When I rolled out of bed this morning at 4:45 am in order to feed the fire, a 20 minute process by the time you empty the ashes and get the fire re-started, it was a balmy 5.9 F! Unfortunately, I had been lax in restocking the firewood bin last night so I had to actually go out in that temperature, in my pj's, to get some wood off the porch. It made the 56 F temperature in the house seem almost tropical when I came back in. We've been having a bit of a cold spell here the last seven days and until today the thermometer couldn't get past the 25 F mark. And, if there is such a thing as liquid ice, it has been flowing from my kitchen faucet for a week now. Thus, I have been enlightened and realize that Anders Celsius had it right when he devised the temperature scale he did as it much more accurately describes cold than Daniel Fahrenheit ever did. In other words, being outside in my pj's this morning when it was -14.5 C means that it was COLD! Fortunately, the wind wasn't blowing for once.
The wind was howling yesterday, however, when the boys were sawing and chopping all the trees that have fallen down recently. While Paul did most of the sawing and chopping and Garrick did most of the transporting, Garrick dressed the part of the Northwood's lumberjack. I'm not sure if he'll be able to work the chainsaw when the trees come down again, but as you can see from the picture, he'll have one heck of a Halloween costume for next year. Luckily, I took on the job of fire tender for the day. It is pretty tough work but somebody has to do it!
Actually, it is not a bad job to have if the weather is a bit mild. The tough part comes with the colder temperatures when the stove just can't keep up and you have to get up twice during the night to feed the thing in order to keep the temperature in the house above the hypothermia level. No need to set the alarm either ... when you wake up because the tip of your nose is starting to get numb, you know it is time to feed the fire again. Hoping it is warm enough now that I get to sleep through the night for the first time in a week. Also hoping that the warmer weather doesn't bring that snow storm they are predicting ... we have yet to purchase that snowmobile and I can't imagine the four of us trying to get out of here on Garrick's bike for the Thanksgiving Weekend!
Happy Thanksgiving -
Karyn
Monday, November 24, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Rub a Dub Dub
Woke up this morning at 5:15 am to the beep of the carbon monoxide detector ... not because I was in danger of being asphyxiated but rather because the power had gone off! Luckily this time I had a flashlight in my nightstand. After setting the travel alarm clock for 6:30am, I headed downstairs to call the power company and throw another log on the fire. Garrick got up when he heard me so I suggested that he head down to the lake to get some water for his morning 'shower'. I figured this way we could at least heat it up on the wood stove for an hour or so before he would have to use it. He didn't think going out in 28 F with the wind still blowing sounded like fun so he crawled back into that cozy bed of his, not realizing that a 33 F lake water 'shower' would really not be fun! Fortunately, I had filled the kettle on the wood stove before retiring to bed last night so using that with the little bit of water I managed to get out of the faucet (as I wasn't going down to the lake to get him his water), he was able to bathe AND wash his hair before heading off to school. It is amazing that someone who normally needs 15 minutes of steaming hot water to get the dirt off, can really get by with only about a half gallon ... hmmm ... maybe I need to work on that?
In an effort to conserve energy ... mine of course ... we didn't dare open the refrigerator for breakfast as it might mean moving all the food to the porch if the power were out for too long. So I retrieved a box of soy milk and a jug of grapefruit juice from the 'storeroom' in the basement and we had cereal with a side of canned grapefruit slices. I then put the grapefruit juice and leftover soy milk on the porch which require much less effort than moving everything in the refrigerator outside. We then scooted out the door, a bit earlier than usual, putting the bike in the trunk of the truck. Not sure what we would encounter in the way of road barriers, I figured I would drive as far as I could and then send Garrick off on the bike to the bus stop if the road became impassible. It is much easier to lift a bike over a fallen tree than move a truck that way! Luck was on our side ... we made it all the way to the bus stop without having to use the bike.
