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resurrecting an invisible fence Wednesday, September 9 2020
Gretchen decided it was better not to walk the dogs given the healing gash on her knee, so I took them instead. I did a loop down the Farm Road and (because Georges and his family have ended quarantine and returned to the City) continued around through the abandoned go cart track and home on the plateau west of the Farm Road. As I approached the Farm Road once more, I encountered a large black snake. I'd been thinking conditions were ideal for rattlesnakes (I've never seen a live one in the wild), but a black snake was good enough. (I rarely encounter any sort of snake except garter snakes and ring-neck snakes.)
I drank kratom tea this afternoon and eventually this made me feel kind of miserable, though at 5:00pm I was feeling okay enough to start laying down a loop of wire for an "invisible fence." Ramona has returned to her bad old habits of prowling the neighborhood late at night. I busted her last night, and she seemed aware enough of what was and wasn't allowed not to do her usual prowl (for which I rewarded her with a treat). But to really make it so she doesn't cross Dug Hill Road at night, I'll need to install an invisible fence, the kind that punishes fence-crossers with an electrical shock. I had all the old equipment to make a fence and had even bought wire (to rebuild the wire loop, which never lasts more than a year). The last time I'd built such a fence, it was to keep Eleanor from attacking cyclists (perhaps as many as ten years ago). I had 500 feet of insulated wire, but this turned out to not be quite enough to run a loop from the greenhouse (where I can easily put a fence control unit protected from the elements) up across the Farm Road and back. Running what I managed to run, the return line got within about fifty feet of the greenhouse, meaning I can finish it with a number of improvised solutions. I also was careful to bury (as best I could) the wire as it crossed the Farm Road so it wouldn't get caught by passing vehicles (such as Georges' Tesla). Running wire under bushes and through scrubby land left me drenched with sweat.
Meanwhile Gretchen had made burgers using various ingredients combined with leftover wild rice from the other day, and so for dinner she, Powerful and I had vegan burgers out on the east deck.
A sunflower in our garden (this is from a couple days ago).
Ramona, with an out-of-focus Neville in the background, on the Farm Road this morning.
Georges' bluestone project is finally finished. Without his coronavirus quarantine, it would certainly not be.
A large ant mound at the abandoned go cart track.
The black snake.
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