Back to the Aerie

Snagged one more mouse last night just after dark and just after adding a third trap to the array. Then the little buggers cleaned all three overnight without setting one of them off. Maurice would tell me how intelligent rats can be...but mice too?

******

It got cool enough at the Bolt Hole that at 10 PM I lit a small fire comprised of one large log and two small ones in the big wood stove and it was just right. Kept me comfortable and there were still embers when I got up at 6:30 AM.

******

I turned my reading light off at 11 PM and within a few minutes I heard a "huff...huff...huff" outside near where I saw the deer two mornings ago. Could have been a deer upset about something, or it could have been the sow bear trying to keep her triplets in line as they came looking for ripe red apples. All the red apples in the tree across the road disappeared over Saturday night. Broken branches and paw prints in the soft earth beneath the tree point to an ursine thief...or four.

The huffing went on for almost 10 minutes and then all grew quiet. A few minutes latter there was a cacophony of sound from a pack of coyotes off in the distance. They were probably a half mile away but their vocalizations carried through the still air like voices over still lake water. Luckily they soon shut up and moved away so I could get some sleep.

******

This morning I closed up the cabin for a short leave as it was time to return to the Aerie in PA. The truck has an appointment for some TLC early Tuesday and I didn't relish the idea of traveling the NYS Thruway late on a holiday. As it was, the road was only congested in the two construction zones between Syracuse and Seneca Falls so I made real good time even at speeds just above the legal limit. (At 67-70 mph I was getting passed like I was standing still. I could only catch up to and pass the occasional 18-wheeler.) When I filled up at the Seneca Falls exit, the on-board computer told me the Tundra made 18 mpg while maintaining those speeds so I was pretty happy.

******

I just realized that this will be the first time I've slept in the bed at the Aerie since around June 1st. I hope I remember how! All summer I've either been in the trailer or the Bolt Hole where I slept on the "passenger" side of the bed. Tonight I'll be on the "drivers" side for the first time in three months. If I roll the wrong way...I might just fall out of bed! (Don't laugh! I've done it before after an extended stay at the Bolt Hole.)