The first thing I did upon returning to the camp was call the power company to find out the status of the work order I had called in at 5:21 am. I figured there would be no need to do anything if the power would be back on within an hour or so (in an effort to conserve energy, once again). But when Mark told me that they had not yet located the source of the outage, I determined it would be best to get some water. I headed to the lake with my bucket and lobster pot and after three trips had enough water to restock the kettle (Caroline and I needed 'showers' too.), fill-up the toilets, and rinse the dishes. Just as I put down the bucket containing the spare water ... you guessed it ... the power turned on. So, no sponge bath for me today. I am sure that will be a story for the future!
Karyn
In an effort to conserve energy ... mine of course ... we didn't dare open the refrigerator for breakfast as it might mean moving all the food to the porch if the power were out for too long. So I retrieved a box of soy milk and a jug of grapefruit juice from the 'storeroom' in the basement and we had cereal with a side of canned grapefruit slices. I then put the grapefruit juice and leftover soy milk on the porch which require much less effort than moving everything in the refrigerator outside. We then scooted out the door, a bit earlier than usual, putting the bike in the trunk of the truck. Not sure what we would encounter in the way of road barriers, I figured I would drive as far as I could and then send Garrick off on the bike to the bus stop if the road became impassible. It is much easier to lift a bike over a fallen tree than move a truck that way! Luck was on our side ... we made it all the way to the bus stop without having to use the bike.
The first thing I did upon returning to the camp was call the power company to find out the status of the work order I had called in at 5:21 am. I figured there would be no need to do anything if the power would be back on within an hour or so (in an effort to conserve energy, once again). But when Mark told me that they had not yet located the source of the outage, I determined it would be best to get some water. I headed to the lake with my bucket and lobster pot and after three trips had enough water to restock the kettle (Caroline and I needed 'showers' too.), fill-up the toilets, and rinse the dishes. Just as I put down the bucket containing the spare water ... you guessed it ... the power turned on. So, no sponge bath for me today. I am sure that will be a story for the future!
Karyn
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Happy Hours
Woke up this morning to rain and a temperature of about 54 F. By this afternoon, the cold front the weather forecasters had been promising, finally moved in and the temperature dropped 17 degrees (in less than two hours). We're now just above freezing and the rain has turned to an ice/snow mixture. It's not enough to start worrying about having to take the truck out to the main road yet but enough to make me listen to the weather radio a bit more diligently. We had to let the wood stove shutdown Saturday morning as it was too hot in the house ... Garrick walking around in his shorts with no shirt on was a pretty good clue that we didn't need to add any more wood to the fire. But, we've got it fired back up again now and it is about 71 F ... downstairs. I think it was the smell of the smoke that attracted our latest visitors. Caroline screamed when she walked down the stairs and saw three dogs pawing at the front door. Apparently, they ran away from our neighbors' camp (that's Maine-speak for house in the woods). These neighbors only live about a quarter of a mile away (as the crow flies) but they are just visiting for the weekend. Garrick returned the dogs safely but it was me that got the invitation for happy hour!
This will make two happy hours within a week of each other. Last weekend, because Cord/Cori/Dia (that's all one person with many names not because she is schizophrenic but because that way she can juggle the men in her life more cunningly) was in town and it was raining, we went to the redneck bar in Greenville Junction to shoot some pool. Talk about some guys who crawled out of a cave ... many looked as if they could have doubled for Grizzly Adams. Needless to say Cori, as she was going by that night, managed to meet a cute guy from New Hampshire, before the kids managed to even get the quarters into the pool table. Didn't turn out to be much of a pool game as none of us are real sharks, at pool anyway. When Caroline got bored, she managed to find a video game with a shotgun and pumped $10 worth of quarters into it so that she could kill a few deer before the night was out. The scary thing is that she was pretty good at it ... now she wants to take a hunting class next fall and kill real deer. Maybe it was those Shirley Temples she was drinking - which, by the way, the bartender had never heard of. Her exact words to Caroline were "What the hell's a Shirley Temple?"
