My Bit of Earth

Seven Things That Are Making Me Very Merry On This Christmas Eve Eve

1.  It's the last day of working before the loooong holiday weekend--yay!

2.  Tomorrow at this time-ish I will be heading towards family and presents and one of Sweet Sister's so-hard-it's-almost-painful welcome home hugs.

3.  Maine Momma's beautiful odes to snow and light. 

4.  This article--"The Joy of Celebrating a Godless Christmas"--on Slate that echos my feelings about the holidays completely.  In short, Jesus isn't "the reason for the season" for all of us and that doesn't make our Christmas any less meaningful.  Very nicely done in a way that speaks up for us atheists and agnostics without denigrating those who are religious.

5.  That Nice Mommy just called asking me to bring some freezer jam for Christmas breakfast.  I feel like a wise little chipmunk pulling out my carefully stashed summer berries for winter feasting. 

6.  Dear Veens who ever so sweetly named me "The most awesome pic taking Girl" on her blog.  I'm abysmal at doing the "pass it along" things, but I do so appreciate the nice thought.  (And congrats on the upcoming wedding--I can't believe you're still managing to blog and comment on blogs and not be going crazy and stuff!)

7.  The thought of a possible road-trip adventure.  I haven't decided for sure if I'm up for it yet, but I'm considering busing it to DC for inauguration and some Supreme Court argument (one of my co-workers has a case there on the 21st).  Any bus riders out there have thoughts?

And, while you're thinking, what's making you merry today?

Leaving the Line Cabin Camp

Our final morning at the cabin...

...I finally took time to gather some pecans. The whole time we were there you could see and hear both pecans and walnuts dropping from the trees almost constantly. It's a wonder none hit us on the head!

...Moe played a few last games of fetch in the woods.  Another of my very favorite things about this place was that the dogs could run loose.  Although they did go a little far one morning, for the most part they were content to sniff and explore within sight of the cabin.  It was great not to have to tether them to us or worry about them bothering/being bothered by other dogs or cars or people.

Then we packed up and headed for home.  Although if we came back with friends we would probably have to opt for one of the bigger cabins, I think a trip back to Rock Eddy Bluff Farm--maybe during summer canoing season--is definitely in our future.

For some more pictures, see here.

Later that Evening...

...Porter slept. Although I think she had a good time on our trip overall, I could tell she was exhausted by the end of each day.

...Moe rolled in poop. Which I thought was really soooo adorable, until later when all he wanted to do was cuddle on my lap.

...We took time to read some of the notes left by others who had stayed at the Line Cabin Camp, and then listened to the presidential debate on the radio.

I considered whether it might not be a little sacrilegious to bring modern events into the little cabin, but in the end decided that listening by radio was in keeping with the spirit of the place.  It was easy to imagine being there a hundred years before when the only source of current news might have been a radio.  Although I felt like we were missing a lot because we couldn't see the candidates body language and facial expressions, Sweet Husband said he actually liked it better because he wasn't distracted by all of that.

The clouds from earlier in the day were covering the moon and stars that night, so it was incredibly dark out.  It was so dark that--here's my brave confession--I made Sweet Husband walk out with me to the potty before we went to bed! 

Maramec Spring Park

By afternoon the rain had let up, and we decided to go look for the Maramec Fish letterbox in Maramec Spring Park.  The dogs were ready to be out of the car by then, and, although Moe was interested in the fish (there is a trout hatchery there), he was well-behaved.

Despite bravely sticking my hand into several old tree stumps, we didn't find the letterbox, but the walk was beautiful....

A Rainy Morning of Wine Tasting

The second morning at the cabin, we woke up to this:

Although the real Missouri wine country is a little bit North of where we were, I knew there were at least a few places with vineyards and tasting rooms in St. James, which was only about thirty minutes away.  So, we packed the pups into the car and headed that direction.

We hit all five places in the area, but decided that only the two that were a little off the beaten path were worth writing home about.  (If you go, skip the ones that are right on the highway unless you like sugary grape juice.) 

Our favorite was Heinrichshaus. 

It could be that the man who did our tasting was Heinrich himself...or it could be that he won my heart in his first few sentences analogizing "real wine" with "real food" (i.e. unprocessed, whole, etc.)...or it could be that we got an entire history lesson about grapes and diseases and politics...or it could be that his wine is just really good!  Whatever it was, this was our hands down favorite, and I highly, highly recommend dropping by if you're ever in the area.  (Peaceful Bend was also pretty good.)

Wherein I Got Naked in the Woods

And now for probably my favorite thing about the cabin--what I've been hinting at and alluding to all along--the outdoor shower. 

