Relative Something

Today, I have an appointment for a service call on the New Holland tractor we bought from the people who sold us this property.

The seller had drained the battery and felt like it wasn’t taking a charge properly, so he ordered a new battery. It arrived on the day we were unloading our belongings from the moving truck. We were so consumed by getting the house in order that it took me about a week and a half to get around to installing the new battery.

I positioned myself in the seat, and reviewed the operating instructions in the manual. Over and over I tried to get the thing started, but absolutely nothing was happening when I turned the key in the direction to engage the starter. It didn’t even offer up a click.

I figured it was possible I was still missing some interlock, or wasn’t actually getting control knobs in a neutral position, as required. The seller generously offered to stop over and check on it.

He couldn’t get anything to happen, either. We tried a few tricks, but nothing changed. He told me to make a call for service, and assured me he would cover any charges incurred as a result.

I see it as a blessing in disguise. It is a learning opportunity. It will give me insight on who to call for service, and what such a visit costs. It will teach me about the starter, and I will get to watch the troubleshooting process. I wouldn’t learn any of that if there hadn’t been a problem, right off the bat.

It already provided a gentle lesson from the visit the seller made to verify I wasn’t missing anything in the start-up routine. He asked me if I had seen whether he had left any heavy logging chain laying around. I pointed him to a pile of chain on a pallet in the barn. He decided to go get a web strap from his truck, instead. He wanted to pull the tractor enough to see if the starter was locked up while engaged.

After he finished that experiment, he said he wanted to review how to put the chains on the rear tires for added traction in the winter. He took me over to the pallet and picked up one of the tire chains which I had previously gestured as the possible location of his heavy logging chain.

I realized he was kindly choosing a way to communicate my error without overtly highlighting that I had just revealed that I didn’t have a clue.

Another lesson for me that wouldn’t have occurred if everything had worked just fine the first time I tried to start the tractor.

We entertained our first overnight guests last night! Our good friends, the Wilkus’, with son, Ryan, are here. And, we are expecting even more folks today, for brunch. Cyndie’s parents are going to make their first visit. This will serve as a bit of a test for our planned Thanksgiving holiday, as we’ve invited quite a few folks for that feastly event.

Last night, we built a fire outside and cooked steaks, in the dark. The temperatures were relatively mild for this time of year, and there was nothing more than a whisper of wind, so it was plenty comfortable to be out around the fire after dinner, melting marshmallows for s’mores. Wonderfully rustic.

The 5 of us easily fit around the old Hays family table for dinner, even though, for the table to work in the space available, we’ve removed all of the 5 center leaves. It will be expanded to full capacity for Thanksgiving, but doing so will block the doorway to our garage, so we will only go to that extreme on rare occasions.

Even though the time switched back to standard time last night, I feel like we stayed up a little too late, watching part of the movie, Koyaanisqatsi. It seemed like a good idea, at the time, but when I mentioned I was falling asleep on the flick, Cyndie and Ryan both echoed the same, and we called it a night. Barb and Mike had already retired to their new little camping trailer they brought to test. It is a pull-behind that is about the size of a 4-person tent, but with hook up for electricity like a full-size RV. Pretty cute.

Our guests are well-informed about many aspects of how things work. I got a lesson in changing the main water filter, Ryan tested an outdoor light fixture that isn’t working, and they showed me the house alarm system still works, even though we aren’t subscribed to a monitoring service.

It is really rewarding to host guests who provide valuable information! I plan to learn as much as possible from them during the remainder of this visit.

We are rapidly discovering all the wildlife that the previous owners wrote about in an email exchange in which they welcomed us to the property. They seem to have named many of the creatures: Stubby, the squirrel with no tail;  Sir Rodney, the cardinal, that, in the spring, returns to attack his reflection in the sunroom window for 4-5 months (or 6-7); Bucky, the 2012 deer, that camped out by the sunroom door and then hung out, in and around the yard all summer. Also listed was the sound of coyotes that gave the place a rugged feel; turkeys and their babies that would come right up to the house to check things out; and an owl that was heard, but not seen.

This morning, when I first peered out the window in the low morning light, I spotted our first turkey. He was up in the tree, right next to the house. Then I noticed another one in the next tree over, and another, and another. Counted about 7 of them. Cyndie said to get a picture, but in the low morning light, it would just turn out to be a dark dot in a tangle of branches.

The eye perceives much more than my camera could replicate, in this instance.

I wandered off the get the camera, anyway, just to be ready, in case the dawn of morning light would produce a scene my equipment could adequately capture. I returned just in time to see the first turkey leave its perch, spreading wings to glide precariously back to earth. That seemed to be the signal to all the others, which included about 3 or 4 more that I hadn’t yet noticed, and they all dropped to the ground. No picture opportunity there. I moved to other windows in search of a vantage point that might work, but they just blended into the background, and wouldn’t stand out at all in an image.