While Garrick wasn't drinking Shirely Temples, he did stick to Coke as he was our designated driver for the night. Cori gave him a driving lesson, his first, on the way to the bar. He backed out of the driveway (which has a curve which frightens even a few seasoned drivers) and headed down the road like he had been driving for years. We were amazed, although not enough so to actually let him drive us the 18 miles home from the bar.
That outing was probably the highlight of the weekend as there isn't much to do up here when it rains. We don't have a movie theater or a bowling alley or even a McDonalds with a play place. They tried to open one of those a few years ago but had to close it when all the locals boycotted it. So, we spent the weekend shopping at the local trading post (Maine-speak for five and dime), talking to 'rough-around-the-edges' men about purchasing a snowmobile, playing games, and eating. I definitely understand how easy it is to put on that extra insulation up here ... with the weather the way it is for eight months out of the year, it is extremely easy to stay inside by the fire and graze and graze and graze. So, I won't be posting any pictures of myself anytime soon.
Since the sun set a mere six hours and 6 minutes ago (and it feels as if it should already be midnight), I am headed off to bed. I'll throw a few more logs onto the fire before I go and take one last look out the window to check the weather.
Karyn
This will make two happy hours within a week of each other. Last weekend, because Cord/Cori/Dia (that's all one person with many names not because she is schizophrenic but because that way she can juggle the men in her life more cunningly) was in town and it was raining, we went to the redneck bar in Greenville Junction to shoot some pool. Talk about some guys who crawled out of a cave ... many looked as if they could have doubled for Grizzly Adams. Needless to say Cori, as she was going by that night, managed to meet a cute guy from New Hampshire, before the kids managed to even get the quarters into the pool table. Didn't turn out to be much of a pool game as none of us are real sharks, at pool anyway. When Caroline got bored, she managed to find a video game with a shotgun and pumped $10 worth of quarters into it so that she could kill a few deer before the night was out. The scary thing is that she was pretty good at it ... now she wants to take a hunting class next fall and kill real deer. Maybe it was those Shirley Temples she was drinking - which, by the way, the bartender had never heard of. Her exact words to Caroline were "What the hell's a Shirley Temple?"
While Garrick wasn't drinking Shirely Temples, he did stick to Coke as he was our designated driver for the night. Cori gave him a driving lesson, his first, on the way to the bar. He backed out of the driveway (which has a curve which frightens even a few seasoned drivers) and headed down the road like he had been driving for years. We were amazed, although not enough so to actually let him drive us the 18 miles home from the bar.
That outing was probably the highlight of the weekend as there isn't much to do up here when it rains. We don't have a movie theater or a bowling alley or even a McDonalds with a play place. They tried to open one of those a few years ago but had to close it when all the locals boycotted it. So, we spent the weekend shopping at the local trading post (Maine-speak for five and dime), talking to 'rough-around-the-edges' men about purchasing a snowmobile, playing games, and eating. I definitely understand how easy it is to put on that extra insulation up here ... with the weather the way it is for eight months out of the year, it is extremely easy to stay inside by the fire and graze and graze and graze. So, I won't be posting any pictures of myself anytime soon.
Since the sun set a mere six hours and 6 minutes ago (and it feels as if it should already be midnight), I am headed off to bed. I'll throw a few more logs onto the fire before I go and take one last look out the window to check the weather.
Karyn
Friday, November 7, 2008
Neighborly Advice
Well yesterday was garbage day. So, unlike you suburbanites who simply have to roll your garbage can out to the curb, I actually have to lug it from the basement, where I hide it from the bears, out to the truck and drive it five miles up the road to 'the dump'. When that was done, I headed up to UPS (also known as the gas station 'mart') in Rockwood to see if my package that I ordered ten days ago had been delivered. No such luck ... guess I'll have to wait another week and try again.
