We made a trip to the cabin just before Thanksgiving. The weather cooperated with us this time. The rain and sleet did not start up there until after we left. We were able to get up there during a pocket of fairly decent weather. The daytime temperatures were in the forties and fifties (Fahrenheit). At night the temperatures dipped into the low thirties, but never went below freezing the entire time we were there.
When we crossed the bridge at the bottom of the mountain, we were surprised to see that the water was roiling. Usually this time of year the river is a sedate little stream calmly flowing over the rocks. This time the water was rushing angrily, heavy even for the spring run off season. When we left last time, Hurricane Michael had just come through. The water was even higher now than after the hurricane. Friends and Family that have been to the cabin might remember a low lying concrete bridge that spans the stream. That bridge was fully underwater by a foot or more. There are a number of places along the road where water is pouring off the mountain. Usually they are dry. This year there are waterfalls in places where I have never seen water moving at all.
There has been a lot of rain up there this year. We noticed that here at the bottom of the mountain that some people had brought in loads of rock to help keep the banks from eroding. For about eight years there was a drought in the area. The drought broke last year and we started having a lot of rain. It has rained heavily at least once on almost every trip we had taken up there this year. All that rain is soaking into the mountains and running down into the streams and rivers. The rivers are definitely higher than normal.
Since it is late in the year and the leaves are down, it is easier to see the huge boulders that cover the mountainside. Many of them weigh several tons. It makes you wonder at the forces of nature that can move these huge monoliths. Clearly, some of these boulders were part of the same rock that split apart sometime in the past. Even more amazing is watching the same rocks over time. In my life time I have seen some of these rocks crack and pieces fall off. Near the top of the mountain there is an area where the side of the mountain is covered with boulders and smaller rocks. It is clear that a huge section of granite has split and those pieces have split continually until the mountainside is covered with smaller and smaller pieces of rock. The power of water and ice is amazing. Nature finds a way to break down everything into smaller and smaller particles. The streams are filled with rock and the fine grit of rock dust. Sometimes when I have felt that I was stuck in some situation it was helpful to remind myself that if I wait long enough that even rocks will change.
We raked leaves one more time, although most of the leaves were removed during the previous trip. It may seem counterproductive to try to rake up all the leaves in the yard when the cabin is in the middle of a forest, however it is necessary. Leaves piling up against the house and around the yard are a potential fire hazard. Piles of leaves, a stray spark or a bolt of lightening combined with high winds can be a disaster in the making. It is necessary to keep a little bit of a fire break.
Leaves on the lawn would kill the grass. The grass helps hold the soil in place, preventing erosion. On a mountainside, everything runs down hill in one direction or another. Water tends to run in channels where ridges meet. Water can very quickly dig out a rut if there is not something holding the ground in place. Each year we carefully tend the yard, fighting the forces of nature and gravity. I sometimes wonder if we own the cabin or the cabin owns us. We seem to toil ceaselessly in its service.Our other big project this trip was splitting and stacking wood. Two years ago we had a locust tree cut down that was threatening our shed. We had the tree cutter cut the tree trunk into appropriate lengths for firewood. The tree was almost more than we bargained for as some of the pieces of the trunk were twenty-four inches in diameter. We have been splitting wood from this tree ever since.
My husband splits the pieces of trunk with a huge wood maul or wedges and a sledge hammer. The maul is so heavy that I am not able to lift it over my head. How he can manage to use these heavy tools to split wood all day long is somewhat of a mystery to me. He is very strong. Anyway, he splits the wood and tosses it down to the the next level of the yard. I pick the wood up and pile several pieces at a time into the log carrier and carry it into the shed and stack it. It is a lot of work. They say that chopping wood warms you twice. Once when you chop it and once when you burn it. That is true. Fortunately, the cool temperatures were just about ideal for chopping wood. Although I cannot say that chopping, hauling, and stacking wood is enjoyable, it is at least tolerable when the weather is cool.
Every once in a while, when my husband was starting to split a large log, I would catch up on picking up the split wood. I would take the opportunity to grab a few of the large branches that had come down and haul them out of the direct view of the porch. The ground between the cabin and the stream is a lovely view from the porch as long as you keep the area picked up. Otherwise it is a pile of lumber. The trees, especially the birch trees, drop limbs constantly. At least once a year the area needs to be cleared out or you are knee deep in branches. Some of the branches are broken up to make kindling. Other branches are cut to go into the wood stove. Some of the branches are tossed over a ravine, the rest are taken to a burn pile. It is a never ending process to keep the area looking civilized. I cannot say that it is ever immaculate. As soon as you finish cleaning the area the process begins again.
Because the weather was cool, we used the wood stove all day. The stove is another thing up there that needs constant attention. Our wood stove is a wood burning cook stove. It burns wood very quickly. I have to add wood to it about every twenty minutes to keep it from going out. We keep a wood box in the house that holds about twenty-five pieces of wood. It is not unusual to go through the entire wood box in a day. It usually needs to be refilled each evening.
The cabin is shut down for the year now. After Thanksgiving, the main line of the water system is drained for the winter. We actually start draining the house in October. You never know exactly when it is going to start freezing up there. This year we have had snow up there since our trip in October. We don't want to be faced with having to make it up there at the spur of the moment if a sudden freeze comes. With temperatures that go below zero, you don't want water in the pipes of an unheated cabin.
We probably won't see the cabin again until spring. Every time we go to the cabin we hope that we will return to find everything all right. You never know what happens there while you are away. There are a number of people close by that check on the cabin from time to time. If something is damaged they will get word to us. Still, you always wonder whether everything will be all right when you come up the drive.
