The Golden Time
Life Since September
Season’s Greeting’s and Happy Solstice! That was not what I intended to say when I started working on this newsletter. I started writing this newsletter in September during my first solo week at the Crash Pad, while Kurt was in India for the first time on business. I planned to finish up my next Cabin Story ~ ‘Water’, and send some Summer recap’s. But…
Life since September has been an example of how you should enjoy each and every day because you never know what the future will bring. More on that below, but first back to September…
During my first solo Crash Pad week I was the happiest I have been all year. The Autumn weather was perfection, I went on many wonderful gravel rides, I found out I was FINE on my own in the middle of the woods (with Solrig and Inge by my side), and I felt the best physically I had felt all year. After months of physical therapy I was finally feeling almost myself. I felt strong on the bike and I was experiencing almost no pain. So let’s go to where I intended to start before I update you on today…
This year Summer feels like a blur. I vaguely remember it starting late. I definitely remember it raining A LOT. And I remember that when it began, we didn’t have a shower at the Crash Pad.
It is now officially Autumn. To indirectly celebrate, I came up to the Crash Pad on the first day (September 22) to check on things, but mainly to bike. THIS is the time of year we wait for ~ I call it the Golden Time. The bug factor is low, warmth is still in the air, and the trees start putting on a magical show. Without a doubt my favorite time of year.
This trip to the Crash Pad is my first solo trip here, something I never thought I would do. But when your husband is in India (on your anniversary no less), and you know it is the Golden Time ~ you go so you can ride. And ride I did.
Summer started off a bit rocky for me. Physically I was having issues with my right leg that I have been in physical therapy for all Summer for what appears to be a pinched nerve in my spine (a story for another day). Not only physically was it a bummer, but emotionally it was hard.
Kurt wanted to be at the Crash Pad a lot more than me both to ride, and move the cabin forward (he has been working on the interior walls all Summer). I found myself wanting to be in the city more and connecting with my colleagues at work. But interestingly as Autumn begins, I am finding myself more comfortable here and my priorities shifting.
At the beginning of Summer the Crash Pad really was not very comfortable, but here we are in Autumn enjoying the progress made over the Summer (see the last newsletter).
And I survived the great mouse invasion of my car after a three month saga! My end conclusion was that the mice got in my car here at the Crash Pad, not at home as we initially thought. This was validated when on trips up here in the Jeep in August mice got inside of it too! The invasion of the mice in our Mini Cooper was so disruptive, I thought I would make a video to share what we are doing now in hopes of keeping them OUT of the Jeep (stay tuned). And at least for now, I am not driving my car up here anymore ~ I can’t mentally take going through an invasion again.
In GenX Notes…
I published a story about my experience with a sports nutritionist.
Side note on this story: I just had my bloodwork done, so posted a short summary:
I was asked to be on a Podcast! Not just any podcast, but the most important podcast I have ever listened to ~ it changed my life.
And most recently I shared my experience of feeling lonely and isolated during the MPT, and now dealing with a pinched nerve in my back.
For those of you wondering what happened after the MRI…
After a lot of effort on my part (‘healthcare’ sucks), I finally got a steroid injection in my back. At my follow up appt on Dec. 2 with a wonderful woman, we discussed the need for another injection at a different spot in my spine. It was scheduled for Jan. 6, but thanks to a cancellation I received my 2nd shot on December 9th. I haven’t slept through the night since sometime in late October. More updates in a story later.
It has been a difficult journey going from that high point of my solo gravel Crash Pad week to today. I can only hope for better days ahead again in 2025.
So what HAS been going on at the Crash Pad you might ask!
Well, not much - but sort of a lot. Kurt was not able to do much work this Fall due to his work schedule and I have not been back up since early October due to work and my back challenges.
Kurt has been at the Crash Pad this week for a vacation week which has included more wall bracing and more wood on the walls and ceiling.
Walls and ceilings continue to go up! Kurt almost has the back of the cabin complete.
Kurt has been priming and painting the bathroom door and drumroll…. We now have A DOOR on the bathroom! It is a pocket door that we had to assemble the wall kit for and it works! FINALLY PRIVACY in the bathroom! Whoop Whoop!
Once the back of the cabin walls and ceiling are complete, a call will be made to the electrician to get them back out to at least complete all the work on the back ‘zone’. This will mean full lighting and outlets in the Office/Cycling room, Bedroom, and possibly more.
In October we were lucky to see an amazing Supermoon, hard to capture, but beautiful to see!
We finally made it to the back 10 to retrieve our camera trap. Above is a screen grab of a visitor.
Fresh tracks, fresh bone. Any ideas who ate what? Kurt has been seeing scenes like the above on his fat bike rides this week. We can’t deny we are living in someone else’s home…
Kurt has reached out to Rick, who did our exterior siding, to start lining up getting the Screen Porch done in 2025 (fingers crossed).
We have a landscaper lined up for June 2025. We will have gravel around the perimeter of the Crash Pad, no-mow grass (like our neighbors have), better drainage channels for the roof downspouts, and possibly more. And along with this, hopefully MUCH less sand inside the cabin.
Mice have continued to now get in the Jeep, but we have a new deterrent that mostly seems to be working. We call them disco lights. More on this once I get a Story together.
Real time texting with my neighbor. We have called our neighbors over a couple of times…. Once because we had some trespassers on the property we could see on our camera (maybe our architect sent them over?? they seemed to just be normal people looking at the cabin) ~ they were gone by the time our neighbor arrived. And once because we were worried there was an open window or something because we were using so much propane. In both instances our exterior and interior camera cams have been great to see what’s going on and I now know how to talk to people through the exterior camera (I didn’t know I could do that when the trespassers were there). We are thankful again for such great neighbors (and technology)!
And one of the best moments of the year, and why we love the community around the Crash Pad…. We were a driving force in getting signatures from our neighbors earlier this year so that we could have the road we bike on out our front door designated as a Rustic Road ~ which means keeping it a gravel road. We are so happy to share that it worked! Listen to this if you want to learn more about Rustic Roads in Wisconsin.
When will there be another Cabin Story?!
For those of you wondering when our next Cabin Story will be posted…. I will finally be at the Crash Pad again during mellandagarna (what Swedes call the time between Christmas and New Year’s). My plan is to wrap up the next story I have been working on ~ ‘Water’, and to start working on a new story. I’m definitely not a frequent story-teller as I had hoped to be, but my hope is that when I do share a story you find it worth your wait! For now you can click on the button below to see any of our Cabin Stories.
Now for some fun…
Mountain Bikers will know that the Crash Pad lies in the heart of what is known as Chequamegon 40 territory. We were reminded of how lucky we are to be here with this beautiful footage taken literally in our back yard earlier this year (our property may be in this video somewhere). Professional cyclists come here to ride, we live here to ride!
Happy Happy Holiday’s to you and most importantly from our viewpoint, HAPPY SOLSTICE! The Winter Solstice is our second favorite day of the year because it means we start turning to our favorite day of the year ~ Summer Solstice.
Thank you for reading and for all your kind comments ~ it means a lot to me, and YOU are why I keep writing/telling stories.