A Cabin In The Woods

This is the cabin in the woods where my close friends and I go to enjoy a weekend of peace and rest. We are only able to get together about twice a year due to everyone's busy schedules.

Below is the view from the back deck where we spend most of our time chatting and enjoying the breeze.  We never seem to run out of anything to say.

On Saturday night we traveled down the mountain to dine at High Point restaurant.  According to their website, it is a “1929 mansion...presumably financed by Al Capone....The three-story compound once had escape hatches on the roof and underground tunnels in the basement used by Capone for the transferring of liquor in the twenties and early thirties. Local legend reveals tales of Capone and John Dillinger lounging outside on the mountain stone patio having drinks and playing numerous hands of cards."

The food was great!  The atmosphere was excellent! The weather was perfect, we thought.  It has been so very dry here this fall and in last week's newspaper we were declared to be in an "extreme drought area." Yes, I would agree.  The tree leaves are not the usual burst of flaming colors but are parched and withered.   The cabin is located up in the mountains and is on well water.  On the last day, we began washing linens, packing up, and getting ready for showers when the well water turned to mud.  All shower plans were halted and the dirty clothes were packed up to come back home.  I am a country girl accustomed to well water and the free luxuries it affords.  We water the garden freely, take long showers and do not conserve water; there is no need when there is a river flowing beneath us.  Our well is rated at 25 gallons a minute. It was another story at the mountaintop cabin.  That well was running dry.

It was sobering for me since I have taken free water (almost free except for the pennies spent to run the pump) for granted.  We have become cautious this fall and so we stagger our water usage here at home. Showers have first priority followed by laundry and then the dishwasher.  A small section of the garden is watered with the sprinkler every day.  If we had city water there is no way we could afford to keep the garden going.  A dry well is something I have thought about but never experienced.

Even though the weather was perfect, I think I would have preferred a weekend of slow drizzling rain.