11/1/99 Still rainy and windy and cool this morning. Fall is hanging on a bit, with muted colors blended together and swaying in the breeze. It rained 1.5 inches total during the night - exactly what we needed! The wind topped out at 40mph.,

By the end of the day it finally cleared off, and everything was beginning to dry out. It has amazed me how well the forest has held up with all the lack of rain. Things should be just fine now, until late next summer.

It was dark but lots of stars out when we returned after a day of work in town. No moon in sight. The temp was beginning to drop.

Danny Hale from Russellville sent along an e-mailed photo of Aspen, but I was unable to download it through my CompuServe account. I will try to get him to send it again to another address, and will post it when it comes through. Someone remarked that Aspen won't be a puppy much longer, and that I had better get a picture posted. Very true. He has already doubled in size, and is more of a high-schooler now than a puppy.

11/2/99 A bit chilly this morning, and bright sunshine. Most of the color in the trees is gone now, faded away and washed into the earth until next fall.

Today was a gravel day. And time for me to learn how to drive a tractor. I had four loads of creekbed gravel delivered throughout the day to the new office site. And once I got Bob's tractor running and figured out how to work everything, I spent the day spreading the gravel out. It was a lot of fun - kind of like a big toy. Now I know why so many guys are farmers.

The first time that I started up the tractor and took off with it, Aspen just stood there, and never came after me. I guess that was good. When I returned an hour later, there he was, playing in the yard with something. But he came a running when he saw me. Good dog.

The wind howled all day, pushing the wind chill down to 14 degrees. I had several layers on, including a goretex jacket. Aspen seemed to do just fine.

It was dark when the last load of gravel arrived, and I spent thirty minutes trying to get it spread out in the dark. OK, the building site is finally ready for some lumber and nails.

The temp dropped quickly after the sun went down, and so I built up a big fire in the fireplace, and ate a big bowl of beans and rice and washed it down with a dark beer.

11/3/99 A spectacular sunrise today, thanks to a thin layer of clouds that lit up bright orange and red. Looked a lot like the forest did last week. Most of the trees are brown now. I don't know if that special day of falling leaves will happen this year or not. There were a couple of miniatures leaf falls, but not like it usually is. There are still about 25% leaves on the trees, so I guess they could all turn loose and create some magic.

The temp in town and in some other places nearby dipped down into the 20's, but it only got down to 38 at Cloudland. The weather seems to be a bit milder here than elsewhere.

Another early drive into town for work, then back to the cabin by 3pm. The lumber yard was supposed to deliver my boards this afternoon. I waited. Aspen played. I waited some more. Aspen waited too. No truck. It got dark. Still no truck. No answer at the lumber yard. I also called the truss people to check on the progress of my trusses, and they said it would be next week before they got them finished. Sometimes I am very organized. Like with this building project. I have it nailed down to the hour and stick and nail (well, there are a few extra sticks and nails, but it is very close). All of the equipment is either rented, bought or borrowed, and help is on the way, just the right number of people for the misc. jobs. I was promised lumber today and trusses on Friday. The entire schedule revolves around those two things being here on time. It never ceases to amaze me how incompetent many businesses are. How do they stay in business? I could not do business that way, not because I would lose customers, but because it is wrong to do business that way. OK, off of my high horse. I'm sure everything will work out one way or another - at least I expect it to after all of the yelling and screaming that I am going to do tomorrow!

11/4/99 What can I say - it worked. The load of lumber was here bright and early, and Scott and I jumped right into building walls for the new office. Then Hete arrived, and by the end of the day, we had three very long and tall walls erected. Most walls are eight feet tall, but I like tall ones, so these are ten feet tall.

Scott brought out a batch of BBQ ribs for dinner. I don't eat ribs much, but I must say, that since I have a puppy now, I plan to eat BBQ ribs here at least every week or two. Just for Aspen, of course - so that he can chew on the bones. And since I don't want him to get fat, I will clean off all that BBQ meat before he gets the bones.

11/5/99 I got up at 4 am and headed for town, with Aspen in the back chewing on a rib bone. Had to get to Lowe's to buy a new .22 hammer that we wore out, plus get a longer auger bit. We have been pre-drilling the wall studs for the wiring, which is a lot easier than drilling them after the studs are in place. I was back to work by 7:30, and found Scott already at work.

It took us most of the day, but Scott and I finally got the longest and heaviest wall built and up in place, plus the one interior wall that will separate the office and warehouse. Hete joined us later in the afternoon. It was great to see those walls standing. The office was finally beginning to take shape, after having been just a vision in my head for a couple of months.

