My Living Room

I came home from work today and saw that we had had a visit from the Craig's List fairy. I think the cots will look cool in Fort Awesome, but they look a bit out of place in my living room. We already have 2 others just like these, one a neighbor gave us and one I picked up at a garage sale this summer. Looks like we'll have plenty of comfortable (?) sleeping arrangements for all our visitors!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays from Camp Freedom. Here we are standing on the future cabin building site. Who knows, maybe by next year, we can take our Christmas picture in the cabin! We have a lot to be thankful for this year and we have a lot to look forward to in 2010. Thanks to all my friends and family for supporting and encouraging this project and I wish you all the best this Christmas and New Year!

Property Taxes

I received a property tax statement in the mail this week. Luckily, the property taxes on an undeveloped swamp are not very high. That was definitely part of what made this parcel so appealing. The small amount of the bill was not the only difference between the taxes due on Camp Freedom and the taxes we pay in the city. Included with the bill was not one, but two holiday letters. There was a letter from Judy, the town treasurer, wishing us a happy holidays. She also included the hours she would be available at the town hall if we'd like to pay our taxes in person. She went so far as to include her home telephone number in case those times were not convenient and we'd like to give her a call at home to make other arrangements. Bill, the town chairman included a letter highlighting some of the town projects for the year. Apparently, we bought a new grader and loader this year, complete with a snow wing! We got new blacktop on some of the roads and received a grant to replace an aging culvert on Duck Creek. Bill also took the opportunity to blast the D.N.R. calling them an "extremely power hungry bureaucracy." I guess they've butted heads a few times over permitting and funding road building projects. Bill signed off after wishing us a merry Christmas and letting us know he supports the troops. I guess it's good to know where your town chairman stands on these issues.

Inspecting the Pit

Driveway

We got the good news over the weekend that the driveway was in! The contractor actually made it out last week and put in the driveway, cleared a few trees from the building site and dug the pit for the outhouse. We took a trip up there yesterday to check it out. The town of Cumberland was all decorated for Christmas and looked charming. Having a driveway really changes the whole place. Now we can actually pull in and park the car. That is a far cry from pulling off the road into the woods. Now it actually feels like a destination. It was really pretty out there with snow on the ground. We don't have any snow yet at home so that was kind of a surprise. The place looks really different without all the leaf cover. We do lose some of the privacy. The two neighboring houses are more visible. But we also gain a much better view of the lake. There is thick tree cover at the edge of the wetland that blocks the view in the summer. Eventually, we will thin those trees a bit so we have a nice view from the cabin, but for now when the leaves are in, it is hard to see the water. This time, though, the water was easy to see. The lakes are not iced over yet, so there were still plenty of birds to watch. It is hunting season up there now. The deer tracks were quite visible in the snow and there were gunshots audible all afternoon. That might be the last time we make it up there this winter. Now we turn our attention to finishing the outhouse, which Ray moved into the garage last night, and planning the cabin!

Excavation Update

We seem to be slowly moving forward with our excavation contractor. I have been frustrated with him because we hired him almost a month ago and he still hasn't done the work. The weather has been more than perfect - highs in the 50's, sunny and dry. Unheard of for November. He keeps saying he's busy with other jobs but I think it may have something to do with the fact that it's now deer hunting season. After several phone calls this week, Ray got him to commit to doing the work on Monday. We'll see. The weather for next week is cold with rain and snow. We haven't paid him anything yet, which is possibly why he doesn't feel obliged to do any work for us. But that means the worst case scenario is that we get someone else to do the job and all we've wasted is time. The township finally cashed the $25 check we wrote a month ago for the permit fee. I still don't have a permit in my hands or a driveway on my land but it feels like we're inching closer to getting something accomplished. If this gets done before the holiday next week, I know what I'll be thankful for this year!

