Deanne is supposed to attend Wilderness First Aid at Maumee this weekend, and Zach has moved out, so I'm left with pet care. Which explains why I was going to the holler on a weekday. Anyway, I went to bed shortly after arriving at the cabin. I slept for nine hours, with occasional trips to turn the tap (so to speak). It was cold last night, at least when I wasn't in my warm sleeping bag.
This morning, I ate some oatmeal and surveyed the work to be done. Finally, I put together my "No Trespassing" signs, my staple gun, and a few other supplies, and set out to walk my entire fence line. It took two and a half hours, uphill and down. I renewed my signage and made extensive notes on sections of fence needing repair.
Barbed wire fences need frequent looking after. They break when trees and branches fall on them, when deer crash into them, and (of course) when poachers sneak onto your land. Poachers think they know your land better than you do. They're counting on you not noticing their little access points. This is why I repair fencing and renew signage at least every other year. It doesn't physically bar them from entering, but it makes them realize that somebody is paying attention. It might discourage a few. "Good fences make good neighbors." Didn't Laban say something like that?
After a cup of soup for a late lunch, I decided I still had time to fix the fence out by the road. That took almost two hours. Then I cleaned up and headed for home. I'd like to hire a teenager or two to help me lug the stuff to repair my fence around for me, but unfortunately, I have NO free weekends for a month. So I'm going to have to sneak out there at odd times and get 'er done, all by myself. In addition to toting barbed wire, fence stretcher, and cutters, I'll have to get a bow saw up to certain places, not to mention some new angle-iron fence posts and the post driver. Naturally, the places where all the heavy, extra stuff is needed are the most inaccessible.
Still, it was a beautiful day in the woods, and I am feeling much better for the experience. I figure I've got to make myself go over there for a day off almost every week, even if I drive three hours over and three hours back, only to have three hours to spend there. It'll still be worth it.
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Wilderstead as seen from Akes Hill Rd. Our cabin is on the left; the Pishon valley cuts through the holler, below the road. |