Samain                                                          Closing Moon

Coming home a day early. Sears Outlet, which I love for its prices, does not get the same affection for its service. We ordered a washer and dryer a couple of weeks ago, both to be delivered today. This was online.

When nothing appeared about the washer in our e-mail, Kate called. Oh, the store had cancelled that order. Huh? Today, November 4th, the day promised on the website I had received no call from Sears about delivery times. Another call. Oh, the store hasn’t shipped that yet. OK. Cancel the dryer. We’ll take care of these when we can look someone in the eye.

Aside from a few phone calls, that was my last reason for staying. With it removed, I’m on the road for my second home. Today.

Samain                                            Closing Moon

Body on Central Daylight Time so I’m up with the stars still brilliant. The night sky here, with very little light pollution, is an amenity itself. The Milky Way shows off its galaxy collection and the constellations look like they were placed and lit with the aid of a teaching astronomer.

With the fence contracted this trip feels like a success. Yes, there have been other things accomplished, but without a fence completed before we move the remainder of the winter would have been difficult. Not pioneer, huddle around the peat stove difficult, but doggy difficult.

One anomaly will present itself to any visitor here. Though we are in the mountains, we are in a small neighborhood with folks closer on either side than at our Andover home. At 67 neighbors are good. So is highway 78, which runs in front of our home here. It’s a main thoroughfare (although between sparsely populated areas) and as a result receives full county snow removal.

Though we’re not off completely by ourselves, the neighbors are keep to themselves types, probably NRA friendly, but that’s the environment politically in Anoka County, too. Conifer and Evergreen as a whole though seem to lean more liberal, at least judging by the ever reliable bumper sticker survey.

Just went out on the balcony a moment ago and discovered my old buddy Orion rising off to the west. Which seemed wrong to me, at least to my sense of direction, so I went inside to recheck our orientation with my backcountry navigator app. It was my sense of where Orion ought to be that was off. He is in the west.

I can already feel my mind returning to its normal level of curiosity. With the house purchased and the fence contractor identified, the unknowns that remain are exciting. Finding the Maxwell waterfall trailhead, which is only a couple of miles from here. Visiting the national forest information center just off 285. Driving more of the roads around here.

Though we have neighbors and a main road, we are otherwise isolated with national forest, state and city and county parks all around us. It will be the natural world here that will take the place of the Twin Cities’ cultural scene.

There are yet a few more matters to do today: get the dryer installed, call firewood folk, call boiler guy, call Intermountain electric for locate service, pack for trip home.

I’ll be coming down the mountain Wednesday morning, headed for Minnesota.