Over the weekend we officially made our first trip up to the Haven this year. As usual, it was great to be up there, and we actually covered a pretty good percentage of the property just wandering around before settling in for some good old fashioned playing in the sand. We didn’t see any animals this time, but we saw lots and lots of evidence; mostly poop (fur-filled or otherwise), and lots of very clear tracks. We saw some deer tracks, something that was either a giant turkey or a velociraptor, and some sort of clawed monster, possibly a werewolf.

I certainly was happy we went up there. However, there were actually quite a few problems (in addition to the velociraptor/werewolf infestation).

The main thing was that a significant amount of the property was under water. I know that we’ve received a lot of rain lately, and it’s not crazy to think this was the five year (or more) high water mark. Still, it’s somewhat of a bummer to think of dealing with all that water hanging around on your property. We saw evidence that water stands in some of the sandy areas, but we never really saw that at all last year. Is that more typical, or was that because last year was especially dry, and this is actually the normal case?

Most disappointing of all was that all of the raspberries we planted last year were totally underwater. We’re talking a mini-pond, at least a foot deep. The water had obviously been there for quite some time and didn’t seem to be going anywhere soon. We shall see, but I think it’s likely that none of them will survive. Not only will we lose all of our raspberries, but we also lost our “excellent garden spot” since there’s no way we can plant anything else there now.

On the other hand, we did get a little justification as far as building sites go. The area we had tentatively selected as a potential build site was basically the only possible spot that was not underwater. So it looks like we chose correctly, and I think we can officially declare that to be the Official Location now. So that does feel pretty good.

I don’t remember any tremendous storms coming through recently, but there were several major trees down. I’m talking enormous old pines, like house-crushing size. It seems to me it must have been some storm to take them out. Obviously something out of the ordinary, since we haven’t seen hardly any other trees down. I guess the silver lining is that we have plenty of trees to chop for firewood now.

Actually though, I’m not sure we’ll get to them! Between needing to clear out some higher ground for a new garden location, knowing where we need to start clearing out for potential future cabin building, and wanting to get started on clearing for a driveway, we have lots and lots (and lots!) of trees to chop down this year. Right now it seems like almost an infinite amount. We’ve got our work cut out for us (unfortunately, not literally…we have to do all the cutting).

Most unsettling of all was that someone has set up an *extremely* permanent looking tree stand that is clearly on our property. This is a fully built platform, with a permanent ladder attached, everything shiny and new. I have heard story after story about people who have fights with neighbors over tree stands, and I was really hoping to avoid this. This thing is big, heavy, and bolted in, so I can’t exactly just climb up and take it down. On one hand, it’s not too far from the property line and I don’t really mind right now if people are hunting there AS LONG AS THEY HAVE PERMISSION. That’s why we specifically chose no trespassing signs that said hunting was only allowed with permission, to indicate that we are open to it. Now I feel like this is some sort of test, to see if we would notice or complain, and if we don’t, then we’re push overs and everything is fair game. I hope that I’m wrong about that, but in the meantime, I’m not sure what to do. Of course, all of this is compounded by the fact that most of our no trespassing signs are down, but I believe there were several still up close to the new tree stand.

Still deciding what to do about that one. I would like to minimize the stress in my life. Which potential path will ultimately lead to less stress?