I Saw an Eagle With My Pants On!

No, the eagle wasn't wearing my pants. I was milling logs with Sid and Constable Bob this afternoon and Bob pointed out a bald eagle circling low overhead. My, what a beautiful creature! I just stared at it for a few moments. I was so mesmerized, it never even occurred to me to dash to Sid's outhouse and realize the dream I just shared yesterday.

I had a really nice time milling logs with Sid and Bob today. I took a bunch of pictures but I don't have my camera cord with me to transfer files, plus I'm on a borrowed computer. I'll post some soon though.

Joel just walked by and told me I smell like red pine. He is correct, that was the last species I worked with today. We moved a bunch of red pine logs and the bark was wet and sloughing off, as the logs had been sitting a while. I noticed today while we were milling some Norway pine that the smell immediately brought back memories of my first job when I was 15 years old peeling the bark off of Norway pine logs with my cousins in northern Minnesota.

The sun shined hot today, the pace was mellow, and watching Bob run the mill was really fun. Now it's past 10 PM and I'm scheduled to have a breakfast of bacon with Sid in the morning from a locally raised pig which he slaughtered himself. Eggs and potatoes are on the menu as well. For that, I'm perfectly pleased to lay off my daily peanut butter-banana smoothie breakfast tradition for one day. He told me today as we dined on a roast he barbecued, "We pretty much live off the land around here, Jon." I had just commented on a jar of canned smoked fish he had sitting on his shelf made from a board milled from a log harvested from Cousin Paul's land.

So off to bed I go, though there is much to tell. So much happens in one day here. A simple conversation with any number of friendly locals tends to be an adventure in itself! OK, one anecdote before bed: Sid told me today, "Be careful if ya go over to Ernie's. If the gate is closed, ya never wanna enter. Heck, I've had him fire gunshots over my head several times!" And Sid is pals with Ernie; they go to church together! All I could say was, "I'm pretty sure I'd stop going over there after the first time."