#37 The animals are coming

Greetings!

Not much happened over the weekend. On Sunday, I wanted to discuss something with David and then go on a quad ride to a lake nearby. However, just before our appointed time, David took Trooper for a walk again, and this walk was quite long, so I waited for him in the living room for an hour. During that time, I flipped through a book about the birds of B.C., and without kidding, I found out that there are pelicans here (that will be important later). This book always had a picture of the described bird on the left page and a kind of profile on the right page. The book covers over 400 pages, so there are over 200 different bird species in British Columbia alone. That's a lot in my eyes. Unfortunately, the weather changed during all the waiting. In the morning, it was still sunny and warm, but in the afternoon, it became quite windy and cold, so I decided not to go to the lake. And I can only say: Luckily! Because on Monday morning, Jenny told me that a grizzly bear was seen on the other side of the lake. I'm honest, since the short spring we had here, I've been observing the other side of the lake more often in the hope of seeing a bear there. It's clear that they have woken up from hibernation...but they also need a little time to come down from the mountains. So the bears have now arrived here with us. However, not only on the other side of the lake. David also found bear droppings about 5 minutes away from here. It is said to be a large, adult male grizzly bear. By the way, adult grizzly bears are the only bears that cannot climb trees. Now, when I go for a walk, I'll probably have to orient myself to trees that I can climb. 😁 No, of course not. I would never take the risk that he's not heavy enough afterwards and can still climb. Oops 😅 And before you think: Shit! Bears! They are the definition of danger. No, do you know what you should be more afraid of right now? Moose! Sounds stupid, but it's true. Well, but now of course we go for a walk with increased safety, and yes, I also have an air horn and bear spray with me. Bear spray is a kind of pepper spray for large animals.

Otherwise, the construction site continued quite normally after the group left. We have now erected all the walls, and I believe that the final size of the new building has hopefully been reached. During work, I can now watch the eagles again and again. As a loyal Lord of the Rings fan, the post should actually be called "The Eagles are coming," but it's not only the eagles that have arrived here by now. One day I saw six bald eagles circling over the lake. Simply beautiful animals. Once there was a golden eagle sitting on a rock in the lake and on the left and right of it were two bald eagles, that was also a very cool scene.

On Wednesday, I had to move from my cabin to the "Ghost Room" for one night as we were fully booked. But before I tell you who all came by, something happened in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday. Our gasoline was stolen. Like everyone else living in the middle of nowhere, we have our own "gas station," which I mentioned a few months ago. During the night, some people must have come, and they siphoned off the gasoline from the tank and from the Jeep. It must have been around four o'clock in the morning, because Jenny and David were there wondering why the dogs were restless. I must have had a really good sleep because I didn't notice anything at all, and I feel like I'm sleeping right next to the "gas station." 😅

But now, why we were fully booked. On the one hand, since Wednesday, there has been a man here who booked a cabin as a guest, and on the other hand, a group was supposed to arrive who come every year. They release new fish in the area and then stay here because no one wants to drive eight to ten hours home after a long day of work. So I cleaned the cabins and started the fire. The group was supposed to arrive around 9 p.m. So David, Jenny, and I waited with freshly cooked dinner for our guests. It was 9:15 p.m.... 9:30 p.m..... 9:45 p.m.....we waited and waited, and no one came. We were very surprised, especially since the group is usually very punctual. The problem is also that there is no reception here, so you can't just call quickly. Jenny had already gone to bed because it was getting really late. It got so late that I didn't believe anymore that the group would even come, and just as I was about to brush my teeth, David received a call that the group would be there in a few minutes. So I quickly checked all the cabins again and relit the fire that had gone out by then. The night was cloudless, and there was a phenomenal sky to see, and just as I was taking a photo of it, I suddenly heard a noise...it sounded like a huge machine was clearing the whole forest, and then suddenly, huge headlights appeared. No kidding, I thought maybe this group is coming with a truck in which the fish eggs or whatever are located, and maybe also a small car with the group inside, but no, there were simply four big and very loud trucks that seemed to wake up the entire area. When did the group actually arrive? At half past eleven! 🙃 That meant we had to pretend not to be tired and serve food and drinks at midnight. Luckily, the group was also tired, so after we covered and cleaned everything, David and I could go to bed just before one o'clock. But it was a really short night because around a quarter to seven, the alarm clock rang to prepare breakfast. As the group gradually arrived, I saw something walking on the lake, and I could actually show the people coyotes. They can be seen almost every day now. This is most likely due to all the wild geese and ducks that are now nesting on the small islands in the lake, and the coyotes try to chase them or eat their eggs.

