Ten Things You Get by Living in the Woods

The good, the bad, and the ugly can easily be found here.

Wisconsin Woods as seen from Timm’s Hill. © Carol Labuzzetta, 2022

A morning hike prompted today’s post to Timm’s Hill, the highest geographical point in Wisconsin where the leaves appear to be at peak color change. This is good. The bad was feeling out of shape. And, the ugly was discovering what I thought were bug bites, I have poison ivy!

We moved to our cabin (read lake house) in the Northwoods of Wisconsin in late June this year. While we’ve had the timber frame cabin since we built it in 2005, this is the first time we’ve ever lived here for more than a week. It’s been a nicer change than I expected, filled with beautiful natural scenes, the solitude I crave, and enough projects to keep both my husband and me busy.

When you live in the woods, you get some things you might not receive otherwise. Here are ten things I discovered over the last twelve weeks.

1. You get your first case of poison ivy! I was so proud of my wood-cleaning efforts last weekend, only to discover this morning that what I thought were bug bites was a small case of poison ivy. Itchy and oozing a small amount, I told my husband what I thought was going on with my “rash.” Both being former medical professionals, I was surprised this hadn’t dawned on us sooner (I’ve had the rash for three days). It all makes sense now. I was in the woods, with short sleeves picking up brush and taking it to our burn pile. I must have included some of the dreaded poisonous weed with the dead twigs. There’s a first for everything!
2. When you live in the woods you are more likely to have close encounters with wildlife. We’ve had deer — a mama and her two fawns — in our yard, as well as turtles laying eggs, loons using the lake as a runway, and even snakes in my garden. I thought I saw a bear cross the road last week as well, but it happened so fast, I’m not at all sure what I saw! Wild turkeys are everywhere, along with the pop-pop of hunters.
3. We have some wild raspberry canes lining the edges of our road. While I did not pick any this year, we have in the past. I will be more on alert for them next year for sure. With the cost of fruit and my affinity for berries, it just makes sense to forage for what I can. Yum!