Strike up the band!

Leetonia Band

It is hard to believe Leetonia once had a band. But in the early 1900's they made music in  Leetonia. Now the only music that is heard is the sound of the stream bubbling downstream or roaring in a storm. This time of year a new sound is heard the sound of snowmobiles buzzing  through the woods. We have had barely enough snow to cover the ground but those who had a long weekend pushed their machines to the limit today just to get out and about. If you have a snow-cooled machine or don't like the sound of gravel, I would avoid riding until we get some more snow. The road is still passable coming up from Cedar Run, but it can change in an instant if we get the rain we are supposed to get tomorrow. I noticed some hardy folks from the Ruins camp were up and it was a below zero night last night so I am sure they kept the wood burner fed. Seems like on days when the nights are cold it takes most the day for the house to start feeling warm again then we go to bed. One good thing the days are now getting longer minute by minute each day there is a bit more sun and that always helps my attitude. I am not a fan of these short days no time to walk in the daylight.

Not much else new in the middle of the forest. Just be careful and make sure you have a set of chains and nerves of steel if you decide to wander away from the plowed roads. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

My Old Treehouse

One day my grandpa and I went to the Galeton Hardware store, which also had lumber he bought over $100 worth of wood(which was a lot back in the mid-sixties). We brought it back and proceeded to build a three-story tree house just above the house. It was built on four legs each sixteen foot long and we used left over lumber to side it and used a few salvaged windows to finish it. The first year we built the top floor then added the other two in following years. Each floor had a trap door to the next. At one time we even hooked a phone line from the tree house to the house and would ring down and talk to grandma. It was a very old hand crank phone no dial tone on this one.

As a kid I would sleep in it overnight with my dog tied to the bottom to protect me from my imaginary enemies of the dark. Now and then she would bark and jump up rattling the chain, which added to the excitement that something might be out there. Even though it was a deer wandering by, I could imagine a large bear prowling outside or worse. In the 60's there weren't a lot of bear, in fact as a kid I never saw one. There were hundreds of deer covering the mountain and keeping the brush to a minimum. 

Now there are many more bear than deer and the brush is taking over the mountain. It would be hard to walk were the tree house once stood without a brush cutter. Thanks to Kim Reese I now have a picture of our old tree house. This picture was taken sometime much later than when we built the tree house as you can see it is weathered and some of the singles are coming off. I am guessing sometime in the early 80's. I did find out much later my grandfather used it as a deer stand and for years I thought he built it just for us kids. That may explain why he was willing to spend so much money to put it up. Still it did provide hours of enjoyment for us kids looking out high over the property in our own little kingdom.

The PennDot people stopped in today and it looks like they will be setting up in our front yard on the 24th of July. So for all you people coming up this way the road will not be closed until the weekend of the 27th at the soonest. Once it is closed it will not be open again until sometime in September. The heat and bugs are bad right now so it won't be a fun job for them working in the direct sun and being attacked by hoards of biting bugs. Mountain girl, Paula, logging.

Is it Spring?

Leetonia Road early morning

Wilson Point Road

This morning the weather started at 20 for my morning walk to the top of Cedar Mountain. The sun rose quickly into a clear blue sky and shone brightly by the time I got up to Wilson Point Road. By the time I got back to the house it was 39 and made it all the way to 50 for the high of the day. The roads vary from dry and dusty to a small amount of snow and you shouldn't have much trouble driving through any of the State Forest roads with caution. I would imagine with the warm temperatures most of the snow will be gone by the end of the weekend. 

On a sadder note our feral cat has gone missing the last three days. We had an invasion of raccoons, who got into the cat food in the garage opening the metal container I kept the food in, crushing the food bowl, and leaving teeth marks in the metal can of cat food. We heard them making noise and when we got up didn't see the cat. I haven't found the cat dead anywhere, but if they chased him off in the middle of the night he may not have met with a good end as Lee saw a bobcat outside the kitchen window the other day. We also have owls, coyotes, and fox who would gladly make the cat a midnight snack. It is sad to see the cat porch empty each day and now with three days gone by and no cat it isn't looking too hopeful for his return. Life is rough in the mountains of Leetonia and the cat was lucky to have found free handouts for the winter. I will update you all if he returns. 

We are looking forward to real Spring and weather above freezing and hopefully some numbers in the 50 and 60's. If you are coming for the weekend it should be nice until Sunday when rain is forecast. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.