Flowers everywhere

Yesterday I walked about and took pictures of some of the flowers and blooming plants that are around. It's so pretty here, after living in the desert for most of my life, that I'm enjoying the lush plants and trees. It's warming up to the low80's during the day though the nights remain cool. This weekend we plan on going into Medford, Oregon to do some shopping and maybe catch a movie. Our mail hasn't caught up with us yet, so there will be a pile of it next week to go through. If anyone wants to send us something address it to general delivery in Happy Camp.

Breaking old habits

It's amazing to me how persistent old habits can be. Getting in a new environment helps me to see how much I do every day without thinking. With the props missing here, I find substitutes to continue in the same old ways. Enough of that!

A new habit I'm hoping to form is regular walks and hikes. The walk to town is a little over a mile, one way and crosses Indian Creek. You can see the water is running strong. The 49er's club has a blackboard showing the current water flow of the Klamath River at 5,000+ cubic feet per second; way too powerful for dredging which will have to wait until the spring runoff finishes sometime in June.

Today's walk took me to Evan's Mercantile Store and the library. The store has a little bit of everything. It's been in existence since the 1930's and is still run by the original family owners. Today's special were baby chicks! I might break down and get a Big Foot t-shirt.

The library is about 20 x 30 ft. and is only open 4 days a week, from 2:30 pm until 5:00 pm. The pickings are slim, but there's enough to tide me over if I run out of reading. That's one habit I don't intend to break.

Being away we only will get mail once a week, another excuse to walk in to town. Of course, email is readily available and we've got a decent phone signal but I don't miss it. I think we're both enjoying the slower pace here.

Another new habit is posting to this blog. I've kept journals for years and its different when its shared with friends and family. Let me know what you think.

All Creatures great and small

Having been a city girl, the outdoor life is offering lots of new experiences, not the least of these (no pun intended) being the tiny creatures that inhabit the outdoors.

Today in the "office" I had to swat a hornet that came calling, probably drawn by the smell of my morning coffee. The screens keep out most bugs, if I remember to zip the door but I am easily distracted and shortly after getting settled in my chair again found a pretty red and black beetle, about the size of a peanut, crawling under my left hand beneath the keyboard. "Ack!," I squawked, and swatted it to the ground at the same time I precariously jerked the laptop to the table. It sort of reminded me of the beetle-morphing typewriter in the movie, Naked Lunch.

Bitty bugs aren't our only companions here. Next door is a gentle golden retriever named Butter who comes sniffing around at dinner time, especially this evening when we grilled minute steaks. There are a couple of pet cats but so far no sign of skunks, raccoons or snakes. A few squirrels chattered at me on the walk into town this afternoon, where I dropped off the mail and Mike has spotted a rather nonchalant deer at the entrance to the camp. I've also seen some bright blue-wing tipped birds and a redheaded woodpecker that likes to drill on the satellite dish.

A quiet day today and we're settling in for the evening, after having enjoyed dinner in the gazebo. Tomorrow Mike starts digging.