But in this group, I fell back completely into my shyness. I had developed so well during the workshops when it comes to talking to strangers, but in this group, nothing worked. The conversations ended after a few sentences, and we sat silently across from each other. Even if that doesn't sound like a big deal to you, it really occupied me all day because I kept thinking to myself: I will never see these people again, so just talk, because you learn from mistakes, and talking is the best practice to learn English, but this fear of speaking incorrectly and my shyness have created such a mental blockade that I was just too stupid for it. This is definitely something I still want to work on.

Otherwise, the construction site continued normally after the group left. This week, we were only somewhat restricted in using noisy tools (e.g., the saw). Without naming exact reasons, the guest who is here for several days (leaving on Sunday, which is today for you) wants absolute quiet, and of course, we abide by that. The customer is king, and all that. But there are enough other things that could be done here. Once again, I laid the final floor in a room, and it's really good, in one spot you can see the floor of the lower level between the boards. I also thought to myself: Here, work was definitely done without any gaps 😂

On Friday, something happened where I was slightly (positively) freaked out. I had just had breakfast and wanted to go feed the horses when I saw a relatively large group of white birds on the lake. I thought to myself: Since when are swans here? So I took the binoculars and couldn't believe it. There was simply a group of pelicans sitting there! I was incredibly excited because I never thought I would see pelicans here. The only downside was that I had to give up the camera since David wanted to photograph the pelicans, and "my" camera is best suited for bird photography. So unfortunately, I could only use the well-known tactic - cellphone + binoculars. 😅 I hope I can show you a photo of the pelicans next week, David hasn't been able to send me one of his pictures yet. But it's fascinating, especially when they fly over you. They're so big! So that was really cool! What was also pretty cool: When David and I were standing by the lake, I heard this rumbling sound all the time, as if trucks were driving on the other side of the mountain. David explained to me that it was the ice "working" through the melting process. It sounds quite impressive when you hear this deep humming, rumbling, and cracking over the entire surface of the lake.

By the way, Friday was the only day of the week when the sun was shining. The weather this week was once again a dream. It started snowing on Sunday, so on Monday, we had some snow, but it didn't stay long. The rest of the days were cold and wet, and we hovered around zero degrees Celsius most of the time. But not on Friday, suddenly it was almost 15 °C in the shade, so we had over 20 °C in the sun. Unfortunately, this fantastic weather only lasted a few hours because the wind strengthened in the afternoon, and since then, the weather has been lousy again, and you really don't want to leave your bed.

But on Friday, I also once again proved that Jenny and David really can't work together on the construction site. 😅 I always feel bad when I occasionally answer Jenny a little more energetically, but with those two, you can just stand beside them and eat popcorn because they always get into a proper argument. 😂 Oh, and Jenny and I: I think my recent "reminders" have had some effect. This becomes particularly clear when Jenny also apologizes to me now if she doesn't listen to me at all or completely ignores me.

Nothing exciting happened today, Saturday, except that I finally managed to take a photo of the blue bird, but unfortunately only with my cellphone. I have now returned the camera because David wants to photograph the birds here since they are nesting everywhere. We have three different woodpecker species alone, and one woodpecker always hammers against my wall. Always a short shock, but he wants to impress the females with it.

In a few weeks, the hummingbirds should also arrive. I am still amazed that there are hummingbirds here, but well, to be honest, the wildlife here fascinates me again and again, and I am always surprised how diverse it is.

Today (April 22) is also "Happy Earth Day," which is supposed to evoke appreciation for our planet and make us think about our own consumption behavior. And honestly, I fall in love with this incredibly beautiful nature here every day. We only have this planet, so let's protect it together! 🌎

Until then.

Samuel ✌🏽

P.S. I wish all students of this year's graduating class maximum success in the Abitur exams, so that Sachsen-Anhalt doesn't become like NRW. 🍀

But I also wish all teachers maximum endurance and strength in correcting the Abitur exams! 🍷