Spring Forward...

Up here in the frozen tundra we look forward with breathless anticipation to the first signs of spring.


The past few days have been a welcome relief with temps running in the mid-forties (a tropical heat wave). We have also noticed that Elsie has been very busy working on some new holes in the “dogyard” and she has been adding to her rock collection. We have been finding these small muddy rocks in various places on the carpet. Elsie is supposed to be an Aussi-Poo, but I think that there may be some groundhog , or gopher in her bloodlines…there is nothing she likes better than to dig.



What is supposed to be the driveway in the front of our trailer has become a huge sink hole…I christened it “Thief River Swamp” and I have been checking around on how much it would cost to lay about a four inch deep base of gravel. I was told not to even think about it until the ground dries out some or the gravel will just disintegrate into the “Swamp”. Depending on who I talk to…to cover an eight foot by twelve foot area with about four inches of gravel will run somewhere between $600 and $700. Now I wouldn’t mind making the investment if we owned the lot…but it is a rental. And we were notified that they are going to buy our trailer out within the next two years because our lot will go away and be folded into a road-widening project. I guess I might just have someone dump a couple of truckloads of dirt in and see if that helps at all.


Other than that it has really been pretty quiet…our excitement revolves around our next clinic appointment, taking Elsie to the Vet, and our almost daily trek to WALLYWORLD…I can hardly contain myself with anticipation…I have a “fasting blood draw”, an appointment with my primary physician, and a protine test all in the same day…Wow! Then there is the upcoming colonoscopy…not so much gleeful anticipation there , and a CT Scan of my pulmonary system in Fargo. Sarah has a laparoscopic esophageal surgery coming up shortly…and that is what happens in the life of us old farts in Thief River Falls.


…there will be more next time…