For those of you who don't know what a solar shower is, basically it's a bag of water with a nozzle attached.  The idea is that the sun warms the water, so you can take a hot shower.  In the summer, I could see how this might work, but, as the air temperature just wasn't getting that hot during the day, our hosts recommended we heat water on the stove and add it to the water in the bag in order to get a warm shower.

It worked very well.  Although, it was a little cool when the water was off (which is why I'm glad we were not at the cabin any later in the year) with the water on it felt great.  The cabin was secluded enough that I wasn't really worried about privacy.  And it was freaking beautiful!  I felt like I was taking part in some kind of wonderful woodland fantasy shampoo commercial.  I'm totally building on of these in my little dream garden someday--although perhaps with piped in water!

Once we were squeaky clean, we cooked up some carbonara on the little antique stove...

...and sat down to enjoy a lovely dinner entertainment of dancing leaves in the sunset.

Clifty Creek and Canoing on the Gasconade River

Our first day at Rock Eddy, again on the advice of our wonderful hosts, we drove up the road to Clifty Creek Natural Area and hiked to the natural rock bridge there.

The walk to the bridge was about a mile, so the dogs were ready to cool off by the time we got there.  Moe swam graceful laps up and down the small pool, while Porter...well, Porter just tried not to get her face wet!

After lunch back at the cabin, that afternoon we went canoing on the Gasconade River.

Our hosts kept several canoes down by the river for guests to use, so it was super easy to just load the dogs up and go.

   

Well, actually, not super easy.  Porter wanted nothing to do with canoing, and so clung to the bottom of the boat for dear life in a way that strangely made the canoe very unstable.  Moe on the other hand wanted to jump out of the canoe and swim, of course--also not something that makes for steady canoing.

We quickly paddled across the river to a nice beach that our hosts had told us would be good for letting the dogs run.  Looking back towards where we were staying, you can see why the "rock bluff" for which Rock Eddy Bluff Farm was named.

We found lots to explore on the beach, and the pups did too.

After leaving the beach, we tried paddling around on the river a bit more, but the dogs were just a little too crazy. So we headed back to our cabin for the evening.

A Beautiful Morning

Waking up the first morning in the cabin was a bit disorienting.  In my real life, even on mornings I sleep in, the first thing I do when I wake is to look at my alarm clock.  But there was no clock to look at here, and being tucked into the hills as we were, it was hard to tell whether I had woken up early or not.

I wish I could convince myself to make time every morning for a cup of coffee on a porch swing, followed by eggs seasoned via ancient cast iron skillet.

Of Fungus and Frogs and Wood and Scrabble

By the time we got situated Mr. Moe was ready for a walk.  Our hosts let us know there was a trail nearby that led to a little rock outcropping.  It was very uphill, but the woods were all kinds of pretty in the evening light.

And then there was the fungus!

It seemed like everywhere I looked down there was a new, pretty variety of mushroom.  Made me want to enroll myself in a mushroom identification class ASAP to learn what they all are for future reference, and--more importantly--which ones could be dinner! 

Oh, and the frog too!  This little guy miraculously jumped in front of both dogs unnoticed, and then safely camouflaged himself on a tree trunk.

After the walk, it was back to the cabin for chores.  We both took a try at splitting some wood for the fire, but Sweet Husband was by far better at it. We both got a good chuckle out of making s'mores on the naughty roasting sticks though!

And when the sun went down and it was too dark to play outside anymore, we retreated to the cabin for dinner and a cut-throat game of Scrabble by lantern light.  (I won two nights out of three!)

 

In a cabin in the woods...

(...a little old man by the window stood.  He saw a rabbit hopping by, knocking at the door.  "Help me! Help me sir!" he said, "Or the hunter will shoot me dead."  "Come on in," the little man said, "Warm up by the fire".)

Anyone else learn that song in Girl Scouts?  Poor Sweet Husband heard it a lot on our trip.  I couldn't get it out of my head, as we were very literally, well...fill in the title I don't want to have to sing the whole thing to myself again.

Although we didn't have any bunnies come knocking, we had a very nice time in the Line Camp Cabin at Rock Eddy Bluff Farm.  It was absolutely as secluded of a place as I could have wished for.  We were well out of sight of any other cabins or roads, and there wasn't a light to be seen once the sun went down.  Although we didn't quite catch the height of Fall color, there were hints, and--for reasons that will become clear in subsequent posts--I'm not sure I would have necessarily wanted to be there with any cooler weather.  But I'm getting ahead of myself--first things first, the cabin....

It was all one big room, with a bed to one side, and the kitchen to the other. As aforementioned, there was no running water, but there was an antique gas stove for cooking, as well as a little fireplace for heat (we didn't end up using it). Light came from four kerosene lanterns, and the fridge was a chest on the porch kept stocked by our hosts with large bottles of ice.

