The Yukon continues to enjoy one of the most pleasant and extended autumns for years. Most years the golden riot of autumn colours is over by the end of the first week in September. Now it is the eleventh, yet at least half the leaves remain on the aspens and willows, bright yellow against the cobalt blue sky. Isa and I continue our trail work. Today we completed the renovation of the Northeast Bush Trail; tomorrow we will work on a new connecting trail that branches off halfway down it to rejoin the Winewood main trail. This branch will give us a new alternative route and a chance to sharpen up the lead dogs, who will no longer be so sure that there's only one way to run that part of the trail. Our objective is to add such options to the trail system where we can, to relieve boredom and improve our leader training.
Our patient work was rewarded in an unexpected way today by the solution of one of life's outstanding mysteries. As we walked up the trail with Tonya and her niece Lizzy towards the point where we left off working yesterday, I noticed a big patch of ground cover torn out and left upside-down in the middle of the trail. I said to Isa, "I don't think we did that." We continued on, reached our workpoint and tied the dogs. As I forged ahead on my knees with the lopping shears, cutting seedling willows out of the trail, just ahead of me I found The Answer to one of life's conundrums!
I know you have all heard people respond to some obvious question with a rhetorical question of their own to the tune of, "Does a bear shit in the woods?" I can now report with considerable assurance that the answer to that one (as usual) is "Yes and no." Yes, he does it in the woods, but no, he doesn't just do it in the woods — he does it right smack in the middle of my dogsled trail. So now you know it's really true, not just one of those things people say to sound smart.
Posted by jjeffrey at September 11, 2003 06:40 PMThis is too funny... thank you so much for the laugh Jeff and Isa. I will forever think of your story here every time someone asks me about bears shitting in the woods...LOL :*) I bet Tonya and Lizzy appreciated it too.
Posted by: Lee Ann at September 29, 2003 10:31 PM