though they are not really old enough to be parents, some have also taken on that role through the years as well. They have seen us through many years, and some have even shared or at least visited us on our FSE assignments in Europe.  We all have history together and we owe it all to Hewlitt Packard, which is of course how we all came to meet and be friends in the first place. It was wonderful to see everyone and we’re so glad they made the journey over dirt roads to be with us. We are equally glad that on our walk “around” they all were able to sidestep the multiple cow flops (and the very wet Bella) we encountered. To Rick and I they are part of living the cabin life, but to others can be something they don’t encounter on a daily basis. It’s a rigorous walk but everyone kept up and I know we all walked off our lunch. A visit to Dick the Tree (and by the way, he has a new friend we are calling Jane) was unavoidable. Do you remember Dick the Tree? No? Okay, photos to follow soon, but be aware they are PG.

I’ll leave you for now with this photo after last night’s rain taken from the cabin front porch. What’s not to love?

hello adoring fans! it’s me, bella. mom finally gave me some computer time of my own. i begged and begged and said please please please can i use the computer. now i can tell you what i’ve been up to. this place is really cool. i get to go on lots of walks and i don’t have to be on a lead. mom and dad say i’m a really good trail dog. there are woods with lots of logs to jump over, a little stream to get a drink in and wet your feet, and bestest of all is the beaver pond. well, the beaver doesn’t really live there anymore and daddy says the pond has a leak now, but it’s lots of fun. the minute i saw it i jumped right in! mom and dad couldn’t see me at first but they could hear lots and lots of splashing and they think i was actually swimming. i have swimmeded—i mean really swimmeded—twice. i think it was by accident when i went too far out and lost my footing, but i swimmed anyway and it was okay. i prefer to just stand there up to my shoulders. here are some photos.

here i am painting water pictures in the air with the drops from my tail. way cool, huh?

every time we walk down to the pond i have to go in and do my thing. i’m a water dog at heart. i really am.

look at me—i can float!

i can jump!

i can shake off and make myself look funny!

and here i am on a walk.

onced i saw an animal go down a hole in the middle of the road. mom says it was a prairie dog but it didn’t look like any dog i have ever seen. besides, what kind of dog goes down a hole? i tried and tried to dig it up. i made dust fly everywhere.

it must be down there somewhere ... come out, come out wherever you are ...

can you tell i am having a blast?

here i am still wet from my pond swim with sis hailey. my mom likes this picture a lot.

well, gotta go now. there are walks to be taken and scents to be sniffed! bye for now!