Then Caroline and I headed down to Greenville with the neighbors to attend the end of season soccer banquet, where one would think, given that the banquet was held at 6pm and given the name of the event ... banquet ... that we might actually get dinner. No such luck ...
But the real revelation came to me on the ride home thanks to my ever-so-helpful neighbor George ...
Apparently I have misunderstood the process of the winter road closing and it is a bit more complicated than I had anticipated. The key to surviving the winter here is getting the truck out before you no longer can; it really has nothing to do with anyone actually locking the gate and closing the road. So, the process as I now understand it is that you first listen to the weather station to decide if there is a storm predicted. If bad weather is forecasted, you must then watch for the snow (sometimes through the night) and if it looks like there will be a foot of snow or more, you drive out to the parking lot, park the truck and walk back in ... a mile and a half..
Recapping the important part of the converation ...
"So George you do that during the day right?"
"Well, not always. I have had to walk in a couple of times in the middle of the night."
"By yourself? In the middle of the night?"
"Well yeah."
Thank goodness it was dark so that he couldn't see the look on my face although I am sure he could tell by the tone of my voice that I really didn't know what I was doing here. And, it gets better ...
If I guessed wrong on the snow, then I have to walk back out ... a mile and a half ... and retrieve the truck until the next storm is predicted. Looks like I will be getting a bit of exercise eventhough I am no longer hiking up and down Mevedgrad with my coffee clotch.
Better yet, if the snow arrives late in the year, not only do I trek in and out after my truck several times, I also have the pleasure of dealing with the ice that forms on the narrow, hilly, dirt road. George, after he was done discussing his strategy for timing his exit just right, went on to elaborate on his adventures sliding up and down the hills on the ever-present ice. Perhaps I will have to 'spring' for those studded snow tires after all when I head out of the woods on Saturday to the bustling metropolis of Bangor. And, on Sunday I am contemplating giving Garrick his first driving lesson, after all he doesn't seem to be afraid of the dark!
Then Caroline and I headed down to Greenville with the neighbors to attend the end of season soccer banquet, where one would think, given that the banquet was held at 6pm and given the name of the event ... banquet ... that we might actually get dinner. No such luck ...
But the real revelation came to me on the ride home thanks to my ever-so-helpful neighbor George ...
Apparently I have misunderstood the process of the winter road closing and it is a bit more complicated than I had anticipated. The key to surviving the winter here is getting the truck out before you no longer can; it really has nothing to do with anyone actually locking the gate and closing the road. So, the process as I now understand it is that you first listen to the weather station to decide if there is a storm predicted. If bad weather is forecasted, you must then watch for the snow (sometimes through the night) and if it looks like there will be a foot of snow or more, you drive out to the parking lot, park the truck and walk back in ... a mile and a half..
Recapping the important part of the converation ...
"So George you do that during the day right?"
"Well, not always. I have had to walk in a couple of times in the middle of the night."
"By yourself? In the middle of the night?"
"Well yeah."
Thank goodness it was dark so that he couldn't see the look on my face although I am sure he could tell by the tone of my voice that I really didn't know what I was doing here. And, it gets better ...
If I guessed wrong on the snow, then I have to walk back out ... a mile and a half ... and retrieve the truck until the next storm is predicted. Looks like I will be getting a bit of exercise eventhough I am no longer hiking up and down Mevedgrad with my coffee clotch.
Better yet, if the snow arrives late in the year, not only do I trek in and out after my truck several times, I also have the pleasure of dealing with the ice that forms on the narrow, hilly, dirt road. George, after he was done discussing his strategy for timing his exit just right, went on to elaborate on his adventures sliding up and down the hills on the ever-present ice. Perhaps I will have to 'spring' for those studded snow tires after all when I head out of the woods on Saturday to the bustling metropolis of Bangor. And, on Sunday I am contemplating giving Garrick his first driving lesson, after all he doesn't seem to be afraid of the dark!