Fort Necessity

We have started building the outhouse! In our backyard. We are using the same kind of plan that we used to construct the tent platform. We designed the privy to be built in four panels and then hauled out to the site. We got a good start on the walls last weekend. I found a website from some university agricultural extension service that allows you to download free building plans. The available plans are mostly for agricultural buildings such as chicken coops and slaughter houses. I downloaded outhouse plans as well as the blueprints for a bomb shelter. Guess which one Ray wanted to work on first. The plans called for a 4x4 foot building. We wanted to make sure that was roomy enough so we used this system to check the dimensions. We taped a square on the deck and determined the outhouse should be roomy enough for both a person and a dog to use comfortably. We went on to frame up all three of the side walls. Eventually, they will be insulated and paneled. This is what they look like right now. It will have a translucent corrugated fiberglass roof and of course, a crescent moon on the door.I did not want to use or maintain an outhouse with a gross plywood bench so I have been doing research on what is politely called an outhouse pedestal. I found a Canadian company that makes a very nice fiberglass model that should be able to withstand our temperature extremes as well as being very easy to keep clean. This is a picture of that pedestal.We will not have a concrete slab as pictured here. Our plans call for a plywood floor assembly that will be covered with a nice, easy to clean linoleum. I don't want to sound like too much of a princess, but if the plan is to build an outhouse, I would like it to be the cleanest, most pleasant outhouse possible.

Waiting Game

I have to apologize for my lack of recent posts. Between work and school, I haven't had a chance to update. It seems like every year the kids get busier and busier, which only reaffirms my thought that we need a place to get away! I can't wait until we can just throw a backpack in the car and disappear together for the whole weekend. We are in a holding pattern as far as our progress is concerned. We hired an excavator to put in a driveway, clear the building site and dig a pit for the privy. We had to get a permit for the driveway which required a township inspector to take a look at the site. The man responsible for that task is a long haul trucker who is only in town from time to time. Ray talked to him last night and apparently he has been out to the site and declared that everything looked great. They have yet to cash the check for the permit fee or actually issue a written permit, but those seem to be insignificant details that only I am concerned about. Now that we have his blessing, our contractor can go ahead and bulldoze his heart out as soon as the weather cooperates. We are looking forward to at least one more trip out this winter to inspect his work. Once he is done, we will have Fort Awesome ready to go up, a nice gravel driveway, a building site graded and clear of trees and a place to go to the bathroom. I'm proud of all we've accomplished in under 3 months. We should be in great shape to start building the actual cabin in the spring!

Country Life

We had planned to go up to Camp Freedom last week since the kids had Thursday and Friday off from school. I was picturing a few perfect Indian summer days with gorgeous fall colors and just enough bite in the air to make the campfire feel delicious. Because we could go up mid-week, Ray and I thought it would be a perfect chance to meet with some contractors. Then we checked the weather. The forecast for the planned trip was high in the 40's and a rain/snow mix. Cold and wet - not ideal camping weather for even the heartiest Northerner. Ray had made appointments with two excavators, one well digger and the electric co-op that services our area. He was able to reschedule everything for Thursday and just drove up for the day by himself. Two of the meetings were with men named Jeff. We joked that they were probably the same person. Well, they were two different people but two of the contractors did have a connection. The well digger sheepishly admitted that he was the cousin of one of the excavators that had come out that morning. The admission went something like this, " Yeah, he's my cousin. But I don't want you to think that we're all related up here."

Rationale

Since outlining the scope of the project in more detail, I feel like I have to remind myself why I am doing this. The end result seems obvious. We want a little cabin in the woods to spend our weekends and summer vacations with friends and family. But in our part of the world, cabins in the woods are a dime a dozen. If we had saved a little longer, and looked a little harder, we probably could have found one. But we never set out to buy someone else's cabin. What we really set out to find was a project. We have set what seems like an impossible goal and it will be great fun to see if we can accomplish it. We are also doing this with our kids in mind. We have two very modern children who are growing up in an increasingly virtual world. They love the computer, video games, television and desperately want cell phones. I want them to grow up knowing how to make something with their own two hands. I am also hoping they will learn that with hard work and ingenuity, they can accomplish anything they can dream up. If throughout the course of this project, they absorb these lessons, I will feel a huge sense of accomplishment. Some people use sports or religion, but in our family, we've chosen to use construction as the vehicle to teach our boys how to be strong, capable men. So in that sense, this is really much more than a cabin. Now I just need to remind myself of that this weekend while I'm standing out in the rain and snow waiting for the excavation contractor to show up!

