My Side of the Mountain: Tech Upgrade

Journal Entry 11: Winter Troubles

This winter has only gotten colder since January hit, and even on into February and March. Frightful and I have had troubles galore up here! The scariest was the ice storm! It was the second time that the animals have all fled to their homes this summer, and I did the same. But this time, instead of snow, it was freezing rain! What a crazy night! I kept the fire burning in the small clay fireplace to keep me warm, but it backfired. I should have known better. Frightful SAVED MY LIFE THAT NIGHT! If she hadn't almost clawed my sleeve off, I wouldn't have noticed that the door was icing over, blocking circulation of air from outside. The fire was sucking the air dry! I was groggy, and I was thirsty, but in my foggy brain, I remembered my science teacher telling us about this – oxygen deprivation! I quickly smashed the ice from the door and crouched nearby anxiously, kneading my arm.  I had to keep knocking on the door open periodically, and between that and keeping a careful eye on Frightful, I did not sleep a WINK! And around me, trees were quaking so hard from all the weight, and all around us I heard sharp explosions, as the heavy ice broke limbs of trees just as tall as mine! I didn't emerge that entire day, I think. I ended up being fine, but wow, was it scary! 

That was the scarier episode, but the one that could have been life threatening was a vitamin deficiency. The internet was a great resource, and if not for that, I would not have known that Vitamin D is hard to come by in the winter months with the diet I would have. My one source, that I knew to get it, was from, you guessed it, liver. So, instead of getting rid of the liver of the animals I hunt, I've been eating it. Not as bad as I thought, but that could be simply because my body craves it. I've heard it does that.