OUT TODAY

dinosaur

troublemaker
Messages
3,956
Points
83
Location
Indiana
Today is the tenth of April. This is usually a day when temperatures are friendly but up "Nawth" here we have experienced a prolonging gesture from Winter over the last few weeks.

We had snow (two inches) yesterday. It all melted off but we got hail this morning that amounted to another inch. It was gone by noon but the temperature was still in the low thirties.

I went for a walk on my land. I was out for about two hours wandering through the woods and out in the field with the horses. My horse field is a savannah with fruit trees and shrubs abounding so there is a lot of cover. I kicked up two rabbits and a coyote. I wasn't quick enough to shoot the coyote so my dinner is restricted to venison I froze last year.

While I was out it did manage to warm to about 40 degrees. It's still rising and by tomorrow it will be Spring. I bid a fond farewell to touching a gate to open it and having my hands sting with the cold transmitted by the steel in the gate. I say goodbye to the feel of the snowflakes kissing my cheeks and clearing my nostrils for better scent.

I look forward now to peepers, leaves on the trees and fish chomping on hooks. I can take off my coat and carry a kit bag instead. And the woods will be a cacophony of flowers and mushrooms. While perusing the floor of the woods, I may happen upon a deer or a shed (dropped deer antlers). The "coons" and the "possum" will be out in broad daylight and all I will do is say hello. If I run into a bear he will most likely show me his butt. If he doesn't, I have a .45ACP that will ruin his day and provide me with enough meat for a really big barbeque.

Life is good in the woods but you have to be aware of what is around you. Soon the snakes will come out. Most of them are harmless. We have only four that are venomous and I know how to get around them unless they are really big, in which case they are also very tasty.

I guess I've been rambling on long enough. Y'all take care.
 

ppine

Forester
Messages
3,931
Points
113
Location
Minden, NV
There is no bad weather, only bad clothes.
Will Steiger

I have run out of patience for summer campgrounds. I do more trips now in the off season and it is a totally different experience. In the summer the backcountry. Each winter I grow weary of the cold and head to Death Valley. This year we camped in remote places and slept on cots. We did not even bring a tent. Next up is the Sheldon NWR by the OR border as we wait for the snow to melt in the high mountains.

Planning great trips in the outdoors requires some timing. Be at the right place at the right time. If you can find a place easily on google it is too crowded. I like to go to Nat Forests near Nat parks.
 

dinosaur

troublemaker
Messages
3,956
Points
83
Location
Indiana
Well, of course you have to go out. It was just a change of season I was talking about. We have seasons where I live. I go out no matter what tries to keep me inside. I used to go out to find wood to burn at night. In the middle of the Winter, I would go out and cruise through the forest after fallen limbs I had placed up against trees during the Summer to keep them up in the air and seasoned. I would bring them in and cut them on a table saw into short pieces that would fit perfectly into my stove for heat.

I would go out four or five times a week and do this when I was living off the grid. I was always quite warm. It was just a matter of planning. Beech, maple, hickory, boxelder, ironwood, tulip, cherry, and others went into the stove and provided a very nice Winter heat. I don't do it anymore although I still cut wood for when I go to my cabin. I don't live there anymore. I still can but I have other things I like to do including taking my bass boat out, fishing my ponds, wandering through the woods and foraging, and just coming to realize that there are so many things a person can do and will miss a great deal by doing one thing.

Nature is so filled that mushrooming, turtling, fruiting, fishing, herbing, hunting, nutting, and rooting doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of what can be taken from the land. In the next week dandelions will erupt in this area. I will be picking the leaves for cooking and salads. The flowers will be used for making wine. With any luck, I will be drunk by the end of June on dandelion wine while sitting around a fire built from wood out of my forest of trees. And if I end up with an upset stomach, I will have tea made from sassafrass root dug right here.

I love you all.
 
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