closing the cabin and carving the pumpkins, 2016

 Last year we did this--bundled all the bedding, towels, and so forth into heavy bags and taped them shut.

The mice did not disturb one thing, though mice could easily chew through these, they did not.

So we did it this year again.  It's a huge pain to try and haul and store all that here and then drag it back again.   The mice have been a lot more active this fall than last year though. Some say it's a sign of a cold winter.

I don't know.

Just quit shitting in my potholders.

 We moved the appliances out and washed the floor underneath, scrubbed this place down, winterized and see you in April.

 See you in April was kind of ugh.   I walked back to where we buried Sam and stood there for a while.   My dog is not here under a pile of dirt, just her body is.  The part of her that made her Sam has gone on ahead of us.

And yet.

Every other time since August when we've left, we're coming back again in a few days.

This time we're not coming back for five months.

 This guy? Three weeks in the corner of the living room eating watermelon.

Unbelievable.

Love, Val