10/29/06

It's only the end of October. I'm certain that I won't be able to do this continuously through the winter; it will be too cold for me to sit here. I'll have to do walks instead. I got out here at 8:25, though it was actually 7:25am because of daylight savings time today. It's been very tough to get up because of the darkness.

NEW PROPANE HEATER INSTALLED 10/17/06

It's been working fine. The other one worked fine, too, but was so old that no one was willing to fix it if it broke down. When M.R. moved out, he insisted that it be fixed. The problem is the heat goes straight upstairs. To prevent this, we've rigged up a box fan with rope hanging over the heater - when we turn it on, it blows air into the room. This has been quite effective.

At the properties meeting a week or so ago, we talking [sic] about clearcutting a stand of Ponderosa Pine at Saginaw. Theya re getting old, are invasive, and could generate needed income for the property. B.Barnes + C.Olson were both amenable to the idea.

Very little activity this morning. A fish jumped on the lake when I first sat. A mallard landed at the east end of the lake. I've heard and seen several crows.

We've had a great deal of rain in the past several days, and the water level on the lake is high. Today we've got a clear blue, crisp sky. (I skipped last Sunday due to rain). Itmust be in the upper 30s/lower 40s temperature wise - we has snow mixed with rain yesterday.

Nearly all of the trees around the lake have lost their leaves. A few on the other shore haven't yet; from here they appear to be cottonwood or birch. The southern part of Saginaw is full of yellow-leaved sugar males, as well as some Norway maples that haven't completely turned yet. The trails are an inch or two deep with colorful leaves now at times making the footing quite challenging.