Aerie Report, April 24, 2010

We had a beautiful couple of days here at the Aerie. It's getting kinda boring saying that but it's true. Dawn has been cloudless if somewhat chilly with temperatures at around the freezing mark. Those clear skies continue through the day and the afternoon gets into the low to mid 60s.

All that has come to an end. According to AccuHunch we are in for close to two inches of rain during the next two to three days. It's already started bit the heaviest rains won't get here for hours yet.

It was the prospect of rain that had me hustling up and down the hill. Once the rain is over, I expect the bugs to get worse and the heat to work its way onto the area. Besides, turkey season starts on May 1 and I want to be out of that area of the woods since my neighbor has asked permission to hunt there.

I also wanted to get the gardens turned over and the onions in the ground before the rain came. Winter had packed the soil pretty tightly and it needed to be broken up so the rain could soak in. And the onions were starting to grow in their plastic bags. (They should have been stored in brown paper bags that would not let any light in, but....)

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I was busy yesterday. In the morning I went out to get the cap on the Tundra and then stopped at the Mansfield Agway to get a dozen bags of topsoil. Then, after lunch, I spent time on the hillside with the chainsaw and ATV. First, I used the chainsaw to cut some more of the tree tops into little, itsy, bitsy pieces--save for those sections that were more than 4" in diameter. Those I cut into lengths for the fireplace.

When the chainsaw decided it had enough and I couldn't get it started again--something that seems to happen after two or three hours and right after I refill the gas tank--I retired it and went back with just the ATV and a length of rope. I made five trips up and down the hill with loads of firewood on the back of the Yamaha ProHauler. Even so, I only managed to get about half the wood I've already cut down the hill before I called it quits.

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This morning I went on the Bird Walk at Hills Creek State Park. Then I broke up soil clumps and spread the top soil on one garden bed. I also planted about two pounds of onion sets--half red and half white--in the other bed.

Then I sat down to do battle with the computer. Firefox was not being very friendly. It would not open half the time. So I tried a couple of things--all time consuming and, ultimately, futile--before reinstalling the program. Luckily reinstalling--without first uninstalling--does not get rid of the myriad of bookmarks I've accumulated over time.

All told, I lost about four hours to the computer gods while fiddle farting around trying to get back on Firefox. I hope it doesn't start misbehaving again.

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Have I covered enough topics without going near politics? I hope so. Politics and our political class (I guess there really are "two Americas" after all) are two topics I want to avoid for fear of raising my blood pressure too high. I'd sooner haul 40 pound bags of topsoil, use a chainsaw continuously for 3 hours, or haul and stack firewood than talk politics right now.