I returned last week from my latest trip to Floyd, VA, filled with excitement that my plans are jelling and that I am making progress towards my goals. Tropical Storm Ida had posed no threat to Florida several days before I left, so I paid attention to it no longer. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that Ida had dumped between 7 and 9 inches of rain on Floyd County in the two days before I arrived! I timed my visit well, though, because by the time I arrived, the rain had mostly stopped and the next day, which started out overcast, turned partly sunny in the afternoon and the next three days were just gloriously blue, crisp, and invigorating.

The logger that I hired last summer had completed his work and the route is now ready for the driveway contractor, who will start late this week or early next week. He has quite a job ahead of him, as you can see by this picture – lots of stumps in the way. But he is an expert in this kind of work and will make the job look easy to a bystander. The one tree remaining that is in the way will be pushed down and perhaps turned into firewood – that is the red oak on the right side about half-way down. It is about 2″ from the right side of the picture and has a fork at the top of the tree.

The ridge line in the distance is on the other side of the Little River and is not part of my property. Nice view, though! At least in the winter – the ridge is not visible in the summer.