Thursday, July 30, 2009

Summer changes, 2009

Once again, sorry for leaving you hanging. I know, it's been a long time. That's how it goes sometimes.

I have moved out of the cabin in the woods. It was getting too risky to live there and too expensive to keep up. For starters, the squirrels had taken over in the attic and were starting to chew through the walls and the wiring. There was no insulation in the attic to begin with, and when it got cold in the New England winter all the heat I was able to manufacture with a couple of inefficient space heaters and a wood stove went right out the roof. The siding was rotting in places on the outside, again leaving the place exposed to the elements. And the roof leaked in a couple of spots. To top it off, I had two trees fall toward the house as a result of lightning strikes, taking out the electrical wiring from the pole and causing destructive shorts in some of the outlets. In a nutshell, it was time to go.

Due to a chronic illness I was able to get a clean, well-maintained apartment in an apartment complex for elderly and disabled people. It's been a godsend; life is now easily livable again. It is no smaller than my cabin, two clean rooms with kitchen and bath. The sunlight is only fair, although it's better than in my woodsy abode. I'm not as close to nature as I might like, although there are plenty of birds around. I have a feeder which has been attracting scores of tufted titmice, black-capped chickadees, white- and red-breasted nuthatches and American goldfinches. I also have a regular downy woodpecker, and an occasional red-bellied woodpecker. Between them they consume a ton of black oil sunflower seeds, but they are an endless source of pleasure during the day. I do miss my deer, and my wild turkeys, but this town is full of natural features, and I'm sure I'll see my share of true wildlife. And the Audubon sanctuary is a scant two miles from here. I could do a lot worse.

So that's my current update. In the coming posts there may be some more personal stuff than has been posted before. Let me know how you like the changes, and the blog in general.

Namasté