What you missed

If you were one of the unlucky many who were not able to join the hardy Loonatics for last weekend's construction festivities, you're certainly stricken with remorse.  You are also, no doubt, well aware that these pages would never display text and images to create envy or engender a feeling of lonely absence, so here is a blog that will allow you to feel that tiny bit of joy that comes from knowing you were almost part of the camaraderie.

Up on one of the hills on the way in.
Cows live here.

I don't believe they appreciate the beauty around them.
Perhaps they only see the color green.

Looking down toward the Mohawk River Valley.

Up here, cows have the right-of-way.

Finally at the camp, the foliage is definitely past peak.
We Loonatics can identify with that.

Dock Doc and Chowdahead relax in the spacious office/workshop over the garage.
One never fully appreciates a space heater until that is the only way to heat a space.

Homefries set up camp between the trees.
In his hammock, he is prepared for any weather.
He prefers the outdoors to the comfort of others snoring in warm spaces.

One of the jobs for the weekend was to convert the previously named "Warm Room"
to suit its new name as the "Plywood Palace."
Incredible how fast these guys worked.
The camera could not freeze the action,
but later on, the weather did.

Plain to see what's going on here.

"We need a plane," announced Dock Doc.
"I don't have one," replied Gimp 1.
"Yes you do.  It's on the stairway landing."
"Oh yeah, that is a plane.  But I never ever would have thought of it.  To me, it's only an antique, since it was my Father's Father's tool."

Hard at work with the antique.
It worked, but we eventually just trimmed with the circular saw.
Note Homefries in the background, removing the nails from the crazywood.

The fruits of Homefries' labors.
The harvested crazywood awaits its next application.

Why call it crazywood?  Because it was made with finished-lumber boards that were skived BY HAND with a chisel to look like barn wood of some sort.  Then a dark stain was applied, and over that, a semi-gloss finish that makes the entire thing look like plastic.  It always took a great deal of effort to convince people that the false beams created with crazywood were actually not applications of prefab plastic.  

As it looked in place.  Note the different technique around the knots.
Crazy!

If you have any experience at all with using a hand chisel, you know that this took an incredible amount of time and effort.  And what you see above is a small fraction of the total crazywood throughout the former camp, God rest its plumbing.

The remains of the trees that no longer ring the camp structure that is no longer there.
The big one is from the hemlock that was just in the wrong place.
If it could have been spared, it would have, but it makes no sense to rebuild
with a huge tree poised to crush the new construction.

The tree began its life when Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox. 

What's this October surprise?

Must be a flock of white birds...

Or perhaps a meteor shower.
Thank goodness the garage has a metal roof!

Or maybe it's coagulated fog...

Or disintegrating flower petals.

But it sure makes you want to go for a paddle, eh?

Perhaps we'll paddle a little later.
In case you're wondering, what's under the hat is
the helmet liner that Mom's Dad brought home from WWII.

Yeah, that's it.
We'll paddle after the Dippin Dots disappear.

But they never disappeared, so paddling will have to wait for another day.

Dock Doc prepares dinner while Chowdahead provides verbal support.
Only the upstairs of the garage is warm.

But the unheated portion of the garage was much warmer than outside.

And speaking of unheated,
a lack of plumbing dictates that
every pioneer needs a shovel...

...and good grooming habits.

But enough about the nitty gritty.  It's always beautiful in the woods, no matter what the temperature may be.

It's beautiful when 
the white pines release old needles to float in waves upon the waters.

And the snow almost covers the vibrant leaves.

And just before it disappears, the last flower brightens the day.

And the same old view is beautiful again in a different way.

Even if the camp is no longer there 

All done!
Time to put the top down and drive home!