July 8 – We took Do-Si-Do (the trailer) to town today to get a new rear bumper. The old bumper, we discovered, was quite flimzy and would not have continued to support our cargo box that attaches to the bumper like a trailer hitch. On our short few hour travel from home to the ranch, the box twisted the existing bumper and some of the welds began to crack. So, we have a new heavier bumper that will do the job.
Since our trailer is a convenience home (not just a convenience kitchen) we have to use the box for extra space to accommodate what’s needed. The back of Chief (the jeep) is our food storage and the back seat is our closet. It works, honest!
July 9 – Today while Arnold was weeding about the Depot compound he discovered a Killdeer nest right in our driveway/parking area. Of course it’s a part that is not frequently traveled. He marked her nest with a big rock close by so nobody accidentally drives over her nest. She has three eggs in her nest right now. It’ll be fun to watch!!!!
Saw a HUGE Redtailed Hawk while on a route review today. He was sitting on a branch near the road and just watched us go by. When we stopped to get a better look, he flew off.
We have no trek this week just a route review which we did today and a rental which we’ll get loaded up tomorrow. So to stay busy, we’re doing odd jobs about the place, fixing broken hand carts, painting, weeding, watering – one can ALWAYS find something to do – thank goodness. It could get boring otherwise.
The upland birds are returning – we saw several Sage Grouse on Lake Ridge this week. Oh my gosh, we have only four treks left to go and the summer is over. Darn, it’s barely gotten started!!!! All the more reason to return (Lord willing) next summer. Already we are eager to do so. It’s like we’re just beginning to get the hang of it, and it ends way too soon.
I’ll be anxious for next spring, as I missed collecting samples of quite a number of early flowers (the belly flowers) to include in my pressed flower collection. Arnold has learned when we’re driving and I say, “Stop,” that I’ve just seen a flower I need to pick. I’ve collected samples of the grass seed heads I’m finding on the property. I have 4-5 pages with up to six samples on a page. I didn’t know there were so many different kinds of grasses. WOW.
Jul 12 – Enoch, Kerrie and the children, Seraya, Kaija and Liam have just been to visit for two days – they arrived Thursday and left on Saturday. Seraya and I made a pressed flower picture for her to take home. They took the kids for a short trek walk to the north of our camp. Liam is such a cutie, they all are cuties for that matter, but we hadn’t seen him since he was tiny.
Friday night we all attended the “Relay for Life” (cancer fund raiser) in Evanston. Just before attending the Relay, Kerrie hooked up, for a mini reunion, with a fellow Estonian missionary and his family who now live in Evanston. Our ward had a hamburger stand at the Relay – free for ward members – where we ate dinner. We all walked a mile or more on the track – the kids rode on dad’s shoulders or in the stroller. We purchased luminaries for Tammy and for my mom. What a nice, though occasionally poignant, evening!!! It was so good to see them all!!!!
July 16 – The day after Enoch left, Royan and our neighbor/sister Marilyn Ogren came up together for a two day visit. Royan cooked up a steak dinner for us on Monday night…..what a treat!!!!!! Monday afternoon, after we’d gotten all our assigned tasks completed, the four of us went exploring a new piece of trek route we’re going to use for our trek this coming week. On Tuesday we took a nice long drive along McKay Ridge. Up there on the ridge, it seems one is on top of the world. You can see for miles in all directions. Absolutely lovely.
As we came down the east end of the ridge into the Dairy Bowl, Royan heard a hissing sound. Sure enough we were developing a flat. Come to find out there was no longer any lug wrench in the truck. Wonder who took it out as it was there earlier in the summer? So we gingerly drove back toward camp as the tire got flatter and flatter and flatter. In the end, it stayed up sufficiently that we weren’t quite running on the rim when we arrived home. Good thing we made it home, too. The lug nuts were so tight, we’d never have busted them loose out there on the road. It was necessary to use a ‘cheater bar’ (long piece of pipe) to get them to come loose and we twisted the lug wrench in the process. They were REALLY on there!!!!!
Because of our haste to get home before the tire went flat, the picnic lunch we planned to enjoy out in the ‘wilds’ had to be eaten in the pavilion instead – which was just as fun anyway.
As we drove around we saw a heap of wild life – lots of antelope including three does each of whom had an accompanying set of twins – count them, six babies!, lots of hawks and other birds, we heard an eagle scream right above us, saw a mule deer doe playing hide and seek from us amongst the tall sage brush, prairie dogs, rabbits and, of course, the proverbial and innumerable ground squirrels. Royan and Marilyn left Tuesday evening after dinner. They found it so peaceful and nice up here, that neither wanted to go home. We had a great time with them!!!
