Stuff

A few times I've seen green eyes on the hill since the walkie incident but much like the gray fox that I had come for so long who's eyes didn't reflect when hit with the headlamp it could be one fox is different again. Last night I saw the green eyes and threw a hot dog up the trail going to the hill and a fox ran down and grabbed it and later I saw a set of green eyes and two sets of white eyes real close to it so there's no way two foxes would be hanging out with a cat of any sort. So while there are rules to eye color, apparently there are exceptions.

It's been mostly quiet. A guest here and there but the next couple days look like three rooms and two hogans. This is so much better than the busy season. I actually get a chance to know the guests and speak with them and feel again how special the place is to them. The last few days I've been sending guests out on hike with just a verbal description of the hike or a hand drawn map and the smile on their faces when they return is heart warming.

I had some people in the dark miss the turn into Base Camp and go straight over to Last Hurrah. I was waiting for them to show up and then looking out the back window saw the lights were on in the main house. I drive over, walk in and there's three people cooking and watching tv. I ask them what the story is because out here you can get shot for less than that. They say they found their hogan and thought this was the lodge where they could cook. Little language barrier issue. They tried to email me but the wifi was down at the main house. We get things worked out and they have a good stay. Yesterday I get an email saying they have left a review on one of the booking sites. I click on it and it says "Hi Tom, sorry we broke into your house."

Just prior to Thanksgiving there was a family staying here who had a relative with them that was looking for her place in life. As they were checking out the husband said "My mom (who doesn't speak English) thinks you're really cute and wants to know if you have a woman to keep you warm for the holidays." I thanked him but I was fine and then looked out in the parking lot and she was waiving at me.

I'm in the Post Office a couple days before Christmas and the line is long with people holding three or four packages to mail out. I put a big smile on my face and say "Holy cow. Thank God I don't have any friends." They were all over me. "Nice attitude." "Good Christmas spirit." "No wonder you don't have any friends." Apparently people in small towns have stress too.

I open my PO Box and there's a letter from the guy saying his mom wants to know if I found a woman yet for the winter because she can be here for Christmas. I slide it in the trash can and a lady says "No wonder you don't have any friends. You get one Christmas card and you throw it away."

After the death of the sharp-shinned last week the smaller hawk still showed up every day but instead of looking for prey in the feeding area it sat at the top of the Cottonwood tree looking out towards the river. I think they were connected. A large new hawk showed up yesterday, also a sharp-shinned so I'm back to where I was with The Butcher, small and a large sharp-shinned. I'm putting the food as close to thick bushes as I can so I don't lose any songbirds.

Two problems solved themselves. Out by the Base Camp sign there was a large cow, way bigger than all the others, at least a thousand pounds. If broke it's foot or ankle or something and fell down. There it laid for three or four days unable to get back up while they tried different methods to re-right it. By that time there's no more circulation in it's legs and it's about over. They tried to get the front end loader and stand it up but it had a flat tire. They tried the dogs to motivate it more but there's just no getting a thousand plus pounds to stand up in the boonies if it physically can't. Finally they shot it and dragged it off the road and back into the creek bed where all the jerks had been going off road in their side by sides and tearing up the landscape. I was going to put a fence across it but now when they turn into the creek there's a thousand plus pounds of dead cow blocking the creek bed and apparently they've lost their stomach for tearing up stuff. There are no new tracks in the creek bed on the other side of the remains.

When the bobcat was here none of the little people came to eat on the front porch. One raccoon family had found it's way under the lodge and later that turned into just one raccoon. The bobcat is gone now but there's still just one raccoon eating the two nightly bowels of Kit&Kaboodle. He hasn't gone under the lodge in four or five days. Last night I walked outside to feed a ringtail and a couple of foxes and the raccoon was on the porch emptying the two large bowls by itself. It's huge. I thought it was a bear when I first saw it. Then I realized why it's not under the lodge anymore. It can't fit through the hole.