Reply to Ken 82: We're a quarter mile from the edge of the continent...or, that really big antenna, the Pacific Ocean. However, our acreage and the acreage that abuts it on two sides (hundreds of acres total) is mostly old growth spruce, which is damned dense...and wonderful. Although we are so close to the ocean, we're in a small, steep-sided valley; house is at 55' above sea level. There's a Verizon cell tower a mile above us, with a high hill (about 500') between us. The next nearest tower is an AT&T 5 or 6 miles away, and we can get reception by hiking up on the back of our place and pointing the phone in that direction--not at all practical, as that's about a quarter mile away, through thick woods. Before we moved here full time, I kept a "cell phone trail" gouged out, but it was hard to write things down in pouring rain.<g> I've heard that the reason I can't get WiFi with my cell is due to the modem supplied by Charter; their cable provides phone, 'net, and TV (sorta) when there's electricity. There are far better modems available, but I've hesitated to invest in one, fearing that it would only add to the piles of electronic crap that doesn't work here, or work well enough. Believe it or not, here there's zero reception in CITY HALL, unless you have the pw for their WiFi. About half the places in town have zero reception. This is a concept that the techs in the Willamette Valley east of the Coast Range just fail to grasp. No point in asking about providers, as Charter is the only provider available to us (except CenturyLink for phone and 'net, no TV). All you need to do here is mention "Charter" and everyone has multiple stories about the lack of service. Right now, we're waiting for a repairman to rehang the cable, which was torn loose from the house when a tree limb fell across the cable a couple of weeks ago; fortunately, we still have some reception, but I can't drive up the driveway far enough to turn around (really long driveway that crosses a creek, which is flooded much of every winter). It had been three weeks since I'd been able to drive across the creek...and then the cable came down. I'm now parking where the cable crosses from a pole on our property to the house, where the cable hangs down almost to ground level. That does mean that I don't need to carry everything in from the road. Unfortunately, another storm is on the way, so, once the cable's rehung I still may not have use of the driveway.

All sounds glum, but where else would deer come and breathe on the window behind my monitor, begging for me to bring apple slices? Where else could I watch elk graze not 10' from my office window? There's the resident great blue heron, a male egret that's been thinking about living here, and the Canada geese have arrived to nest in the beaver pond between our place and the ocean. We have a great assortment of birds, from a bald eagle to lots of year-round hummingbirds. Every morning, Wiley the limping coyote trots down our one-lane road and then comes back, crosses the creek on the driveway culvert, and hunts pine squirrels in the reeds just past the acre I mow. We also occasionally have coastal black bear and cougar in the woods, as well as the pack of coyotes. The pine squirrels, packrats, and mice I could do without! Nearest neighbors are a quarter mile away, both west and east. Last week was about as cold as it ever gets here: clear, sunny, and down to the low 40s at night. A day over 75 in summer is "red hot." Perfect!

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