Chapter 6

With breakfast out of the way, they tag teamed and cleaned up the house together. Karl had put in a holding tank and a small leaching field for water from the the sink, shower and clothes washer. He had purchased a clothes dryer as the second half of a set with the washer, but never hooked it up.

A dryer would have taken too much electricity. As it was, on the evenings after he had run the washing machine, he was usually forced to use candles and hurricane lamps. He could put in another group of batteries and wire them for just the dryer he thought. If Tammy was going to live there, it would be a welcomed addition.

And an indoor toilet would mean enlarging the leaching field or perhaps putting in just a holding tank and having it drained regularly. Then he thought he should read up on chemical toilets like are used on airplanes and mobile homes. That would reduce the volume of liquids and his current system might withstand the little extra. He made another mental note to get the info.

Tammy caught him with a pensive frown on his face and asked him what he was musing over. "Batteries to run the dryer and ways to get indoor plumbing in here," he answered to her query.

"Oh. Interesting," she commented. "We could wait on the dryer but having an indoor toilet sounds nice. I'm not too sure I want to dance over the snow in the winter to pee."

"Well, I'll get info on it and we can work it out. I have several ideas." Karl went on explaining all of the options to Tammy as they scrubbed the dishes and cleaned the griddle. As they were nearing the end of their clean up routine, Karl asked if cold fried chicken was OK for lunch.

"Well, how about I make Chicken Salad sandwiches," she suggested. "Along with potato chips and some soda, that should make a good lunch."

"Now why didn't I think of that?" he told her and gave her a pat on her behind and a brief kiss. Then he asked the perennial question, "Have I told you I love you lately?"

"Nope. Can't remember. It's been a long time," she replied.

"Well, I do," was his reply.

"You do what?" she responded.

"Now you are the Goof," he told her.

She swatted him on the shoulder telling him, "Say it or I'll beat you up!"

Softly, he grabbed her in his arms, kissed her lips and after a quick nibble of her left earlobe whispered, "I love you!"

"Well, it's about time," she replied and received a firm tap on her behind.

"Ouch!" she exclaimed.

"Sissy," he laughed.

"Yeah, but a Sissy that loves you too!"

They hugged and kissed for a few minutes and then she told him that if they were going to have lunch anytime today, that she'd better start making the chicken salad for the sandwiches. Karl got out the chicken they had cooked two nights ago and the mayonnaise.

"Celery," she asked and sure enough, a head of celery appeared.

Tammy set about cutting, chopping, dicing and finally mixing the ingredients together. "Here have a taste," she said to him.

He leaned in and touched his lips to hers and said, "Wonderful! Best 'Lip Salad' I've ever tasted."

She laughed and swatted him on the shoulder. "No the Chicken salad, you Goof."

With his arms still around her, she held up a spoon with a sample on it and he closed his mouth around it, savoring her handy work.

"Taste's almost as good as you," he told her.

"Keep that up and I'll let you have your way with me later."

"Sooner than later I hope."

"Well, keep up the compliments and I'll be yours."

With the sandwiches finished, they packed the lunch in a brown wicker picnic basket, grabbed a body sized beach towel and they trundled down to the stream.

"I haven't been there yet, but why don't we swim in the lake where you said you go to fish," she asked. "Wouldn't it be warmer than this stream?"

"Well, there are a few problems. First, the bottom is all squishy sediment. It seeps up between your toes. It makes my skin crawl. Then, the water is brown.

"The fish seem to like it. They get fairly big in there. Also, there's a little brook feeding into it, so the water is always fresh and oxygenated for the fish. The best part is it empties into this stream.

"I've had a swim or two in it but it's not as much fun as here. I put in sand," he said pointing, "for the little beach we have here and to cover the rocky bottom so standing is nicer.

"I figure the water in the lake changes at least once a month so it's not that bad. The fish can spawn in the brook upstream from the lake and then after they grow up, they can swim into the main stream here.

"All in all, when they leave the lake, they are twelve to fourteen inches inches or better. A nice size for Trout. I've caught mostly Brown Trout here and an occasional Rainbow.

"Rainbows are usually are too skittish to catch though. You have to be silent as you fish. Even a little step or movement and they're gone!"

"When I don't want to try my skill and just get dinner, I'll grab a few from the lake. They bite on anything that moves. Stream fishing is more skill than anything else. But, the ones in the lake tend to be bigger and tastier. So, I'll take you up there and we can catch some later."

"Deal," she said as they settled down on the spread out towel listening to the stream rumble by.

Karl laughed to himself and she said, "What?"

"One time, a couple of years ago, I caught this huge fish. I'm pretty sure it was a Salmon. That was an experience."

"Salmon? Here?"

"Yeah. Salmon. North Atlantic Salmon. I hooked this huge silver tinted fish and dragged it on shore. It must have been almost two feet long."

"Wow," Tammy said in awe.

"I didn't keep it though. This is not really a Salmon stream but if it had come up here to spawn, then in the future, the offspring would return here. Hopefully they could build into a permanent run every year.

"My own private stock. Well, that and anyone up or down stream too who figured out that there was Salmon here. I saw a few more during the run last year, so perhaps that was a good idea.

"This year in the fall," he said pensively, "If I see a bunch, I might just try and catch one. Just one. I don't want to kill a good thing.

"Anyway, that's why I fish both places ... the stream and the lake."

"I want to learn. Teach me? After all, this is my type of country," she told him.

"How's that," Karl asked.

Tammy reached over and started setting out the lunch gear as she talked. "Well, I took a Forestry Minor in College."

Karl's mental jaw dropped as he listened to Tammy. "Trees and forests just interested me. I was thinking that a Ranger's job in a state forest might be interesting. Timber management would also be a good field I thought."

Karl laughed and shook his head.

"What?" she asked.

"You won't believe this but I was a Forestry Major in college. My Grandfather was a retired Forest Ranger! I spent my summers up here, learning trees. His life was trees. That's why he had this camp. He's the one that taught me how to tap the maple trees in the spring.

"Living here with him during my summers off from college was not easy, but it was fun. Very hard work too, but lots of fun. He even taught me to hunt. Of course, back then, this was just a camp or bunk house. Just four walls, a Franklin Stove for heat and cooking. Roughness at its best.

"Anyway, so the forest and trees are my forte."

Then after thinking for a bit to himself, he told her, "It's funny the way life works. All my life, well since I hit puberty, I've been wondering how I would find someone to love, marry and have a family with. Then my tree had a fight with her," he laughed.

"It would have been better to skip the tree thing, but I agree with you that life is strange," Tammy said as she moved into him and gave him a lover's peck.

As they nibbled and chatted over lunch, they continued to learn more and more about their likes and dislikes. The more they talked, the more they learned they dovetailed. Finally when lunch, along with all of the chips they had brought were eaten and their soda bottle emptied, Karl looked over at the stream.