Agony Acres

Since the weather was above zero (slightly), Paul and I decided to overnight at our cabin that's about 1 mile from a road.  We built a small cabin (12 x 16) last year but we'd never spent the night.  We loaded up the backpack and headed out.

The trail going out had been snowshoed by us earlier in the week.  The snow was about 8 inches deep, but unbroken, so we took turns punching it out.  Even so, it was exhausting work and we did it over 2 day visits.  The snow showed the drama played out in every woods- tracks of rabbits overlain with tracks of lynx.  Moose tracks heading downhill and disappearing into the woods.

The cabin is uninsulated but Paul made a stove from a "previously used" propane tank.  He filled it with water to get out the gas.  Some of his comfortable features include a welded flat top for teapots and cooking and the overhead drying rack.  We hung the thermometer from a nearby tree and watched it slowly drop from 20 to about 0.

Dinner was grilled cheese sandwiches and chicken noodle soup warmed over the woodstove.  Our Coleman 2 burner, a cabin necessity, was nearby, but not used.  Paul did crossword puzzles by the light of the kerosene lamp and I used my headlamp to read.  

Our skylight windows were snowcovered, so we had to go outside to see the stars. I was jonesing for Northern lights, but settled for a velvety sky that had so many stars that it felt like I was falling into it.  The silence of the woods was pervasive.  

With no insulation, the heat from the cabin melted roof snow and we went to sleep to the drip, drip of melting snow from the roof.  We hoped the snow would slide off the plexiglas skylight, but the snowy crack just widened slightly, robbing us the view.

The next day, we were up at daylight (about 7) but laid around enjoying retirement. After a breakfast of bacon and eggs and cocoa over the woodstove. We went out and shoveled off the deck of our future house.  We only had our son's snowboard shovel, so I used a board that I found in our lumber pile.  We replaced the tarp to protect the front two bents on the timber frame and spent some time negotiating the securing of the tarp.

It was a great 2 days and we left with roses in our cheeks, ready for a shower and the comfortable sameness of living in town.