Jul 16 – Yesterday the men prepped the earthen floor of the pavilion for a cement floor. This morning at 7am, half the floor was poured. Then the sky puckered up and sprinkled, only a little, on the new floor. Thankfully it wasn’t a downpour!!!!! Tomorrow morning, the other half of the floor will be poured.
Jul 17 – Our week’s trek arrived today. They had their women’s pull toward the end of the first day. Yhe group’s women’s pull was amazing. They had a long hill, the first part was pretty steep, the latter just continued up but not so steeply. Those girls were stretched to the max, discovered how much they could give and found the depth of their strength and gumption!!! Those girls were animals. Amazing strength and stamina.
I walked up the hill beside the first cart and one of the ‘brothers’ who belonged to that family walked behind them. He was hugging himself as he went up the hill behind the cart. (The ‘brothers’ had not yet been allowed to assist the girls.) I looked at him and he said, “This is really hard to watch.” I smiled and asked him what it taught him about being a man. The boys learn they are born to be protectors and helpers for their women.
This trek had one girl who ‘didn’t like to drink water.’ The medical team had to rescue her several times during the trek and even do an IV once to keep her hydrated. How foolish!!!! Their nurse made a good illustration of what this wind and sun does up here. She took a slice of bread, held it up to the wind and said, “This is your skin.” In a matter of moments, the slice quickly dried out like stale bread. I think we’ll use that illustration in the future.
During our trek’s last night in camp, one of the young men in the group approached Arnold and struck up a conversation. He said this was his second trek. The first took place when he was 14 and it “turned my life around,” he said. He is now waiting his mission call. Arnold gave Jason his email addy and said let us know where you’re called. We hope he’ll write!!!
One of the support crew on this trek is an avid antler hunter – meaning he likes looking for antlers that have been shed. During the trek he found one 6 point antler, several antelope ‘skins’ (as they are called but are actually shed antlers) and a huge elk rack still attached to the deceased beastie. He has an amazing sense and can see things everybody else misses.
Jul 20 – Once again it is a day of rest (Sunday) – ahhhhhh!!! Our trek left yesterday. There is always something good that each trek does exceptionally well, not that the others do poorly, and this one was organization. We also had a Ma & Pa training and a route review yesterday for a Stake that is coming in two weeks. All went well everywhere.
The number and variety of water birds has dwindled. Wonder where they went. But those that remain, trail flotillas of fluffy hatchlings. The bluebirds who nested somewhere near the garden have fledged their nest full of five babies. The group hung around here for several days before going elsewhere. The swallows nesting under the eaves of the Depot have increased exponentially as their babies have fledged. Thanks to them, we have very, very few mosquitos around here. A group of yellow headded blackbirds brought their fledglings to the fence north of the depot for a short rest. The fledglings would fly near the parents and beg food and the parents fed them right there on the fence.
We see lots and lots of ‘pot bellies’ (ground squirrels) scurrying around and lots and lots of air born predators floating on the currents hunting for a meal. One day we saw seven Feruginous Hawks flying over a hill top together. The story goes, the greater the ground squirrel population, the greater the bird of prey population. Guess the birds can figure out as they begin nesting that it’ll be a good food year and they lay and hatch more eggs.
We have decided that a pair of big Red Tailed Hawks have a nest somewhere down near the entry gate. We nearly always spot the pair perched in one of the two big trees down there, perched on top of one of the telephone poles that parallel the road or flying on the breeze nearby. If you know where to look we can spot them almost every time we go by.
Some little ground squirrels discovered they could burrow under the garden fence. They had a feast before we discovered them. We plugged the hole with dirt and rocks and will watch to make certain they don’t burrow again. He nibbled the leaves on the cabbage plants, nibbled the tops of the chard and turnips, totally mowed the lettuce and stripped the pea vines of leaves. Man, they must have eaten enough for weeks – it’s a wonder they got back through the hole. They didn’t find the carrots or the squash plants and didn’t touch the beans. If we can keep them out, I think the chard, turnips and cabbage will recover sufficiently. Since we’ve been busy with a trek for several days, they may have been in there munching for more than one day. Hope they didn’t tell all their neighbors!!!! Grin!!
Love & Laughter
Arnold & Syd