Oh yea, and the trusses arrived around noon. The truss company down in Clarksville decided to put my order ahead of another one so that I could get them in time for my weekend work crew. I was relieved, and very thankful, to see them.

11/6/99 A crowd began to gather. The usual suspects - Roy and Norma, Hete, Bob and Dawna, plus Patsy Cox (the mayor of Greenland) and Janet Keck. Everyone pitched in and helped out. The first order of business was to tear out and replace five headers that I built wrong. Hey, I'm not a builder! Then we got started on the trusses.

It must have taken us three hours to get that first truss in place. Of course, that first truss was located at the BOTTOM of the pile of trusses, so we had to move every one before we could get started. The next truss only took us two hours, and they got easier as the day wore on.

As darkness fell, we were all very worn out and ready for a change. Good thing it was Hete's birthday party! The food and drink came out in large numbers, plus a few additional guests arrived, including The Wildman and Mary, and Mary (without Luke, who had to work all day).

The feast lasted long into the night, with Hete passing out B52's on the last go around (and the next, and the next). A B52 is a drink, but also the age Hete was celebrating.

The party ended up down in the basement, watching and Eagles concert and "The Edge." I was beat, and slipped off to bed around midnight. There were a couple of women calling up to me later from down there, but I suspect they only needed the channel changed.

11/7/99 Another early day. I have been working from daylight to dark or later every day on this building project. I have to get the roof on before it rains. A large crew began the day with me, but it quickly dwindled as folks returned to town.

One highlight of the weekend was when Aspen took off with my hat covering his head. He couldn't see a thing, yet he kept wandering around through the woods anyway. And we all stopped and watched, bent over double with laughter. No one could figure out why, but he never ran into a single tree, although he did pass close by several. But he did manage to run right smack into a pile of blue foam sheets, but he just bounced off and continued on his way. I finally sent Dawna after my hat, but it took her a few minutes to catch him. Good dog.

Aspen took every advantage all weekend to swipe shoes and gloves and run off with them. Good thing everyone was a dog person.

Our goal for today was to get all of the trusses up before Terry Fredrick showed up. He knows a lot about all of this, and we were anxious for him to tell us how we should have been doing it. Quite literally we just got the last one on as he was driving up.

Bob Robinson and I had mostly been running the show, mainly because we had spent more time driving past construction sites, looking at how things were done. I guess that qualified us as foreman. Hey, the structure hadn't toppled over yet, so I figured we had done a pretty good job.

Terry helped out a lot, mainly having us add braces everywhere. I had ordered about 50 extra 2 x 4's, which didn't last long.

Next we started working on the lean-to car port. Most everyone that I had talked to about this project had said that my design would not look very good, and that I should built it this or that way - all complicated. I wanted a design that I could build myself if I had to, and one that didn't require professionals to roof, since I had not been able to find anyone to help me, or for me to hire to do this project. Once we got the main boards for the carport on, I was relived to see that it looked just fine. People always want to over design things, especially buildings. This eighteen-foot wide cover will allow the UPS trucks to pull in and load up boxes of books in the driving rain without getting any boxes wet.

By dark we had the main structure pretty much completed, and everyone went home. I was tired, no exhausted, and went to bed just after 8pm.

11/8/99 First light found me back at the construction site. I had all the frames and trusses up, but no roof. My main goal for the week was to get the roof decked and covered with felt before it rained. I spent most of the day just getting the roof ready for the deck boards (4 x 8 sheets of plywood). Come to think of it, I got the last little thing done about twenty minutes after dark.

Much to my surprise, I discovered that I had to give a program in Bella Vista in the middle of the day tomorrow. I really needed to be out here working on the roof, but duty calls. I figure that I'll have three good days to get the decking done before I have to leave again, and before it rains. The most difficult part will be getting the 80 or so plywood sheets up onto the roof - it is 14 feet off of the ground. It is really a two person job, and I am hoping for some help later in the week.

It is nice to see the office structure standing there in the woods. I think the location is right, and the design, which is a very functional one. This will be the first major structure that I have ever designed and built myself (with non-professional help), except for the concrete pad - not ready for that type of work!

The forest has pretty much lost all color now, even though quite a few trees still have their leaves on. The wilderness is taking on this grey-brown winter color, which is pleasant to the eye. And the bluff over on Beagle Point is showing up more and more each day. I am still expecting a day when the leaves come down.

11/9-15/99 As I was about to leave for town on the morning of the 9th, the phone rang. Glad I answered. It was Billy Woods, and he didn't have anything to do the rest of the week. I've been trying to get Billy to help build the new building for a couple of months, but he has been too busy with other work. I told him to come on and get started.