The Nitty Gritty

The planning stages of this project are starting to get complicated. Ray spent last week on the phone with many of the different people we are going to need to get this thing underway. He called two excavators, the electric company, and a well digger. We are going to be out there next week and plan to meet with them then to get some bids on the work. It is difficult to make appointments with them because, not only do we not have a phone number to give them, we don't have an address. We need a fire number and it costs $25 dollars to get one. Once you pay your money, the city then posts a sign near your driveway, which we don't have yet. The excavator will clear the driveway. As long as he's there with a bulldozer, it makes sense to have him clear the building site and possibly dig the pit for the privy. That means that before we have him do the work, we have a lot of big questions to answer. The well digger can't do his job until we have the building site as well as the privy site settled either. He also needs a soil test to be done before he'll do anything. The electric is also crazy complicated. They will come in and run a line out to our building site and install a temporary meter so we have power to run our tools. That would be very good. They bury the cables out there so the trees don't continually knock out power. We have to provide them with a trench to run the cables in. Sounds like a job for the guy with the bulldozer, right? The only problem with that is they have to bury the cables before November 1, because of the weather. They will also charge us a minimum monthly charge for the power whether we are there using it or not. That makes us think we should wait and get the power drop done in the spring and save a few bucks. This doesn't even begin to address the issue of permits. (Yes, we're pulling permits. . .) Everyone wants their own permit pulled, township, country, state, etc. They weren't kidding when they call this raw land. We are literally starting from scratch and the reality of that is setting in slowly but surely!

Short and Sweet

We went up to camp this weekend and just spent the day. Our goal was to finish the deck which required buying an extremely heavy load of green-treated decking. Ray spent several hours at the lumberyard at home last weekend only to decide that it was too heavy a load to haul all the way to WI. We found a Menard's in nearby Rice Lake where we could get the supplies we needed. That way we only had to drive the 16' boards 14 miles rather than 90. We nailed the floor into place and then cut the edge to fit.


We celebrated our accomplishment with a burger and a beer at a local bar and then headed back to the city. Next time we go up we should have a cozy place to stay. The kids kept themselves busy by building "Hole City." They found a spot with some really sandy soil and were quickly able to dig hole as deep as they are! They found some camoflague netting left there by a hunter and used it to cover the top. I'm glad they have discovered the joy of digging a hole because as you can see from my last post, we still have an important hole to dig!
The other highlight of our trip was meeting our neighbor, Cy, who lives across the street. He has lived up there with his wife for 40 years and had all kinds of information for us about our land. Apparently our lake was built by beavers and didn't even exist as little as 10 years ago. One of the previous owners sold off all the oak trees when he was out of work which account for the many stumps that litter the property. Cy showed us a large grove of sugar maples at the top of our hill. A different previous owner tapped those trees and got 200 gallons of maple sap a day. Cy also taps maples on his property and treated us to some homemade maple syrup. At one time the land was used by a farmer to pasture his cows. Cy showed us an old road that the farmer had cut into the woods that was completely invisible to us until he pointed it out. That "road" just may solve our driveway issues. We are so grateful for both the fun facts and the practical advice he had to offer! In the city, our neighbors offer companionship and a helping hand whenever we need it. I'm sure we are going to come to rely on our new neighbors just as much at our home away from home.

Still No Outhouse. . .

Progress

Things are really starting to shape up at Camp Freedom after a very productive weekend. We managed to haul up the tent and the lumber for the frame. The trailer actually held together although we were too nervous to drive it into the site. We decided to move it "oxen-style" from the road to the building site to keep from destroying it on the last leg. Once we got all the building supplies to the site we had chosen for the tent, we had to clear all the brush and small trees. The construction of the floor frame went really well. Ray had built the whole thing at home and labeled the parts before disassembling it. Once we got there it was just a matter of laying it out and screwing it back together. I got a screwdriver for each member of the family and four sets of hands made short work of the assembly, even without electricity. The next time we go up, we will install the decking on top of the frame and then we can actually stand the tent up. Having the base camp ready and waiting for us will really cut down on the amount of time and energy it takes to stay there. Although we all worked really hard, we also found time for some fun. The boys are starting to learn how to entertain themselves out there in the woods. They are working on a really cool lean-to which I hope they continue to finish on subsequent visits. They already want to know how old they have to be to get their own chainsaws. I hope I don't come to regret this decision!

