Posts Tagged ‘wooded labyrinth’
Like Home
My project yesterday morning felt a little like being at home. We enjoyed a visit from Julian up here at the lake for a few days and he brought along a present that I’ve been looking forward to. He got us a new battery-powered string trimmer to add to our gas-powered Stihl model trimmer resources. I’m hoping this will give Cyndie a quick and easy option for certain jobs since she is beginning to find it difficult to pull-start the Stihl engine.
There was a perfect testing ground for the new trimmer in our mini-labyrinth in the woods up here at Wildwood.
I bundled up in long pants and a shirt with long sleeves to do battle in the mosquito’s territory. Knocking down flurries of leafy green ground cover and ferns along the pathway unleashed a crowd of mosquitos that quickly figured out my head was rather defenseless. I got a chance to practice using the trimmer one-handed while swatting away bugs with my other hand.
About three-quarters of the way to the center, the mosquitos started to figure out they could fit their proboscis through the fabric of my shirt. It got to the point that I didn’t know if the bites I was feeling were a residual itch or a new, active bite in progress. Flailing and swatting becomes a full-time effort whether or not bugs are present when it reaches a certain point.
I was close enough to finishing that I forged ahead regardless of the feasting insects so the labyrinth pathway could be re-established to completion. Now it is possible to travel the route without disturbing underbrush where mosquitos rest during the day.
As soon as I got out of the woods, I made a beeline for the lake to soak in the water and quell the sensory overload of real and phantom itchiness.
Up until that point, it was feeling a little like being home while working with the trimmer, but the one thing we definitely don’t have at home is the opportunity to jump into this refreshing lake after completing hot and sweaty projects.
.
.
Woods Work
While professionals were tending to the log truss, we had plenty of free time to wander in the wooded areas of the property that are usually buried under snow or overgrown with ferns and trillium. The “in-between” season is greatly expanded this year, allowing for unobstructed travel on days with very summer-like warm temperatures.
I needed to dig deep through stacked storage in the garage to reach a leaf rake that I wanted to use in reclaiming our mini-labyrinth path.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Cyndie and Asher found a couple of trees girdled by a large metal cable. She asked me if I could do anything to save the trees. It looked pretty daunting to me at first but after pondering the situation for a while, I went back with some hand tools.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I suspect there is probably an old ring of keys in the house somewhere, one of which might just match that big old padlock. Doesn’t everyone have an old set of keys stashed someplace with purposes no longer remembered? This could easily be one of those cases.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
After returning for a closer look, now wearing a good pair of gloves, I started pulling where the cable disappeared into the dirt. It had been buried for a long time but I soon discovered the length between the two trees had been cut. That meant I could pull it back through the loop and didn’t need to find a key for the lock.
On the other tree, I just needed to unwind the small wire that had been binding the cable together.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Once that was done, I pulled the cables out of the bark up to the point where the tree had grown over the metal rope. I needed to return to the house for more equipment. I found a small pruning saw that was able to do the trick. I sawed into the bark on either side of the cable until I was able to muscle it free.
The trees should both be able to heal the wounds and continue to grow unrestrained. That would be the best reward I could wish for upon achieving completion of the rescue effort.
I would appreciate that a lot more than the tiny tick that found purchase under my chin as a result of my time in the woods. Dammit.
Janet.
.
.
Relative Something 