He did. And in fact spent the rest of the week working on the building project, and got all of the roof decked and felt put on (no rain at all), the foam and masonite siding on the outside, plus the ceiling and wall covering up in the warehouse room. Man, what a relief! His brother, Kenny, worked with him most of the time.

I spent the week supervising, and getting most of the wiring done inside. It was hot, dry and dusty. And then early Friday morning, I loaded up the long steel roof panels in town and delivered them to the job site. Things were finally taking shape.

Aspen had a fun day on Wednesday. Billy brought his dog along, and Aspen spent the entire day chasing him around. Billy's dog is about twice the size of Aspen, and was a really good sport about it all. Both were pretty tuckered out by the end of the day.

When I returned to the cabin late one night from town, two interesting things were going on in the headlights. First, there were skunks everywhere. Sometimes I would see three or four in a row, within a few hundred yards of each other.

And the other thing was that leaf fall finally happened. The wind was blowing, and the air was filled with leaves. I didn't notice it so much out on the highway, but when I turned onto the dirt road, there were blowing leaves everywhere. And sure enough, the next morning only bare trees were visible. This is one of the highlights of fall that I look forward to every year, but it wasn't to be this year. Just have to wait until next fall.

The inside walls of the warehouse part of the new building is now covered with sheets of waferboard, which I happen to like. They are also quick and cheap to put up. The ceiling is covered with 1 1/2 inch thick sheets of blue foam. Also quick and dirty (it comes in a length of 21' 3", and the room is 21' wide), plus I won't have to insulate up in the attic.

It was kind of fun doing all of the wiring. I got to visualize exactly where all of the furniture will go, and where the best places for outlets would be. You never have enough of them, or in the right places. Now I will have plenty, and right where I need them.

I had to drive down to Dallas (actually McKinney) early Saturday morning to give a program to a camera club there, then returned home later that day. It was Sunday morning before I made it back out to the cabin. Deer season was in full swing, so the Woods clan didn't work over the weekend. Since it was so hot and dry I don't think there were many hunters in the woods, or at least many successful ones.

I got a lot of calls during the week from concerned hikers saying that the Forest Service was advising them to stay out of the woods during deer season. I always tell them to go ahead and hike, just like I do. I hoped the hikers outnumbered the hunters this weekend. It was terrific hiking weather, although a bit hot and VERY dry!

Billy and Kenny and Danny Woods all showed up Monday morning, and along with Benny and Clyde (who were staying at Bob's cabin and hunting), we got the roof done by 3pm. YEA!

When I first made up the design for my cabin, I got a lot of criticism from folks because I wanted to put on a metal roof. And a blue metal one at that. Blue is a very earthy color to me (just look up), and I wanted metal for fire protection and longevity. "Oh that cost so much" everyone told me. Well, not nearly three years later, lots and lots of folks around here are putting up - PAINTED METAL ROOFS! They have discovered that they not only look good, are easy to put up, but are actually much CHEAPER than traditional roofs (you don't have to replace them).

The new office has a blue metal roof.

Aspen continues to hunt bugs and dried out toads, and chew up everything in sight, but he seems to be having less chew cycles all the time. And brother, when he gets out in the open woods, he takes off like a cannon. I love to see him run through the forest, leaping and twisting all over and having a great time.

The land is not doing so well. We need rain. Everything is dusty again, and the earth is beginning to crack. There is still lots of water down in the river that you can see from my deck, but it is mostly standing and not running like it normally would be doing at this time of the year. I couldn't have asked for better weather for my construction, but now I am ready for it to rain, for at least a week or two.

Tomorrow Billy and company will spray paint the outside of the office, and do other necessary construction. And I will bring out the first pallet of books from the storage facility in Springdale. The warehouse room is finished, except for the door, which is on order and won't be here until next week. No windows yet either, which is OK, because we need to get the outside painted first anyway.

Next on the building schedule is to put up aspen boards in the office - that will be a bit of a chore, but is something that I can do myself just fine. If Billy and Kenny continue to lurk around, I may let them do some of it. Although I will mostly be hauling out pallets of books this week (I need to bring out a trailer load of aspen from the lumber yard in Rogers before we can get started on that project). Then I will put up the same blue foam ceiling, and finally commercial carpet on the floor, and then I can move all of the office furniture in and open for business. That will probably happen next week, depending on the carpet schedule.

I am sitting here writing this just after sunset. The southern horizon out the window is glowing orange. The skeletons of trees are silhouetted against all the orange. And bats are flying around - yep, BATS. The temp hasn't fallen below 35 here yet this year, so still lots of bugs for them to eat. It is calm. On fact, with the exception of the leaf fall night, I don't believe the wind has blown hardly at all this past week. We need a good hurricane down in the gulf to blow up and send some moisture our way.

