Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Up-Date


As the last year and a half has passed I've discovered that the cabin has a bog just out the backdoor, between the house and the outdoor toilet. There are two low places that get somewhat swampy after it rains the least bit. So - Monday, the 10th, I hired my neighbor from the cabin across the road (Number 17) to come in with his backhoe and dig a ditch which will (hopefully) allow the surface water to drain into the creek. For this job I had to buy three joints of six inch by twenty feet culvert pipe. Do you know that these culvert pipes now cost $50 plus tax per foot? Even tho this has been a very dry summer, the little rain we have had has caused the bricks which covered the path to the privy to begin sinking down into the soft soil. My cabin also needs re-inforcement of the under-pinning; which I hope I can start sometime after Christmas.

Meantime, Ed Williams and I continue to pretend to go hunting. I say "pretend" because we do not go quietly into the woods. We talk as we walk. Once in a while we will creep stealthily up on a deer or hog track which we spot in a soft muddy place - or we will "shush" each other to listen to squirrells bark. This last Monday was a bear/hog hunting day, so after we had supervised the ditch digging and laid the culvert into the ground we put on our international orange hats and vests, strapped rifles onto our shoulders and hiked out into the woods. What's the purpose of the international orange? It's so other hunters know that we are not a bear or deer or hog.(Or maybe, just to give the game animals a fair chance to spot us before we spotted them) I'm amazed at the stamina that Ed still has at 79 years of age. We walked up a logging road that went straight up the hill - I believe it was at least 60% grade (felt more like 80%) and tho I am 10 years younger I know that I was as winded at least as much as he was. Of course Ed walks two miles almost every day of his life. He did confess after we returned to the cabin porch that he would not need to walk his two miles now!
We enjoyed our meal that day for both of us had worked up an appetite after our two mile (which felt like ten) hike into the forest.

4 comments:

Corky Alexander said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Corky Alexander said...

Know about the bog deal, got one. Did the same thing. Don't care about pipe prices. You sound healthy, and your retirement sounds promising. What a cool place, the cabin. Merry Christmas. The orange is Tennessee.

Fred said...

Thanks Corky, for helping me understand. Now I get it - the orange is so the animals know we are home folks and UT fans! LoL.

Anonymous said...

It was $50 per joint. Not per foot. LoL.