One day, a man walked by my van carrying a long handled axe and backpack. He stopped and chatted for a bit. His name is Daniel and he owns a cabin 3 miles away by trail.
He said that he was headed to the laundry, a mile away. I asked him why the axe. He said he is concerned about the big mountain lion that has moved into the area. There are huge paw prints left on the trail almost every day. I spotted it once at dusk, crossing the road a few hundred feet away. I guess he did have a good reason for the axe!
Daniel said he does handyman work for Indians on the nearby reservation. He doesn’t drive, because of too many DUIs. His wife divorced him and took the kids, because he’s rarely sober. The last time he worked on the rez, he drank until 4 in the morning. He fell down a high hill and passed out, trying to climb back up. He woke up at noon. That area is infested with lots of rattlesnakes, but it wasn’t his time to die.
Some locals are remodeling an abandoned saloon and have it looking pretty good. They plan to reopen it next spring. Daniel’s cabin is almost next to it and he already plans to be a regular. His cabin sits on a triple lot and he intends to build a couple other one-room cabins this winter. He figures on renting them by the night to people who are too drunk to drive home from the bar. Sounds like a plan!
Daniel is a colorful character, but I doubt we will be bosom (or boozing) buddies. There’s more to life than drinking, but not to him.
iggyvandweller 