Bullwinkle and Son

Observation: You know you are reading a small town newspaper when the obituaries are on page 2.

We hadn’t seen any moose in a week and thought they had perhaps headed for the high country for the summer. When I got to the property this morning I found a large moose track only six feet from the foundation forms. I walked to the river talking on my cell phone and saw a brown blob on the other side in the tall grass. It was a reclining moose. I stayed still hoping to observe, but she had already seen me. After a minute she stood up and to my surprise a small calf did too. The calf couldn’t have been more than about a week old. They wandered away in the opposite direction. I was tickled to see them at less than 100 feet.




We (three volunteers and myself) did the first pour of concrete this morning and Paulette came by in the afternoon with Liz. I took them to the river and was talking about the cow and calf moose when Liz said, “There’s another one!” Sure enough, a young bull walked into the river. He knew we were there but came towards us walking in the river anyway. Then Mr Moose did an about-face and trotted away. I saw him later in the neighbors yard. Then in the evening we saw the cow and calf again in the same place, only this time Hawkeye saw them first.

When we first started this project I had a question-slogan: How do you eat an elephant? Ans. One bite at a time. That is what I attempt to do. I try to do something, make some progress, every day. Sometimes it is small progress. Other days I feel a lot of accomplishment. A kidney stone slowed me down for three days last weekend. I haven’t passed it but am back to only twinges. I am grateful for mostly good health and the neighborly advise, and counsel on how to build here.


Gustavus Hood Ornament