Forest Fire near Slate Run

Picture taken from deck of Manor

There appears to be a forest fire on the General Store Side of Pine Creek. This picture was taken by the Manor from their deck. According to them it isn't out yet, but has gone over the mountain into the Bonner Run area. Lots of dry brush and trees down from tornado back in 2011. Hopefully, they will be able to get it out. No news as to what started the fire at this point. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

We have had rain since. And fire was contained in above occurrence near Slate Run.

Sunny Sunday

Top of Hill

Pine Forest

Moss on stone

Winter green(Spring Red)

The sun came out today to do serious battle with the rest of the snow and ice. I can now walk to the top of my hill without slipping and sliding it is wonderful. It amazes me how quickly the air warms up in the morning when it is sunny and calm. 

I walked to the top of the hill to take a shot over the trees as you see in the first picture there is something starting to happen a little haze of growth coming over them in a few spots. It will be a while to see any sort of leaves, but for now the winter is over.

Light filters down in the pine forest in a special way in the second picture and gives you almost a magical feeling when you walk through it. The only colors right now are the green of the pines,the red hue of buds and wintergreen, and the green of the moss on the ground, which is very responsive to any first light of Spring and almost glows when it first starts to grow.

The Wintergreen or Bayberry in the last picture has a very different reaction to the new warmth. All winter it stays green and then in the Spring turns this bright red. The berries are a wonderful breath freshener and I never forget to pop one in when I walk by one of these plants. 

If you look you can still find snow on the North sides of the mountain and ice clinging to the rocks slowly and stubbornly refusing to leave. But I decided I had enough ice and snow pictures for the year and wanted you to feel Leetonia's move to Spring. I even saw a few yellow flowers along the road when I drove to Leetonia yesterday. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me or they would have made the blog. Spring is one of my favorite times of year. The grass is low, the bugs haven't arrived and you can watch the forest change daily coming into a vibrant living expression of all the energy the sun sends to it. Today is a good day to enjoy a walk in Leetonia or anywhere in nature. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Downtown Leetonia late 1800's

Leetonia Main St.

Company Store and Office

Leetonia Hotel

The first picture shows a long row of houses leading up the main area of Leetonia. I am thinking the fences around the properties might have been to keep the cows out, which roamed freely though out the town. I don't have any way to know and if any of you have another reason for the fences I would be glad to hear it.

Towards the end of the row sat the company store and office, which was on the property we removed the trailer from last Fall. This store basically used most of the workers wages to buy good and pay rent. There wasn't much left over from your wages when you left and sometimes you might even run into debt to the store. Leetonia was a company town and you didn't fair any better than the servants of the old country did working the land for the Land Barons.

The last picture shows the only picture I know of the Leetonia Hotel. It sat to the South end past the store. That would be right about where Pettites driveway comes up. There were also homes on the other side of the road not visible in this picture. 

Road update: The road is passable without four-wheel drive. There are still icy spots which can last several hundred yards on the North sides of the mountain and in areas shaded by pine trees. Lee came up the road Wednesday with the FJ Cruiser and didn't have it in four-wheel drive. I would still recommend going slow as the icy areas can come up quickly. We have the possibility of new snow(no accumulation) for Saturday evening. Sunday is supposed to be a nice sunny day. 

The bad news is I opened three camps this week and two of them the water would not work due to the very cold weather the ground is still frozen. I chipped four inches of ice off the top of one well. That pipe to house is only 1-2 foot deep and the ground is not unfrozen around it at all. The other camp the pipe is buried much deeper, but I couldn't put anything into the ground more than an inch.  Guess what I am saying is expect problems getting water to run this early in the season. Be prepared and bring your own water with you if you want to stay this weekend. I have hopes this will all change in the next two weeks. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.