Measure Thrice, Cut Twice

What a busy week it's been! We had a great Labor Day BBQ in Fort Awesome and have spent this week getting ready to transport the tent up to Camp. The most crucial step was getting a trailer hitch installed on the van. We started calling around last week and U-Haul wanted to charge us $400 to install it. That was too much to pull around a free trailer. Fleet Farm sold us the hitch for just under $200 and Ray insisted he could install it himself. The instructions said the installation should take 45 minutes. Three hours and one borrowed sawzall later, it was on! We have the upright frame for the tent built as well as the floor frame. The floor looks pretty simple but it took Ray a while to get it just right. I believe the plan is to hang some joists in each small square and then install decking on top of that. When it's done it should be a very solid platform. Our goal for this weekend is just to get everything up there and re-assemble and level the floor frame. Everything is predrilled, but it will have to be put together by hand. We won't be able to actually put up the tent on the platform because we don't have the flooring yet. It was too big of a load to move the tent, the frame and the floor so we had to break it down into 2 trips. Hopefully, by the end of September, Fort Awesome will be erected in it's permanent home at Camp Freedom!

Happy Reading!

Ray was doing some research on driveway building and stumbled across this hilarious article. So far we have also found many of these things to be true. I especially liked the section on the importance of waving. It looks like a neat magazine, one we might subscribe to in the future. I can see a pretty basket next to the fireplace with a stack of magazines with articles on how to prepare for civil unrest. . .

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/crist96.html

A Note to my Readers

I was messing around with the settings on this blog and found that I have email updates sent to up to 10 readers anytime a new post was added. I put a few people on the list just to try out the feature. If you got the update and would prefer not to, let me know and I can take you off. If you would like to receive these updates and you're not on my list, let me know and I can put you on. Thanks for reading!

Planning

The kids got back to school this week and I spent some of my free time sketching out floor plans for the cabin. I am certainly not an architect so it will be a major miracle if these chicken scratches are somehow translated into a real building. I need to buy some graph paper and a big eraser and start refining these to scale. Finishing these plans is going to be a wonderful winter project. So far, though, I think I am headed in the right direction. There will be two small bedrooms and a loft that should accommodate at least 4 kids. The main floor is around 750 square feet and the cabin as a whole is just over 1000 square feet including the sleeping loft. It was tricky to get the wood stove centrally located so it would heat the whole building, but also in a place that would be outside of the main traffic flow. I also tried to locate the bedroom doors so as much heat as possible would blow in there. I assume we will need some kind of supplemental heat for those rooms, probably electric baseboard heaters, especially in the dead of winter. But we'd like the wood stove to do the bulk of the heating. I also situated the kitchen and the bathroom so the plumbing would all be in one wall. I am trying to plan this so the construction will be as simple and straightforward as possible. The footprint of the cabin when you include the wide front porch, is a 32 foot square. Ray was thrilled when he heard that. Apparently, squares make figuring out the angles much, much easier. Now we can take some stakes and rope up to the property and stake out a building site. It will be good to have some rough idea of where the building will be so we can property situate the well and the driveway. Progress continues on Fort Awesome and it should be ready for transport by next week. The whole family is looking forward to getting back up there. Most likely, we only have a few weeks left in the season, so we want to take full advantage of them.

Shelter, Part 2

Since coming home from our trip, Ray has been working on building the frame for the wall tent, which has been nicknamed Fort Awesome. It is coming along quite nicely. He is getting the upright structure in place and is then going to turn his attention to the floor. We can't get away over Labor Day, but our plan is to take it up the following weekend. Right now, we are prefabricating the pieces at home. Then we can take everything out to the site and assemble it there. There is no power at Camp right now, so any refinements will have to be done by hand. Eventually, we are looking into getting a generator to run the power tools for the "real" construction, but for now this seems like the easiest solution. This also allows Ray to putter on the frame during the evenings after work. Part of the intent of Camp Freedom was to give Ray a project to work on and he seems very happy out in his workshop. Now that the tent is standing up, it can be seen from over our fence. When people ask us what it is, we tell them it's our vacation home. Now all we need to do is get it in the right yard!