I loved the way the outside was just as much a part of the cabin as the inside. Although the cabin was much nicer than a tent for sleeping, we really did live in the entire space. The fire pit became our living room to one side of the cabin, and the outhouse and shower were the bathroom to the other side. And lest you think start thinking, "Ewww," to the outhouse idea, let me say, it was nicer and cozier than many bathrooms I've seen. And the outdoor shower, well, again, that's coming.

Crosby, Stills, and Nash

Although I was a little confused about whether I was in Iowa or Nebraska--it was Iowa, but it was really close to Nebraska--the show was pretty awesome.  I'm not sure how many young men can sing that well.  Throw in the fact that these guys are old enough to have played at Woodstock and, well, I was impressed.  It was such a perfect summer-y concert too--laid back music, a nice breeze....

For a small taste, click onward.  More pictures of our trip are here.

Bright Lights, Big Rocks

Sweet Husband spent the weekend in Las Vegas at the JCK Jewelry Show.  Think days spent looking at big, pretty diamonds, and evenings taking in the crazy nightlife--sounds like rough work, doesn't it?

He was the only guy with his three lovely co-workers, and I think that worked out well for him as far as the crazy nightlife part went.  Apparently, the foursome fell in with some nice British insurance guys and spent the night in the Foundation Room at Mandalay Bay, among other places.  I think a good time was had by all! 

Pictures (there really are some diamonds worth seeing) are here; a short video Sweet Husband took of the fountain at the Bellagio is here.

I'm the King of the World!

As you will recall, Nice Mom, Sweet Sister, and I made a trip to the Titanic Museum in Branson last weekend for Sweet Sister's birthday.  So, here we are standing in front of a blue screen with the deck of the Titanic digitally patched in on the deck of the Titanic. 

All joking aside, however, it wasn't as cheesy as I expected it to be.  I actually enjoyed the way they really focused on the people who were on board through the things they left behind (letters, jewelry, clothing).  It helped me to envision myself in their places, and see them as individuals.  There was also a lot of attention paid to making the overall environment consistent with what the ship might have been like.  For example, in the third class parts of the museum it was hot and loud, in the first class parts it was quiet with classical music, in the part of the museum that focused on the ship's sinking it was dark and cold.  And the reproduction of the staircase was very beautiful!

Maybe not worth a long trip, but certainly worth it if you're in the area and interested in that sort of thing.  More pictures here.

Wednesday Poll: The World is Full of Nice People

I was reading this post on BlogHer the other day (short story--the author gave a woman her ferry ticket and made a new friend) and it got me thinking about all the wonderful friends I've made while traveling.  Most moved in and out of my life in an evening--a few drinks, a few stories, some much needed help at just the right time--but they were friends all the same.  I like to think they're all happy, and I always hope their kindnesses to me were credited to them somewhere down the road.

For this week's poll:

Tell a story of a friend you made while traveling.

Comment and discuss.

Not Free

Have Dog, Will Travel

As a wrap up to our trip I wanted to post a little bit more of my thoughts--both practically and philosophically--about traveling with Moe. 

Practically speaking, the first thing many people have asked me about was the cost.  All told, it was roughly $300, which included his airfare ($200) and a health certificate from out vet ($90) that everyone said we needed, but no one ever actually asked to see.  I can hear people gasping, "But you could have bought another plane ticket for that!"  And it's true, we could have. 

However, you have to remember that when you have pets they cost you something to leave at home too.  Moe is a little intense to really leave with (free) family, so our options are boarding him ($200) or having a pet sitter come over to walk him ($350).  And--although I generally like the doggie daycare where we would board him and I love our dog walker--I still would have worried.  When you look at the alternatives (and given that we had planned an outdoorsy vacation anyway), it was actually cost and peace-of-mind effective to bring him along.

Reality is Back

After a long day of travel, we're all safely back home from our VACATION (except for Porter who is staying with Nice Mom and Sister until we can fetch her this weekend). 

It's nice to be home...but it was nice to be gone too.  I was watching TV at the airport in Houston and realized I've completely tuned out every scrap of news over the past week.  I have (or had, up to that point) no idea what's going on in Kansas, Iraq, or anywhere in between.  A pleasant ignorance, but sadly one that couldn't last....

Carnelian Bay

Coon Street Beach

Master Test with Drama

Today we went back for the second day of the Golden Gate Dachshund Club earthdog test.  It was the first time I had entered Moe in a master test and we were up first--needless to say, I was a little nervous.

Because I haven't talked about the master test yet, a little explanation....