Solitude

What a gift! A whole day to myself  - in a lookout -  at the top of a butte.

Everyone else went hunting. I watched two pick-up trucks drive away and thought about what I wanted to do first. At the top of the list was reading *The Log* we had found on the shelf, several stacks of yellow lined pages stapled together, mixed up with maps and books. They dated back to 2010.

Before that luxury I wanted to bake a cake. It is very distracting to look at the panoramic view out the windows while trying to concentrate on the recipe for Jiffy Feather Chocolate Cake. I didn't bring the recipe because I know it by heart. As I gathered the ingredients and cleared a working space I heard clomp clomp clomp on the wooden steps outside the door.

I looked out the window. A man looked in and said, "Do you work here?"

I couldn't hear him but I could read his lips. I opened the door and stepped out.

"Hi! We are renting this place for four days."

"What? You can rent this place? That's great!"

"Yeah, my husband found the info online and reserved it for this week."

He looked out across the countryside. "This would be great to bring the wife and kids out here!"

We agreed that it is pretty awesome. He asked what is provided and I told him about the fridge,

stove, heater and lights all ran by propane.

"Just look up *Diamond Butte Lookout* online and it will tell you everything you need to know."

                                                                  - - - - - - -                                                                                  

After the cake was in the oven I curled up to read the papers that tell the history of the lookout.
It was fascinating to read where people came from. Some from as far away as Spain and Finland.

Pack rats and mice came to visit and bother the guests. When one couple went hiking they met up with a rattle snake.

Descriptions of the scenery and the weather took up a lot of space.

The climb up the bluff was a challenge for everyone.

I found out what food was prepared and served.

People stay at all times of the year celebrating every major holiday from New Year's Day around the year to Christmas and the eve of a new year.

Some tales told about arriving after dark and struggling to open the gate using the code you are given.

Another whole set of stories tell of struggles to keep the pilot lit on the heater.

There have been new windows installed and maybe some insulation, too, because we had no troubles with the wind blowing out the pilot.
November 16, 2016 

Diamond Butte Lookout

“Rapunzel! Rapunzel! Let down your golden hair!” These were my thoughts as I climbed the hill to the lookout that would be our home for the next four days. Jeremy and Liz got there ahead of us and opened up the gate and turned on the propane for the cook stove, fridge, lights and heater. Liz sent a txt that said, “I feel like a princess!”

Elizabeth, our daughter-in-law with golden hair, waved at us from the deck. With much huffing and puffing we hauled our food supplies, cooking utensils, clothes and sleeping bags up the steep incline. The elevation is over 4000 feet at Diamond Butte Lookout. Before the week was over we were all wishing for a lift of some kind. All the wishing in the world did not produce an easier way to reach the sturdy room perched on top of this section of the world.

At some point in time this was a lookout for spotting fires. Now the Custer National Forest Service rents it out four days at a time to adventurous people. The very first thing to be done is cook lunch/supper while the guys unpack and set up the wall tent and the bunk beds. A little wood stove is set up to heat the tent. The guys cut some firewood in case it turns cold.

Liz, Chelsea, Krysta and I have the lookout for our bedroom. This room is square, 16ft x 16ft and has windows for walls. The door opens into the corner of the room. A table and a twin bed line the south wall. One cot is set up along the west wall. There is just enough room for the third cot to be set up with the head end by the window and stretching into the middle of the room. We had blue mats stacked on top of each other to make the fourth bed on the floor. Sleeping bags, fuzzy blankets and soft pillows add finishing touches to our sleeping quarters.

On the east side there is a refrigerator, cook stove, cabinet and a low coffee table piled high with our kitchen supplies. We really have brought everything but the kitchen sink this time. The fire finder stands in the very center of the room. It is now used as a book shelf and holds maps, books and the log book. Guests can write down their experiences to help newcomers know what to expect.

The very first morning we had a scrumptious egg bake made by Liz. I learned the fine art of making coffee in a French coffee press. We took the food, hot from the oven, down the side of the bluff to the waiting men. The ones who didn't care for onions and peppers dished up their food out of one pan. The rest of us had a pan all to ourselves with yummy onions and peppers mixed into the egg bake. 

