Home again, home again, jiggedy jig

Mr. Pileated Woodpecker. He sure was a treat to see!

Well, I've returned from the Little House in the Big Woods. And what an adventure it was!

I saw no humans for about 50 hours. No music, no TV, no noise except the whir of the Frigidaire and the occasional woodpecker or distant woofing of a Golden Retriever (they have such a distinctive bark). Oh, and the bells from the monastery.

I loved this little sign. Feet only!!

This tree-friend and her neighbor kept
an eye on the door all weekend. Thanks, trees.

It was a lot like being in Narnia for a few days. Narnia sans the mean witch, that is. Too bad I forgot my Turkish Delight. I had dried pineapple, but that's not quite the same.

This was the other tree who kept her eye on me.

It was all so beautiful and peaceful that it was hard to believe it was real. Blisschick and neighbor Bill dropped me off on Saturday morning about 10 AM. First thing after unpacking, I went out for a quick snowshoe. When the snow's really deep, there's just nothing like a pair of snowshoes. Just ask Pa Ingalls.

Snowshoes resting after their first workout. Whew!

The little path leading to the cabin from the Monastery wasn't plowed, which made it a little hard to lug my stuff when we first arrived. But with my snowshoes, walking that path up to my cabin Hildegard (I called her Hildee by Saturday-- we became fast friends) was a breeze.

At the crossroads. I went left.

After the morning snowshoeing, I was ready to get creative. But it was weird to adjust. The no noise thing was disconcerting at first. I don't think about it much, but I'm constantly surrounded by noise.

At work there's people and phones and computers droning and the elevator ringing when someone gets stuck in it, and, well... you get the idea.

At home, we always have music on. Or we're talking. Or we're watching a movie.

So, silence took some time to acclimate to, but once I did, I thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact, re-entering the world of noises and people today seemed just as strange.

Miss Zoe's snow representative. "Miss Snowy" was just as
disgruntled with me as Miss Zoe, but not nearly
as cute. Though, she was cute in her own way.

Miss Snowy surveying her land.
"Yep," she said, "snowy. Just how I like it."

I'll probably be writing about this trip for a few days. And, I need a little time to snuggle all these animals I missed at home.

In fact, I'd better get to that right now.

I'll leave you with a couple of shots of me with Hildee. What a nice cabin. What a nice weekend.