My trip out of the bush didn’t work entirely to my expectations. We always think our lives will go well and then we are confronted by the grim and even sometimes sad reality.
I went to Fredericton in the afternoon and hung out with Mike and Carol, which was a bit more pleasant. I also managed to get a lot of editing done although I didn’t have a chance to chat with everyone I wanted to, but I had at least one delightful conversation and that cheered me considerably. Also, it helped to upload Vested Interest, a better copy of In Light of Ray, and finishing the editing on Working for Ray.
I was asleep by three in the morning, but I was able to finish up my book work before I left for the bush.
I came straight to the cabin, partly because I wanted to bring my laptop here and finish reading Nat’s book, but also because I wanted the trip to be a bit more direct and less hard on the head.
My car is wobbling in the front end and it has gotten worse. I’ve checked the left front tire before and felt nothing, but the problem is so pronounced now that when I knelt to feel the tread I immediately felt the prick of wire. The broken belt that I suspected has become so bad that it is bulging enough to vibrate the steering and to increase wear in one spot. That means the tire is about to blow, so I took it easy on the way home. I thought it might be a good idea to get to the bush and dig out my spare tire I keep in the pallet shed so that I can change the tire. I’ll do this near the end of my road near the pavement where it is level and there are likely less bugs. I should source another 14 inch tire as well so the aluminum Acura rim has a good tire on it.
When I arrived at the cabin, hauling my laundry, groceries and my laptop, I first did a tour to make sure none of my plants had been eaten while I’ve been away. The garden looked good, the extension on the tin shed looks like I left it, and in other ways the cabin is in good shape. I packed away my clothes and food and then hooked up the laptop to the power system using the car laptop adapter. It beeped alarmingly, but worked well and I was able to make some progress on Nat’s book. After I was reading a while, I began to notice small typos, so I made a note of them and I’m going to email her and let her know. I’d like it if someone did that for me, and I’m sure she’d like to know what her eye had missed.
I took a break in the middle of reading and dismantled my raised bed garden, which hasn’t been that successful anyway, so I can use the metal on the tin shed extension. I disturbed the small snake that hangs around the garden, but it couldn’t be helped.
Afterwards, I showered, snacked and then finished Nat’s book so I could shut down the laptop. I bought it off Amazon so I am using a cloud reader to see it, and that means I either have to reload it or keep the laptop on and hibernating.
It is a good book. It has a nice mix of character description and development and adventure and island ambiance. She’s a great writer.
Once I’d completed the read, I went outside to trim some bushes in the eastern part of the yard and found a large tree had come down in the winter, or perhaps last summer. It is a fir, and broke off twelve feet or so from the ground. I came back for the axe and cleared away limbs. I think I’ll slab it up and see if I can get some use out of it. Likely it has some carpenter ant damage or it wouldn’t have come down, but I can still make some use out of it.
When I was taking a walk to see what was happening down at the swamp, I found some more huckleberries to eat and watched some frogs. The land is dry though, so there is little water flowing by the bigger swamp. On the way back I was surprised to see 
some bear tracks about forty metres from the cabin on my trail. The tracks seem to indicate a nearly full grown bear. I wish I’d seen him or her walking through the yard but likely they were scared away by human presence. One of the tracks was going towards the cabin and the more recent one away. They are at least a few days old, and maybe as much as a week. There were deer tracks as well, and some older moose tracks, but they are not as exciting.
This evening the air is still. I’ve watered the plants because I expect no rain, and I’ve made some plans for modifications I can make to one of the sliding doors as well as the door between the two parts of the cabin. That one I can cover partially with tongue and groove cedar, which should make it more airtight and attractive. I think I can overlap the inside to make it more sealed in the winter as well. The sliding door could use a latch.
Later this evening, as dark approached, I taped up the edge of the world map Dennis gave me. I’m going to hang it under the roof as part of the ceiling in the new part. That will brighten up the place, which it doesn’t need, and be nicer than looking at timbering and strapping.
Far away, near the creek, I can hear the pounding of a hammer. Perhaps Bashful is building something. Whoever it is, I am reminded that I saw a truck hauling some lumber to a camp. I should check the illegal dump site in case someone has discarded some good scraps I can use. That way I can check out the beaver dam too, if I take the trail through the woods and along the creek. That may be the agenda for tomorrow.
