New Cabin Tradition

When we first bought the cabin, I bought a journal to use for our visitors to sign. I did fairly well for the first year or two, remembering to ask people to sign it. But since then...well, let's just say that no one has signed the book in quite a while.

But now we have a new tradition, and I think it's even better.

About a month ago Craig walked along the shoreline of our lake to the spot where a big log rested. We had checked out the log when we were canoeing, and Craig wanted to bring it back to our place. The log was hollow, and floated, but was still very heavy. Craig floated the log back home
.
I had no idea why Craig wanted the log. I figured he would use it in our landscaping somehow.

The next weekend Craig decided to try to get the log out of the water. I went down to the shore to ask him a question about something, and he said "What shoes do you have on?" I had flip flops on, and he was glad, because he said he needed my help for just a minute. I rolled up my pants and stepped into the water.  Two hours later... I was wet, and I was still helping him. We were getting that log out of the water using simple machines. I remembered 5th grade science projects with the kids, learning about simple machines. We were using a pulley, a rope, and a lever. Using these tools, plus something called a come-along, we were able to lift the log out of the water and onto land. We slid a roller under it to help move it. Now it doesn't sound that hard - until I tell you that the log is about 14 feet long, must weigh about 800 lbs, and that we don't have the greatest elevation to our shoreline. We had to move that log uphill!

After lunch a neighbor stopped by, and after seeing our project he went home and got a long piece of steel cable and his 4-wheeler, which has a winch on it. He and Craig were able to maneuver that log so that it was standing upright, and they put it into the hole Craig had dug down by our campfire area.

You might be wondering at this point, what in the world does this log have to do with a new cabin tradition.
Well, I'll tell you.

That log is now our carving pole. When the grandchildren come up, we are going to take them down to the carving pole, measure their height and mark it on the pole. When friends come up, we will invite them to carve their initials in the pole.

This weekend Craig worked on a new path coming down to the campfire area.

So come on up, carve something in our pole, and enjoy the fire, the view, and the wonderful woodsy smells of being up north!