"I must be very wicked," Don said with a twinkle in his eye, as he put his empty Coke can on a stump and headed back to his tree-clearing project.
"Why do you say that?" I asked, playing dumb.
"You know what they say....'There's no rest for the wicked.'"
Don hasn't had much time to fish, hunt or even hike this year. Not yet. He's too busy trying to complete his projects before the snow flies.
He's selectively clearing a 200-foot radius around our house, to qualify for the "Defensible Space" rebate offered by the Dept. of Agriculture as part of its rural fire prevention strategy. That must be completed by Dec. 1. He's pushed out hundreds, maybe even thousands, of trees, leaving the nice big ones and a good selection of young ones at least 10 feet apart. Our "yard" and our view expands every day! It looks like a state park. Later this week, a guy with a mega-chipper is coming out to chip everything that Don's laid on the ground.
Don's also completing work on the barn and stalls. He has one stall (of three) left to line with wood, a couple of gates to hang, and a couple automatic waterers to hook up, and that will be done.
Last month he finished building a 12x16 woodshed that looks nice enough to be a guest cabin. And, of course, he had to fill that with firewood which he's cut around the property.
He also had to get his gunshop up and running. It's beautiful, well lit, and very functional...ironically, nicer than the one he had in Yakima for 30 years!
He did take a few days last week to go pheasant hunting in eastern Montana with Dusty Rosenthal, Mike Schell, Bob Graff, and some other friends from Yakima. And he did go fishing for half a day last summer. Deer and elk season starts this weekend, so he has to be "extra wicked" now to get his work done before that!
