Dirtkids

Fall is clearly upon us with the first snow having already fallen and melted at the cabin. Now that the temperatures have cooled, rain returned and days shortened, the bike rides are a little shorter and less frequent. The fly rod is stored and we transition to snowboarding, skiing and cold, dustless moto rides. The fall also marks the beginning of getting back to working outside. Time to fire up chainsaws, the chipper, burn piles, trail building…anything that is typically unsafe or too dusty in the summer. Surprisingly, we like working our property or just working outside as much as all the playing. Not only is the work necessary to help prevent a fire at our house or cabin but how many other people can turn work around the yard into a bonfire and beers in your backyard and then go in for a shower and BBQ? We’ll keep picking away at the landscape as weather permits and Tom finds himself home from Bishop…

Technically, hibernation indicates slowed metabolic activity and breathing…not an equivalent to sleep as we know it. However, what is it about cold weather and winter time that brings on long, deep sleep? Now I’m not much of a morning person anyway but when the daylight fades and temperatures drop, I can easily reel off 9-11 hours of sleep. The process of waking up becomes even more difficult…just when you convince yourself you’re ready to leave the warmth of the covers and expose yourself to the icy air in the house…boom! Eyes close again…

Maybe this is why so many people (I’m not one of them) drink coffee?

If you’re keeping score…

As I’ve previously whined, with Tom working in Bishop, things at home suffer from more neglect than usual. Projects remain unfinished, the vacuum isn’t used enough, the list goes on. The increasing problem however, is that nature seems keenly aware that we’re not home all the time.

A couple weekends ago when home, we went around and fired up any motorized equipment, making sure no engine goes too long without running. Tom went to uncover (our first mistake…tarps provide a nice shelter) one machine and “someone” had build a nest, including a winter’s worth of acorns between the radiator fan and radiator. Due to the engine configuration, it was no small task to clean this nest out. Tom spent half the day with tools, pressure washer, vacuum, etc. trying to get the whole nest removed. We pondered how to prevent this from happening again? Poison? Traps? I stay home more? There is no easy solution.

Fast forward a few days and I leave the house to drive down to Bishop in our Ford. I notice that heater doesn’t seem to be working well enough on the 4 hour drive (windows cracked/open for the dogs.) We unpack the truck when I arrive then take the dogs for a walk. When we return, we hear a noise coming from underneath the Ford hood. We grab the keys and a headlamp and low and behold we found…

Nest under the hood

The little bastard seems to have moved from vehicle to vehicle!!! He chewed up the insulation firewall to make a nest and apparently chewed through a couple of air tubes which create vacuum to make the AC/heater blower function in the cab…thus no heat. As of this morning, he (or she) was still inside the hood somewhere. Again, we’re trying to figure out not only how to remove the little critter from the truck but are dumbfounded that it survived a 4 hour drive under the hood!!

What’s next, animals playing Xbox when we go home?