Later, Cyndie spotted the whole flock out in the open, down the hill from our house. I wasn’t dressed yet, but slid into pants and slippers, preparing, shirtless, to step out on the deck in the frozen morning air in hopes of getting the shot. The flock seemed to notice the click of the door lock. Turning the latch was enough to get them all moving briskly down the trail, into the woods.

No picture this morning. But I expect to catch them, eventually. I believe they will give me many other opportunities.

There have been multiple sightings, and exclamations of, “There’s Stubby!” He is rather noticeable, with that missing squirrel tail.

That cardinal is a downright nuisance, banging, repeatedly, against the sunroom window. We did some research, and it says the behavior (not uncommon) is supposed to end in the spring when there is no drive to fend off other male suitors that may be competition for him. I described his behavior to the folks at the day-job and the comment arose that he may have banged his head one too many times, and doesn’t know what season it is any more.

We definitely heard the coyotes, as I shared in a previous post; have seen two young deer lolling about the place, multiple times; and even think we saw the owl flying in the trees one morning.

We have also repeatedly made sighting of a pileated woodpecker, many blue jays, and a fair number of common small birds.

I don’t think the mice we are dealing with can be classified as wildlife. They seem quite domesticated, and really at home in our dwelling. We will likely be adding a cat, to keep the mice company. I’m not sure how all the birds will feel about our addition of a cat, but I’m guessing it will be an indoor cat, if we are going to keep it safe from birds of prey and coyotes in the woods around us.

We are still keeping an eye out for barn cats, which would be welcome, but haven’t seen any signs, since our first visit to look at the property, when a little kitten appeared for a brief moment.

We are thoroughly enjoying our introduction to all the wildlife here at Wintervale. It is my hope to gain skills in the art of capturing them in photographs, in order to share a few glances for you here.

Otherwise, it’s all still-life and impressionist close-ups, for now!

I mounted Wisconsin license plates on my car yesterday. That happened after I registered for my Wisconsin driver’s license. It’s official. I am no longer a Minnesotan. I am originally from Minnesota, but I don’t live there any more.

I am recognizing a significant attachment to my old home state. In thinking about it, I have come to the realization that most of the things that seem to hold meaning for me about Minnesota, are contrivances intended to engender a certain loyalty. They are not good or bad, or right or wrong. They just are. But, as such, they don’t really hold as much value as my subconscious is guiding me to perceive.

I want to believe that it matters that I associate myself with the visuals of a certain license plate, or sports team, or place names. In reality, it doesn’t. Those are invented phenomena.

The land is real, and genuine, and just as valuable on either side of the St. Croix River. This property is remarkable, regardless the governmental body which oversees it.

A while back, in my online community, I created an item for discussion where members are invited to post lists of place names, local to them, which are thoroughly familiar, and paint a word portrait of a place. I will now have a new set of place names to get to know.

Here is the one I posted back when I lived in Minnesota:

Wayzata
Minnetonka
Glen Lake
Excelsior
Shorewood
Deephaven
Hopkins
Eden Prairie
Edina
St. Louis Park
Golden Valley
Bloomington
Shakopee
Savage
Chanhassen
Chaska
Jordan
Mound
Orono
Navarre
Victoria
Waconia

Here are the early few that have been picked up so far in the region of our new home:

Beldenville (obviously)
Ellsworth
El Paso
Martell
Menomonie
River Falls
Prescott
Pepin
Bay City
Hager City
Maiden Rock
Trimbelle
Baldwin

So, there is an “El Paso” in Wisconsin. That came as a bit of a surprise to me.

I look forward to growing familiar with all the place names that are common knowledge to folks who have lived here a long time. I suppose if I were to learn the names of the players on the NFL Green Bay Packers football team, then I could really claim ‘official’ residency in this state where our beautiful property is located.

I went for a little explore in the woods yesterday and made some interesting discoveries. I mentioned a few posts back that our neighbor had described a tornado passing behind this property a couple of years ago. Upon closer investigation, it is very clear that a big wind toppled a lot of trees. A few of them appear to have been the larger trees in these woods.

I ventured into the section of forest just to the north of our property line and got a different perspective, which really made the blow-down apparent. I think they lost more trees than the property we bought did. A fair number are snapped off up high, but there are also some that ripped apart toward the base. It must have been a very dramatic event.

I don’t look forward to that part of being up high on the land. Good thing we have a basement where we can seek shelter if need be.

I can’t recall if I wrote about the eerie yips of riled up coyotes that we heard a little over a week ago. It was after one of the warm weekend days, and we had left our bedroom window open, which allowed the full volume of the racket in the middle of the night to startle us awake. One of those adrenaline-rush wake ups.

During my bushwhacking explore through our woods, I discovered what the ruckus was all about. The circle of life. I will keep this image small, for those with sensitivity to graphic images. You can click the image to see it full size. A young buck gave his life so that other animals could eat.

This is the first time in my life that I have come upon a scene this fresh. It was quite something to see. And it was just a short distance down the hill from our new house.

It was a moving experience to walk among these vivid displays of death and destruction in nature, to witness, up close, these examples of circle of life.