Unexpected Visitors

Early Saturday morning, Robbie and I took a spud bar and post hole digger and broke ground for the antenna tower. Ohio soil in this area of a forest hillside is very full of sandstone, clay and roots. After laboring for a couple of hours and breaking through multiple large rocks, we finally had a 3' hole large enough to plant it. A trip to Chillicothe's Lowes and Menards was a welcome relief from our labor as we picked up cable, an antenna and accessories. A 100 mile HD/digital antenna is really big when assembled! It must be about 10' long and about 6' wide. I can't remember how we first up righted this same tower at my parent's farm house 30 years ago and I don't recall ever having any trouble. However, we found it extremely difficult and challenging to stand it up into the hole after we had already installed the antenna, rotor and cables. Only after getting the tractor and front end loader with chains were we innovative enough to lift and rig it into it's hole. After adding 300# of concrete, its now up and providing free broadcast service through the air; another cabin project completed.

Sunday is a day for rest and today I took full advantage of it. Unlike my wife and kids, I've never been one to sit and read a book for hours but having a cabin has changed all that. A Kindle loaded with the book, "The Killing of Lincoln", a beautiful, fall windy day in the woods and Kuma by my side has inspired me to take up this leisure activity. It's so easy to get drawn into a book when there are no distractions. The warm breeze and falling leaves seemed to aid concentration. At one point, while reading about General Lee's confederate army's final battle, I began hearing bells ringing in the woods which is highly unusual. Looking up and turning in the direction of the sound, I was amazed at the sight of about 12 goats walking up the lane to the cabin. Each had a collar and a bell under it's chin that rang as they walked. As I called out to them, "well hello fellas!" they were clearly happy to see a friendly face as they wagged their little tails like puppies. I've owned goats before that eventually became wild and roamed the forest and these were definitely not wild. They were someones pet goats that had wandered off and were apparently lost. Just as quickly as they showed up, they were back off into the forest. I have no idea where they were from or where they were going.