It is the middle of November! What a gorgeous autumn day!
November 15, 2016

Hunting Trip 2016

So, if a family has two nearly identical vehicles
(one is white and the other is forest green but otherwise identical)
and keeps one for spare parts to repair the other
it is a good idea to keep track of the paper work
and not rush off and buy tabs for the license plates of the parts vehicle
(and insurance too)
then notice that the numbers and letters on the license plate don't match
the numbers and letters on the paper/cab card.
Fortunately, we discovered this before we stuck the new tabs on the wrong license plate.

There is always, always, always something to be
                               thankful for
                               (quoting from a motto hanging in the home of a dear friend.)

Ellis transferred the insurance to the right van and endured some teasing from our insurance agent. Then he drove straight to the DVS office and found they were closed for Veterans Day. This caused some anxious moments because he is/was planning to leave on a hunting trip tomorrow morning bright and early.

After some phone calls Ellis found an office that was open. Krysta and I made a quick, unexpected run to Rochester and spent more hard earned $$$$'s to get the right tabs for the right van.
                       As Laura's Ma said many times, "All's well that ends well."

Ellis has been burning the candle at both ends the past few days getting ready. He worked on the van and he built bunk beds to put in the wall tent the guys are sleeping in. Now comes the job of fitting everything in the van so he can drive to MT tomorrow. Maybe he will need to pull a small trailer.

Here comes the surprise! Krysta and I took off work and we are heading out to join the hunters - leaving in the early morning hours Tuesday - between midnight and 1:00 A.M (If all goes as planned)

This marks the beginning of the story. This was written late last evening, November 11th.
I forgot to click on the word *Publish* so this didn't get posted until Saturday morning.
Ellis and Jorgan are on the way MT.  

(to be continued)

Walks and Road Trips

I collect rocks. When I walk along our country road before long I notice a lovely stone. I stop
and pick it up, turn it over in my hand and admire color, size, and shape then put it back in its spot. The other day after I walked away leaving the beautiful little pebble behind I suddenly thought, "I could save that one for my collection."

When I turned around and went back, carefully looking for my triangular bit of quartz it was gone.
So I chose another one and clasped it in my hand until I got home. I washed it and found a safe
place to display it.

(There is another story about finding a tiny piece of petrified wood written April 11, 2009.
Krysta and I tried to link it to this post with no success.)

Another fun thing to do is watch the clouds and imagine cloud animals floating overhead. This can be especially helpful on road trips across Montana. The sky is a beautiful blue and huge, puffy white clouds are constantly changing shapes. Elephants march across in front of the car then turn into other zoo animals before your eyes. Montana is our Big Sky Country.

Have fun exploring!

Stories and Shoes

Have you ever traveled over a road so many times that eventually it seems ingrained in your
mind? For the first twelve years of my life I rode with my family back and forth on Hwy 11
from Roseau to International Falls more times than could be counted . . . with many stops in
between. Our cousins lived between Roseau and Warroad . We drove to Roosevelt to visit grandparents. Our school was in Williams. The post office was in Graceton and our church was
there as well. We shopped in Baudette, and stopped at Clementson to see those falls on our way
to visit friends in Loman and International Falls.

Another way to remember a road in a special way is to listen to a book on cd while traveling. 
One summer we drove on Hwy 56 on the western edge of Montana listening to A Wrinkle in Time
or one of its sequels by Madeleine L'Engle. I can still see the mountains, trees and the river winding beside the road.

The most recent adventure was traveling on Hwy 17 from Sault Sainte Marie to Espanola, Ontario, Canada. It was dark. It was raining. Sometimes the rain was coming fast and furious and we couldn't see the road. Of all the stretches of road to drive at night in the pouring rain and at the same time listen to A Series of Unfortunate Events by Daniel Handler, better known by his pen name, Lemony Snicket, this road seemed made for the occasion. Some day I would like to drive on it when the sun shines and go a tad slower.

When we got to Espanola we found a motel that was open and had vacancies. After we hauled in the luggage and got comfortable I asked Krysta to take a picture of our shoes. She thought it was a weird thing to do, but she took the picture with rumblings about, "You really need to get your own camera."

It seemed even more strange to Krysta to move that picture to my blog at 11:30 Saturday night. We weren't really going to post it, just get it ready for a blog post at a later date.

That's the mystery. I thought I simply saved the picture. Instead I touched the button to publish it. Sorry to keep you in suspense.

Help! I Can't Hear Anymore

The other day I had a chance to experience deafness. This isn't the first time of course.
How many times have people mumbled so I couldn't hear them? I thought they said
something completely different then I replied with a totally irrelevant answer and felt
knee high to an ant afterwards. Countless times!

