Who's There?

Having fallen asleep in the chair (again), it was a little unnerving to wake to small sounds out on the deck and tapping at the windows in the dark.  Feeling much like the narrator in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" (1845), I wondered who or what was out there.  The cats were on high alert, so it wasn't my imagination.  Then I realized that a light rain was falling.  Of course!  The rain beetles were back above ground.  The rains of the past week or so were too hard to bring out these funny, bumbling, flying tanks.  I'm sure I'll find some on the porch this morning.

Poor Mike.  This has turned out to be one of those jobs where nothing goes right.  The damage to the girders was much greater than he'd thought, creating a lot more hard work and time, but it had to be done.  Now that he's laying the surface boards, he's finding that the amateurs who built the deck were very casual about 90-degree angles and it's driving Mike to distraction.  He's a perfectionist and wants everything "right."  I had to go to Mr. Aukum yesterday and asked if he needed anything.  "Yes, I need, oh, about twenty pounds of screws," and he handed me an example.  "They have to be just like this, with this kind of head, three inches long, and gold colored."  Sample in hand, Michael and I went to his favorite store.  Turns out Mt. Aukum has screws, but they weren't gold colored.  Since Mike had been so specific, I didn't get any.  I explained why when we got home.  "That's good because you would have noticed if the screws didn't match and I wouldn't have used them."  (Don't tell Mike, but I don't think I've ever really looked at a screw once it's in place.)

Even the weather has been against Mike.  Fierce wind and rain have caused delays.  He caught a break yesterday with warm sun and no wind at all.  He was back to working shirtless (he's recently moved here from Montana and thinks our sunny winter days are heavenly...when we get one).

Michael got a double treat, a ride to Mt. Aukum and another to take the trash down to the road.  Michael thought it was a good day.