This morning a thought crossed my mind. "I wonder how many people carry bear spray to get to their own front door." Lately I have been sharing the path to my cabin on the hill with several sets of moose. There is one adult cow with a very small calf, a full-antlered bull, and a young cow. At this time of year the mother with the calf is most dangerous, although I really would not want to surprise or be surprised by any of them. My neighbor two doors down warned me that the black bears are out and roaming the hillside as well. Bears. They are the reason most people in the area are devoid of compost piles. I have yet to have a bear sighting on my hillside. I hope the presence of moose mean that their predators are not in the area.
I left my hillside cabin last September and had no idea I would be gone until June. The paths were almost completely over-grown and the elderberry bushes grew to above the roof line. I spend the better part of the day digging my cabin out of the foliage. When I left I had no electricity, water, or much of a kitchen. I still don't have electricity or water, but the kitchen is coming together. It is relatively easy to get by without electricity when it is light 24 hours a day and I haul in water a few liters at a time and add it to a big water jug as I need it. I like food, so the kitchenette has been patched together pretty quickly. Up until about a week ago I had been using a one-burner Coleman stove for cooking. I was cooking (outside) when one of the gaskets failed and spewed gas. It immediately caught fire and the whole thing, including cooking pot and my dinner went up in flames. Because the stove had been acting funny for the past few days I kept the extinguisher close by whenever the stove was on. Now I have white powder all over my deck, woodpile, stairs, yard, and front door. The extinguisher was one of the first things I bought when I got back from Oz. Within a few days of buying it I went back to buy a second. Best $25 I've ever spent.
