I
got up yesterday morning (Tuesday, Nov. 11) and took a long look at the 10-day
forecast with special focus on weekend temps – highs in the 30s and lows in the
teens and 20s. We were planning to make a quick trip to Salem, OR, on Saturday,
returning on Sunday, leaving Nellie and Bess in their kennel under the care of
Mike’s hunting buddy, Ken, who would provide food and exercise.
I
really wasn’t in favor of this trip because I see myself as busy right now, and
so the issues were blurred between unwillingness to go and legitimate reasons not
to go. But finally I blurted out, “We just can’t go off and leave the dogs
outside in their kennel in the midst of a cold snap. And we have no business
traveling in this weather.”
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| Central Ridge from the North field |
Mike
was disappointed, and I was sorry about that. The purpose of the trip was to
attend an open house in memory of his Aunt Alice Warnock, who passed on
recently at the age of 96. I could see that Mike genuinely wanted to see extended
family and express his condolences in person. But I was relieved when others
agreed with me. Ken called to express his concerns about the dogs, and when
Mike called his cousin to say we were canceling the trip, he said he was about
to call to dissuade us.
As
I wrote in the previous blog, we winterized the farmhouse at Gilbert on Sunday.
However, we both wondered if we had been thorough enough. So, yesterday
afternoon we went again to make sure the pipes were drained and the wall
heaters were off. “What you don’t have in your head you have to have in your
heels,” my mother used to say.
It
was mostly a useless trip, I suppose, but we have peace of mind for
double-checking. The temp there was 23 and the wind was bitingly cold. Nevertheless,
Mike walked the dogs down the lane and back.
 |
| An interesting sky over the stubble field |
As
a point of interest, driving up our lane to the house, we followed four young hunters
on a 4-wheeler who hadn’t expected our arrival. Dressed in camo and carrying
hunting rifles, they insisted repeatedly that they weren’t hunting but had just
come to see us. We would gladly have granted them permission to hunt had they
been honest about their purpose for being there. KW
[I didn't take pictures yesterday --too cold. These pictures are from Nov. 2.]
2 comments:
Hmm, those boys must have been embarrassed, but to say they were going to visit you? Did you know who they were? In other words, was it even a credible story?
As to double checking the house, it's worth the effort so you don't waste energy wondering. I can't tell you how many times I would drive away and then go back to check the doors to the shop when I was working there because I was thinking of something when I locked up and couldn't actually remember doing it. They were always locked, but I knew I wouldn't have peace of mind until I checked.
Yes, we knew at least one of the young men. (So do you if you think about it.) The family have been neighbors back to at least his great-grandparents. And they've been great to look after our interests for many years.
I've worked in several situations where I was responsible for locking up, and I used to have to go back and re-check. Finally, I learned to say to myself, "Listen up! You're locking the door. Now you've checked that you've locked the door."
Once we had an evening event at the museum, and I was the last one out. As I was about to drift off to sleep, I said, "Mike, I can't remember if I locked the museum." Without a word he got up and pulled on his pants. He knew I had to go back and check, and he wasn't going to let me go down there by myself.
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