A big ol' full moon was rising as I prepared for bed. I thought, "Well, of course!" That explains why Easter is so late this year. We must have had a full moon just before the Spring Equinox. That means we had to wait for the next full moon, the first full moon AFTER the Equinox. BUT, if the full moon falls on a Sunday, then the NEXT Sunday is Easter! See what Church History can teach you? I still remember the debates at the Council of Nicea in AD 325.
This morning, Deanne and Sassy went hunting mushrooms (they came up empty), while I set out to repair barbed-wire fence. This involved me carrying several heavy iron fence posts and a post driver up to the top of Akes Hill and filling in where posts have rotted out or trees have disappeared that served previously as posts. When I got done with that, we had lunch.
Sassy had a hard time getting around. Even hopping up onto the stoop of the cabin was difficult for her. She's ten and a half now, and starting to become quite elderly. She's stiff and suffers from some congestive heart failure. Still, she enjoyed her day in the woods. She was all muddy and tired when the morning was done. Deanne had to put a leash on her to keep her from wandering off, and she pulled D. over a couple of times in her eagerness. Not TOO old, I guess.
Deanne then returned to E-ville with the dog, but I had more stuff to do. I climbed Akes Hill again, this time with barbed wire, wire stretcher, and snips. I walked the hilltop again, repairing whole sections of wire that had been wiped out by falling trees, running deer, and (maybe) sneaky poachers. I finished up just before three o'clock. I had spent almost four hours walking the steeper side of the holler and hauling heavy stuff around. That said, it was a bee-yoo-ti-ful day to do it on, and I felt ever so much alive. I kept thanking God all day long for the gift of such a wonderful day.
This trip, I saw a very fat ground-hog. I flushed two huge turkeys from cover. Saw a painted box turtle. Heard/saw a blue jay and a red-winged blackbird. We planted some pussy willows (gift from Dan R.) and some wild peach trees (gift from Steve C.). The creek was flowing fast and all the springs were running. Fuji's and Cuthbert's cairns looked lovely in the little greensward where we put them.
I then put my tools away, cleaned up the cabin, and boogied on down the road, arriving just after six here. A quick shower and shave, and it was off to the Troop meeting, where I mostly sat and nursed my aching hips and legs.