But getting back to the other day - Krysta asked me to listen to a song on YouTube -
"Give Me Your Eyes" written by Jason Ingram. We listened to the song and watched
the video that went with it. I noticed immediately that I could not understand all the words.
Krysta said she would print off the lyrics for me when were done listening.
(There is just something about holding paper in my hands and reading the words while
people sing that helps my hearing a great deal.)

So I am listening to the song. The video is filmed in an airport. There is a picture of a man
dressed in a black suit and a red tie. I heard these words, "Lassoed with a bright red tie."
I started to giggle. It struck my funny bone. Krysta looked puzzled but I didn't explain right
away because we wanted to get the message of the song.

At last the song was over. Krysta showed me the words. My eyes scanned down the page
searching for the words about the red tie. Here they are:
"There is a man just to her right  Black suit and a bright red tie"
I pointed to this line and commented to Krysta,
"These words aren't the same as they sang on the video/"

"I think they are," she said. "What do you see that's different?"

"I didn't hear them say black suit."

"What did you hear them say then?" Krysta asked.

"They said, 'Lassoed with a bright red tie,' I said, emphatically.

We will here draw a curtain over the next scene that involves Krysta laughing hysterically
at her elderly, deaf mother. 

This episode reminded me of a huge eye ball we saw in a park in Chicago one year.
I think we were told that a high pitched sound was being played near this area to keep
young people from loitering. A sound that older people can no longer hear, but is very
annoying for young ears. Don't quote me on this. I am still checking with others who were
there to find out if my memory is failing me and this is just a figment of my imagination.

                         ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And now I am losing things as well. We needed passports for our trip to Canada.
I called Jorgan to make sure he has his passport because it wasn't in the safe with ours.
"And by the way - do you have your birth certificate?" I asked.

He had his passport but after looking through his stuff he called to say he can't find the
birth certificate. He remembers that I was carrying it in my purse for awhile when he got
his license updated when he turned 21 or something like that . . .

I looked and looked. Then I thought I might as well just go to the court house and get him
another one. The price has doubled  since 20 years ago when we got his official birth cert so
we could get his passport so we could go to Haiti to visit my sister in 1997. I filled out
some paper work then the nice gal said it would be just a minute or two. She came back
and said, "The father's name is not on this birth certificate."

I didn't understand what she was talking about and must have looked dumb. She repeated
herself and said it will cost $40.00 to have his name added. I said, "It was on the one we lost."
"Are you sure?" she asked. Then - "Were you married when Jorgan was born?"

"Yes, I was married. Jorgan is our fourth child. His dad's name is on the decorative birth certificate that the hospital gives." I pulled that out to show her. She gave me a phone number to call. I decided not to get the birth certificate yet. I am hoping I can find the first one. I never throw anything away. How can it be lost?

The worn out cliché is still true. Growing old is not for sissies.




 

Birch Trees

 

Our lone birch tree died. It was too shaded by huge maple trees.


(The yellow-bellied sapsuckers didn't help it either.)

Ellis cut it down along with a tall pine tree that was also in the shade.

Yesterday we were in Rochester returning lumber to Home Depot
                        and attending a pancake brunch.
I mentioned to Ellis that Krysta and I talked about giving him a
    birch tree for a combination Father's Day / birthday gift.
We pulled into Hy-Vee to mail some packages and looked at their selection
of trees. They had lots of trees and a sign declaring shrubs and trees were 30% off.
                       But would there be any birch trees?
We found a choice of three tubs each with three - four little birch trees in a clump.
What fun to walk down a row of baby trees with the leaves rustling all around my ears.

We decided to think about it while we went to our friends' back yard pancake brunch.
Since we parked a block away we strolled along the side walk and would you believe it?
There was a clump of birch trees in a yard we passed by. There was a low retaining wall
around them with river pebbles at the base of the trees and an assortment of shade loving
perennials growing. Now I can't even think what kind of flowers because I was looking at
the trees. That's what was wrong with our poor tree. There should have been a clump of birch trees together. Instead, whoever planted it 40+ years ago planted only one.
But it had lived a long life in company with the maple trees, pine tree and
lilac bushes in our front yard.


Now I think Krysta and I have just made a lot of work for Ellis by purchasing
a clump of birch trees for his Father's Day / birthday gift.
Oh the things we do to keep him young and agile!

* These pictures were found on Google Images.