Meanwhile Back at the Ranch...

As some of you may recall from my earlier post, I am living on a farm until the end of March. Now most of the days, the donkeys and the dog are not too loud. I hardly notice them. It is very quiet and peaceful. But on my trek down the hill from my trip to the UK Thursday night, that all changed….

I landed at 10pm which meant that I got back to my house about 11:30pm. Now the light of the stars and moon were covered by clouds so it was pretty dark. I have a light that I walk with as I venture down the slippery hill, through the old barn and across the field to my house. As I slid down the hill with my backpack, I saw some shadows about 50 feet away that scared me. As I show the light on them, I figured out what is was….

If you remember from an earlier post, the owner told me that there were some wild boars on the property, and you know what, he was right!! I met about 10 of them that night. I froze. They were spooked by the light and most of them went down the hill in front of me. One was off to my right and stayed on the other side of the hill. I froze for a minute until I could see them moving further away. I slowly moved down the hill keeping my eye on both sides of me to make sure the boars were staying far away from me. I don’t think I have walked to fast across a field in a foot of snow in my life. My heart was racing. I made it home safely. I also decided that when I have to fly again, I will make sure I plan my trip so I leave my house and return home when it is light out. Venturing out in the dark is not so much fun for me in this place.

Another fun thing about living on the farm, up on the hill is that when it snows, we get a lot. Yesterday it snowed about 6 inches. It kept me inside all day so today I decided I would head to Chamonix and then go for a run around the lake. As I made it to my car, I realized that there was a car parked at the end of the driveway blocking me from getting out. So much for private driveways!

I am not sure if I have too much of my father in me or if I am now doing it the international way, but I decided I could plow through the snowbank and get around them. I know at some point I will listen to the voice in my head, but it was not today. I checked the depth of the snow, the distance to get around the car and decided that if I had a running start, I could make it. I clear a little runway for me to try and get through. Well, I was wrong. So I got stuck. I tried backing up and got more stuck. So I trekked back down the hill to the house, got some rope and a shovel from the home owners and called my coworker and he agreed to come over and help me. There was also a man who had been hiking so he and I pushed while my coworker drove my car out of the snow bank.

It can never be easy, so I guess my adventures continue. Live and learn and keep on trekking.

Love to all.