Thursday, June 19, 2008

In the Woods of Wisconsin!

It’s the quiet that gets to me sometimes. Often my usual days are spent listening to myself (not always a good time) or some other loud ambient noises. I get used to them, and then they become part of the rhythm of life. When they are gone, it becomes quiet noticeable. And, when the quiet transcends upon me in the evenings here, that’s when I bury my face in a book (it is also the time I start to let my mind wander and think and I will be damned if I do that! Thinking gets me into trouble). At least I can hear my inner voice. Tonight is no different. There is a silence… Well, actually, it is more of a forest silence; however, and oddly enough, I can hear everything for miles around. For example, I can hear the train that is, for some reason, parked on the tracks two miles from here. I can hear, what I think, are the clashing of deer antlers. I am not very sure on that particular point, which rather concerns me. BUT, it’s dark, and I know that I am probably the most dangerous thing within a mile around, in these woods, at this particular moment. I will not be going and checking that noise out. There are some noises that should remain a mystery. There is a dog barking way off in the distance… and a few minutes ago, I heard a porcupine scratching on one of my buildings (I took care of that…sadly… ). There are some jobs I hate…HATE doing. Dealing with those things is one of them. I will no longer speak of that. Yesterday I heard the shooting of guns at the Black River Gun Club… That’s… well, far, actually… I can hear them almost as clear as day. AND, then there is the random death knoll from something somewhere by something else that was particularly hungry…. That’s nothing compared to the song of the coyote after it gets something. Last summer I had the pleasure of hearing that ruckus. I was out on the screen porch, late in the evening, reading something that must have been good because I was reading it late into the evenin). It was then the woods became alive with the coyote song. Since things can be heard clearly and one can’t really judge distances, I hadn’t a clue where this took place. Again, it was dark, and it wasn’t something I felt particularly compelled to investigate. Instead, I lit a cigarette, sat back, and rather enjoyed the homage to meal time. It wasn’t something I often heard. I just listened (it appears I have a cricket for a roommate…. Damn thing kept waking me last night. I know where he is… I can’t get at him…. And, there he is… staring at me from his safe spot…mocking me… I have a rule. If it is outside, I won’t bother it… if it comes inside, no holds barred. This little guy has me in a bit of a bind). And, though the whole song dealt with death, there was a certain beauty in that celebration. The chaotic nature of that celebration… it was riveting. I then understood why the Native American Indians wrote so many stories about the coyote within their folklore… It is an interesting beastie to say the leastie.

Actually, the night time is an especially lonely time. Again, that’s why I bury my face in a book. I’ve read six so far, and have only been here since Sunday. I do a lot of reading over the summer… that’s for sure. It’s hard to keep the mind from wandering about like mine often does most of the time all the time. I come here for spiritual healing… and can’t do that when the mind doesn’t focus on the task at hand… Stupid mind. SPIRITUALLY HEAL, DAMN YOU!!! Maybe start self-actualizing??? Huh, mind? Can you start doing that??? Cheese… did you know there is REAL cheese in Wisconsin? I have a block of Colby in the fridge… and, it comes from Colby, WI… where the style originated! No cheese sauce in sight! The whippoorwill is in hearing distance… but, not cheese sauce. I don’t think cheese sauce makes any sound, except that sound when it comes out… ummmm… anyway….

The cabin is a special place for me… It’s been in the family for over forty years… Actually, the land has, the cabin itself??? Actually, it’s forty this year. We have ten acres completely surrounded by state forest. Our nearest neighbor is the camp ground near the lake… about a half-mile from here. The land itself used to be a farm settled by some stupid Czechs around 1920s or something who thought you could grow things in sand. Needless to say, nothing grew, and those Czechs sold it to some different Czechs who then sold it to my Grandparents, who then gave it to my Aunt and Mother… and now, it’s mine. I get giddy sometimes. Even though I’ve been an owner of this land for… five years now??? It still hasn’t quite sunk in… This (well a third of it is) place is MINE!!!! 40 plus years of family history is mine. I think that’s one of the reasons I come here for long periods of time… It’s mine!!! It’s here… why not!

AND, over the forty years, it hasn’t changed… that’s where the specialness comes… That trees are bigger, but it really hasn’t changed. I love that. My life has been change since… I was eleven… and coming up here, I am assured that it is still the same old place in the middle of the woods. I think that’s where I get the idea of spiritual healing. It is a “home” to me. I come here to be “home.” Sadly, this summer is chopped up with other responsibilities, so I won’t physically be here some of the summer. That’s a drag… But, enough to get some good use and get some good old fashioned work done. Today, I began chopping (cutting) wood. I will chop more tomorrow and maybe the next day. It appears that as trees get bigger, so do its droppings. I have piles of tree refuse everywhere, and have finally found the time to actually sit back… and work my tail off…cutting that shit up!!!! I just finished up the routine yard work yesterday… There is much to mow and deal with… But, I am happy to finally deal with my piles. In fact, I had a fire pit going to deal with brush. That was nice, and it got some things cleared up… Today, I only took care of dent… tomorrow, another dent… and sho nuff… I will have dented those piles to death.

That’s it for me. More book to read… and then some sleep… and then… WOOD!!!

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home