May 5, 1913

– Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart (great book, if you can find it; one of those instances where you just wish the author was your friend in real life)

While my camera battery charges, I have another round of snippets from my phone:

Found an echo and wild strawberries in the woods that begin about 200 yards from my camp (I have rolling meadows to one side, aspen and pine forests to the other).

And there are gooseberry bushes everywhere!

Since I’ve been here, I’ve heard the sound of only five engines other than Mike’s when he comes to visit:
– three planes
– a neighboring rancher checking his cows
– a military helicopter

Have I mentioned how much the Farmily is loving it up here? There was no adjustment period. Each and every one of them seemed completely blissed out upon arrival. In fact, I’ve never seen them all so stimulated and so at peace.

And.

A few nights ago, in the midst of the coyotes singing as they do each dusk (and which Charlie still ignores!), I heard one long, lone wolf howl. The sound is impossible to describe. I can only say that everything that has ever been said about the wolf – every totemic power, every fear – was embodied in that howl. Mike told me later that there were two sightings of a white wolf about five miles from here.