There have been three or four deer harvested here in the past couple of days, but nothing like last year. The deer are mostly holed up down low near water. I haven't seen many in the past couple of months.

PLEASE NOTE: My Compuserve e-mail address is no longer valid. For any of you who write, either do so directly from this web page, or file one of the following in your address book: TErnst@ArkansasUSA.com or TimErnst@TimErnst.com

11/25/99 HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM CLOUDLAND TO EVERYONE (and especially to those in other countries who don't have a holiday today). It is cold and dark and grey this morning, but there is a feeling of thanksgiving here. Thanks for being here in the first place, for the fact that the office is mostly complete now, and because Aspen got up and went outside on his own this morning as I slept in - a first for him.

We have had a hectic construction and moving schedule this past week or so, from daylight to late night every day, and no time to write in the journal. There have been a few glitches, but mostly things have gone as planned. We put down the carpet in the office yesterday. Tomorrow, we will move my office from town to the new digs. All that is left is the trim work outside and in, and for me to build a small deck at the front door.

I decided that the new office would be seeing so much of Aspen that I put waferboard on the walls instead of aspen boards. Most of the walls will be covered up anyway with cabinets and such, so all of that lovely aspen wood would have been wasted. Besides, the waferboard is a much better use of our trees - they are made of scraps. And it was a thousand bucks cheaper!

Billy and Kenny and sometimes Danny have been helping out in between hunts. And Billy's wife Mary brought by the most wonderful chocolate chip cookies one day. I ate seven or ten of them. They will finish up in the next couple of days, and go back to their regular jobs, whatever that is. I had planned to do most of what they have been doing myself. With a couple of exceptions, I would have made out just fine, although it has been a tremendous help to have them do it instead of me. And I know the job has been done a lot better too. It may have been Christmas before I could have gotten everything done myself.

Aspen has been having a big time. And he has been getting into trouble a lot. He loves gloves, and is ever watchful for one that is laid down - it immediately gets swiped and hauled off and buried in the woods. We took off one night and went on a moonlit hike around the loop trail. Hadn't been on it in a couple of weeks. Aspen remembered the way, and had not trouble finding the path, even though it was covered up with several inches of leaves.

It has been mild and very windy. And the night before the windows and doors arrived there was a big storm that rolled through. The wind blew well up over 40mph, with a hard rain - 1.5 inches total, which we really needed!

Every window in the cabin has a great view. While I was sitting in one of the smaller rooms looking out the window, a GIANT bird drifted by just over the treetops. It was the first bald eagle of the season. He was immature - all black with a few feathers off color - but really large.

No leaves on the trees now. Everything is brown and grey. The bluff over on Beagle Point is all exposed, as is that same bluff throughout the entire wilderness. Lots of birds out. And yesterday Aspen chased a goldfinch through the brush. I love to take Aspen rambling through the open forest - he just simply LOVES to run and jump and play and thrash around in the woods. I think he is living in a great place for him. And once all of this construction is over with, I will be able to spend more time out there with him. I like to run and jump and play and thrash around in the woods too.

That is about it from Cloudland. We are both safe and warm and snug and headed out into he forest for a morning ramble before going into town for a turkey feast. We hope that you are all in similar situations today. The next post will be from the new office.

11/26-30/99 Moving day was a very long one, but after lifting and moving about eight tons of stuff, we finally got most of me moved to the new office. It took a large U-Haul truck, and two trailers. The furniture fit well into the new room, and is going to work out great. Aspen stole a few more gloves, got yelled at a lot, but generally had a good time.

On the last day of the month, I built the front deck while Billy and Kenny put up trim inside the office. And just before the deck was finished, the very first UPS truck showed up. He didn't make it all the way to the office because of all the construction junk around, but we made connection anyway. A large part of the building design and placement was done solely for the UPS truck, although the driver did not seem to be too impressed. I don't think he really wants to come this far out to pick up packages. Oh well, that is what I am paying them for.

So now the office is pretty much complete, and most everything is moved in and set up. November was a good month to build, and things have gone well with the construction. It is still very dry and dusty in the forest, and the rains now have my permission to come on down.

My business is now called CLOUDLAND.NET, and here is the address and stuff:

HC 33, Box 50-A Pettigrew, AR 72752 Voice: 870-861-5536 Fax: 870-861-5736 Book Orders: 800-838-HIKE E-mail: TimErnst@TimErnst.com Web page: www.Cloudland.net OHTA page: http://wilderness.arkansasusa.com/ohta

December 1999 Journal