OK, I've finished the first revision of this layout, so feel free to point out its
flaws.
We've returned from camping, relaxed, refreshed, and sore, as
usual. Unfortunately, the soreness tends to last longer than the relaxation. It
derives from sleeping on the ground and from muscles unaccustomed to shoveling,
or, these days, to mountain biking.
We went up to the airpark, to
breathe air that's not brown, attend the annual meeting there, and dig holes.
Rudder has many odd quirks I don't understand due to his having grown up in a
small town in Oregon, such as a fondness for chopping wood. (His brother and one
grandfather have it too, but I still don't know if it's transmitted via heredity
or environment. One such quirk that has recently manifested is a preference for
pine over juniper trees. He says that he just wants a balance of both
kinds, but I notice that he keeps chopping off the lower branches of the junipers
to make them shaped more like the pines. Well, that and to reduce fire dangers.
I sort of like the junipers, myself, being of the girl persuasion
and thus preferring a bit more cover for those natural activities that can make
you feel a bit exposed when you're camping on land that has a house in one
direction, a hanger opposite it, a road at right angles, and a runway on the
fourth side. They're all a good distance away, with trees in between, but
still.
Anyway, the holes we dug were for planting more pine
trees. We were told they'd have a better chance for survival if we plant them
around February, so that they can be watered by the spring rains we hope we'll be
getting then. Rudder's theory is that it's better to dig the holes now, in case
the ground is frozen then. They took forever to dig anyhow, because there's a
layer of clay we had to use a pick to break through. We filled the holes back in
with lightweight pine duff and such, so that a) the homeowner's association won't
complain (we don't know their feelings on open holes) and b) no one will step in
and break a leg. Only after we had done that did Rudder realize that the re-filled
holes might be a bit hard to find if there's snow on the ground when we go to
plant the trees. If we go back up this fall, we'll try to remember to mark them. I
want to place some reflectors anyhow, because it's hard as hell to find where the
turn on to our property is, because it's always dark when we first get
there.
We also did a 7+ mile bike ride, on a beautiful forest trail
we found in the national forest right next to the airpark. It was probably made by
and for ATVs, so it was doubletrack for us, with just enough technical stuff to be
fun. I'm a weenie about steep downhills, and not crazy about all the rocky trails
we have here. This was just nice dirt, with the occasional branch to hop over and
small whoop-de-dos to add a little interest. There was no one else around and the
trail seemed to go on for miles in both directions, through forest and
meadows.
We came back today instead of tomorrow, partly because I can
only take just so much aimless relaxation (away from my comfy reading chair) and
partly to have the extra day to catch up on chores and errands and stuff. That
second one is Rudder's reason, of course; I have nothing but time to catch up
until I find another job. Can't say I'm getting tired of it yet.