Your Scribe has cobbled together a Top 10 List for the past year, based on stories written and mini-adventures that were reported on this blog.

In no particular order:

- Photos appeared on the blog. For the past six months, I have been including photos of the cabin, its environs and trips taken in Maine. No flies on the writing, but I think the pictures really help.

- Putting in a well. Kevin the Well Digger put in a well this fall, which should provide water for the garden as well as satisfying the insurance company that I have some antidote to a house fire. I like Kevin's (CYA) professional mantra: "I don't guarantee a well, but I will dig a deep hole for you." Score! The is water about 12 feet down.

- Visits to Rangeley. I don't know why I like that area so much but I had several great trips there.

- The tree on the river bank still stands. There is a spruce that is about to fall into the river but it is still hanging on to the bank. I got a lot of good comments about what to do when it goes - to wit, the state won't pay a dime to remove it since the collapse is a natural event.

- Tangling with trappers. I got more comments from a column about trapping than any other topic. The blog did not laud the sport, and I heard from many trappers who said I was unknowledgeable and unsympathetic. Which is just about true, though I did learn that weasel pelts bring about $1.25 per.

- Moxie Falls. I had never been there, and the short hike and picturesque surroundings were great. Plus, I got a great action photo of my son, Drew, jumping into the fast-moving stream.

- Good neighbors. Nick the Coon Hunter cut up a tree that fell across the driveway, and Terry the Motivated Renter watches the cabin when we are absent.

- Bad deal. Terry the MR provided the disappointment of the year when he said he would buy an acre from me for $10,000 cash, then withdrew his offer so he could locate closer to utility lines. I should have known closing a cash deal wouldn't be so easy.

- No moose in sight. I tried on several occasions to see moose in Rangeley, Greenville and Bingham but was unsuccessful. On the topic of animals, a 525-pound bear was shot, weighed and registered at our local farm store.

- Clear-cut down the road. Gary the Ambitious Logger took down every tree on a five-acre parcel across the dirt road. He did leave a few trees so I don't have to look at the mess but it was a shock to see everything gone. On the upside: When the leaves are gone, I can now see the Blue Mountains from the porch.

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