Monday, June 15, 2009 -
It is cooler this morning and the sky is full of rain filled clouds. I decided to start a small fire to take the chill off the sunroom and then started the generator so I could go online to work on my blogs and do some research.
NWS is predicting a 60% chance of thunderstorms today and by 11:45, the sky opened up and it rained hard for about 15 minutes, and then quit. The sky has that eerie glow of gray-green and the forest is dark green with freshly washed needles. I love a good storm as it washes and cleans everything, helping to keep the dust down and Mother Nature at her best.
Like other areas in the north, I have suffered the devastation of the Bark Beetle, which has moved down from Canada, killing off fir trees by the thousands. It is nature’s way of thinning out the weak trees as the beetles don’t attack healthy ones, but the next natural step is a forest fire to clear out the dead debris. Living in the middle of an almost million acre national forest is wonderful, until you realize that it can all be taken away in a moment. I know that fires can affect everyone and people lose their homes to it on a regular basis, but homes can be rebuilt, forests take years and years to grow to their beauty.
The day passed with two more downpours, depositing almost half an inch of water, but by late afternoon, the clouds started to break up and the some sunshine started to shine through. It never did warm up, but I did have to finally let the fire die down and open the sliding doors for some fresh air.
After doing research most of the day, and writing, I finally stopped at 7:30 PM, took a shower, fixed myself some dinner and then relaxed in front of the television.

Sunday, June 14, 2009 - New Web Site - Notes From The Cabin
It looks pretty threatening outside and NWS is indicating a 50% chance of a thunderstorm today, so I have decided that if I did do any road work, and it rains, then I’d probably be back to square one, so I’ll work indoors today.
It wasn’t cold enough to build a fire, and when the sun did shine through, it made the sunroom hot enough to open the sliding doors. I have the backup generator running on the economy mode so I can work online, and have spent the morning finishing all the postings to the travel log web site, adding photos as necessary, and then set up a new daily blog web site at http://mountainmanalbert.blogspot.com/
I will attempt to maintain this blog site and keep it current as I write my daily logs. I’ll keep the travel web site for when I take trips, and use Notes From The Cabin to keep readers updated on my daily activities and adventures around my cabin.
After spending ALL DAY on updating the travel site and then setting up the new blog site, I have a new admiration for those people, like my friend Kathy that authors her web site, Legends of America, and respect how much time it takes to operate a full-time site. I just hope I can keep up with these writings and still work on my books, and get things done around the cabin.
The afternoon did produce a little rain, but more thunder than storm. Zack enjoys being able to go outside and play, even in the rain, so we did more than usual today. I continued working on the blog until almost 9 O’clock before quitting for the day. I had some dinner, showered, watched some television and then went to bed at about 11:30.