Monday, November 3, 2008
The Little Things We Take for Granted
Yes we're still here ... I apologize for not posting anything last week. We had a few small set-backs but are recovering. First we lost power last Sunday morning. It was only for a few hours and Central Maine Power was very quick to respond. There was a tree on the line about a half mile from the house so we were the only ones affected but they came within hours giving me hope for future outages. While they did a great job getting us our power back, they didn't feel it necessary to actually clear the tree out of the roadway after they got it off the power line. We were able to get around it but we are now in the market for a chain saw.
Then on Tuesday, the nice satellite installer drove an hour and a half in order to help me with my computer problems. He determined that the issue was not his equipment but the viruses contracted from some 'graphic' websites. So, I got socked with the service call but even worse was finding out how I could fix the problem ... re-format the hard drive (loosing eight years of precious Quicken data which brought tears to my eyes) or buy a new computer. Against his advice, I attempted to purchase virus software (better late than never???) and it crashed the computer. Of course it took me until three in the morning to do all this as I was forbidden from using the satellite dish and had to download the software using dial-up. Eventually I was able to recover it but I was back where I started ... with less sleep.
Plan B ... drive to Bangor and get a new computer. I got up 3 hours later to get the kids to school early for Math Team practice (which starts at 7:10 am ... 18.5 miles away) and planned then to go on to Bangor. That was until I went to start the truck and ... it was dead. Garrick rode his bike to the bus stop ... there would be no Math Team practice for us ... and I called AAA. Believe it or not, they actually do tow trucks from remote dirt roads in the Northwoods ... it took four and a half hours by the time they came and then got it to the station but they did show up. That was Wednesday, 7am. I got my truck back Friday, 10 pm. Three days in the woods with no way out AND no computer!!! The closest store, if you'd call it that ... it is really just a gas station 'mart', is almost 8 miles up the road. I wasn't even going to attempt to ride Garrick's bike that far. Luckily, we had started stocking up for the winter so we had plenty to eat. Talk about stir crazy though ... it could be a very long winter!!!
So, now we are back in civilization again ... we have transportation, electricity (more importantly a well pump that works) and a computer that connects us to the world. Can't imagine having been a Native American Indian living up here a few hundred years ago ... I know I, for one, would not have survived!
Then on Tuesday, the nice satellite installer drove an hour and a half in order to help me with my computer problems. He determined that the issue was not his equipment but the viruses contracted from some 'graphic' websites. So, I got socked with the service call but even worse was finding out how I could fix the problem ... re-format the hard drive (loosing eight years of precious Quicken data which brought tears to my eyes) or buy a new computer. Against his advice, I attempted to purchase virus software (better late than never???) and it crashed the computer. Of course it took me until three in the morning to do all this as I was forbidden from using the satellite dish and had to download the software using dial-up. Eventually I was able to recover it but I was back where I started ... with less sleep.
Plan B ... drive to Bangor and get a new computer. I got up 3 hours later to get the kids to school early for Math Team practice (which starts at 7:10 am ... 18.5 miles away) and planned then to go on to Bangor. That was until I went to start the truck and ... it was dead. Garrick rode his bike to the bus stop ... there would be no Math Team practice for us ... and I called AAA. Believe it or not, they actually do tow trucks from remote dirt roads in the Northwoods ... it took four and a half hours by the time they came and then got it to the station but they did show up. That was Wednesday, 7am. I got my truck back Friday, 10 pm. Three days in the woods with no way out AND no computer!!! The closest store, if you'd call it that ... it is really just a gas station 'mart', is almost 8 miles up the road. I wasn't even going to attempt to ride Garrick's bike that far. Luckily, we had started stocking up for the winter so we had plenty to eat. Talk about stir crazy though ... it could be a very long winter!!!
So, now we are back in civilization again ... we have transportation, electricity (more importantly a well pump that works) and a computer that connects us to the world. Can't imagine having been a Native American Indian living up here a few hundred years ago ... I know I, for one, would not have survived!
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