Sunday, July 31, 2011

ESCAPING CHICKENS, BIG BLACK BEAR AND LOGGERS

          My mind seems to be in low gear these days and at times I feel plumb tuckered out.  Not sure if the cause for this feeling is the weather, either hot or pouring rain and when I look at the sumac tree growing near the garage, due to the shape of its leaves, we almost appear to be living in a sub tropical climate.  Of course, come winter, when the snow flies and the sumac tree is bare of leaves, this place will seem as if it packed up and decided to take up residence on the slopes of the alps.  However, although the weather is completely undependable these days, I have somewhat of a firm suspicion that the reason I feel as sluggish as a slug weaving a slime trail across the road is because I've sort of wore myself out - just not as young as I used to be.  Seems like before I even complete one project, just like the goats, another two or three butt in and push it aside momentarily - my list of things to do appears to be getting longer rather than shorter. 
          Now that we've got animals - two goats Freya and Jack, one dog Lukie and 37 chickens (I won't bother with all their names) in the coop,  plus one under the coop and another who knows where, since one of the goats broke the latch off the hen house and about 7 or 8 of them escaped, they eat into one's time as well - spent a good portion of yesterday trying to catch the dang things and return them to the safety of their coop - lots of predators lurking around Golden Unicorn Farm.  And speaking of predators, I just heard yesterday that a large bear, the biggest one anyone here around these parts has ever seen before, appears to be hanging around Green Mountain.  Not sure how dangerous the bear is but being the biggest bear in the woods has to mean something.  With all the chores that need doing and the tree-fallers about to begin knocking down the trees on the property next to ours, instead of me working on the goat and chicken barn today, and because I'm feeling somewhat leery about the survey job supposedly being done, I'm going to have to try and find the border between the two properties - don't want any of the trees growing on Golden Unicorn Farm getting hacked down - trying to give the tree population a bit of a helping hand and at least keep our portion safe from the heavy equipment and chain saws.  I suppose with the big bear in the nearby vicinity, I best take Lukie with me - the property line stretches about 3/4 of a mile into the forest - not like I can just high-tail back inside the house if it suddenly appears.
          Sundays, I generally walk up over Green Mountain to visit my friends George and Margaret, so hiking through the woods should be enjoyable as long as we don't come across that big old bear.  I often  wander through the woods without taking any weapons so I may strap my hatchet and long-bladed knife to my hips before leaving - not that they would do me any good against a bear, but if I can see any old markings of the property line, I'll cut a new blaze through the forest so the logging company will make no mistake about which trees they can cut down.  I really wish a logging operation wasn't about to happen, not just because it is going to destroy the looks of Green Mountain for quite a few years to come but because of the problems it may create - less habitation for the animals, possible erosion and the effect it may have on the trout bearing stream, which flows into the lake - not a whole lot of soil covering this rocky terrain.
          The sun has climbed well over the ridge and already, unless some big thunderclouds come rolling in, I suspect it's going to be a very hot and muggy day - blasted mosquitoes and no-see-ems will be after me in the woods too - they just seem to thrive on the present weather conditions.  Guess I best get a move on since I don't know how long I'll be traipsing through the trees, there's a lot of things that need doing here on the farm today too.
      

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