I am Home, My Little Bear, Coyote Pack is Back, I was Born in the Wrong time and Place

So, here I am, back in the North Country. I have become such a damn homebody these last few years. I hate traveling, and I am only really happy at home with my wife, dogs, and guitars.

I was greeted by my dogs when I got in the other night except, one of them was not the same puppy that I had left home a week before. She is growing A LOT! She is only 5 months old, and already weighs over forty pounds. I think she will top out at about 80-90 lbs when she is done. We kind of figured that, seeing as how she appears to be half shepherd and half rottwieller. I think she is mostly bear. She is a hungry beast, too. Luckily, she is so far very gentle and good natured, and loves kids. She also loves Mr. Little Guy, the cat. He loves dogs, so that’s not too bad.

I heard a pack of yoties to the south of our place this morning at about 0200. They sounded like they were about a half a mile away. Still too close as far as I am concerned, but they have really been noticeably absent from the area the last couple of years. When we first moved in, they were up on the ridge every night, yammering and howling away to beat the band. That was the year they killed my favorite cat (Little Head), and that I swore revenge. My neighbors got about 12 malamutes for a sled team, and the yoties have pretty much stayed away since then. The sled dogs LOVE to howl. They howl all the time. I love it, personally, but then, I don’t live right next to them. It sounds like wolves. I think the yotes hear that, and have decided to err on the side of caution. Wolves and coyotes don’t get along, from what I have read, and anytime their territories overlap, the yotes usually come out on the losing side of any territorial disputes.

Not to mention the rumored cougar that has moved into the neighborhood. I have not seen it, but I have heard strange screaming sounds here now and then, which I have generally written off as fisher cats.

My niece and nephew are visiting this week, and we took them to a place called Boldt Castle, over in the Thousand Islands. It was quite nice. The place was built by a fabulously wealthy fellow back in 1904 for his beloved wife. It was never completed or occupied. His wife died suddenly before it was done, and he ordered the workers to just stop what they were doing and leave. The first floor has been mostly renovated and furnished with period furniture. It was enchanting. I always knew that I was born in the wrong time. I was MEANT to have been born into a fabulously wealthy Victorian family who owns a castle on an island in the St. Lawrence River. I will have to talk to someone about that.