End of an Era

We just got back from a week of vacation at Little Boy Resort in Northern Minnesota. We have been vacationing there every summer for 7 years with our friends, the Schausts. Since we bought Camp Freedom, this will most likely be our last summer up there. Although we are excited about having friends up to our own place in the future, it was sad to say good bye to what has become such a special place for our two families. What made the trip especially sad was when Elena broke her ankle and had to leave early. The last view she saw of our beloved resort was from the back of an ambulance. What had been a lovely, bittersweet trip came to an abrupt and painful end. She had surgery and is now recovering at home. Here is a shot of Elena having fun pre-accident. Get well soon!

Hello From Camp Freedom

This is a bit of video that Ray took on our first day at camp. I think it has kind of a Blair Witch quality to it.

Hobo Dinner

This is how you make a Hobo Dinner. Chop up potatoes, carrots, onions and meat into bite size cubes. Put into foil with a blob of butter and salt. Roll up the foil (Thor likes to roll his "candy style") and stick into the coals of the campfire. Cook until potatoes are tender and enjoy!

Dog of the Wild

I think Georgia, our dog, had more fun than any of us this weekend. At home, she always has to be on a leash or in her yard. Unfortunately, she has very little opportunities for freedom, until now. Her favorite activity seemed to be finding something disgusting on the ground and then rolling in it. She got to run, romp and explore - leash free. It was really beautiful to watch.

Sunrise over Mud Lake

Guthrie, the strongest boy in the world

Push the play button to watch an amazing feat of strength! (Sorry that it is sideways - that's my fault!)

It's Official

We went up to camp this weekend to close on the property. I thought it was really funny to keep asking, "So, when do we get the keys?" As it turns out, closing on a piece of vacant land is a lot simpler than closing on a house. We signed a few papers, gave them a check, shook a few hands and that was that. The realtor that handled the deal gave us a very nice gift bag with wine, cheese, olives, fancy salami, and chocolates. We enjoyed all of those treats around the very first campfire at Camp Freedom and toasted to our good fortune and the beginning of great adventures. It was so fun to be there knowing that it was really ours. But then the reality started setting in. There is so much to do to make it a comfortable, usable camp. For example, there is no driveway. We found a clearing and pulled the van over so at least it was off the street. Promptly, several people pulled over wanting to know if we were stuck and needed help getting the car out. Surely, no one would put a car there on purpose! I quickly realized that this was not the middle of nowhere. As it turns out, Camp Freedom is located in a very small town where people noticed when a car full of strangers pulled off the road and started unloading a van full of gear in the woods. Luckily, these were likeable old guys that let us be after we assured them we weren't in any trouble. I have a feeling we will come to count on some of these characters for valuable advice and support in the future. During the course of the weekend, we got a rough idea of where the driveway will go in, as well as a plan for where to build the platform for the wall tent. Hopefully, we will get back out there over Labor Day weekend, ready to dig in, literally. We have a spot for the outhouse all staked out. So if anyone's not busy over Labor Day . . .

Shelter

Last night we picked up a canvas wall tent off Craigslist. This is a huge heavy duty army issue tent from the 1960's. It is 16x16 and weighs about 250lbs. It came with a wooden door and a small wood stove. My understanding is that people around here use these tents as semi-permanent hunting shelters. They are very warm and can be used almost all year round. We are going to build a wooden platform for it as well as a wooden frame so it can be left up most of the year. Making this into a usable shelter will certainly be our first construction challenge. This is the photo of the tent that was on Craigslist.

This is what Ray brought home. . .


Here is the little stove that came with it.


The whole set-up is pretty cool because it was mostly handmade. The family that was getting rid of it had been using it forever and gave us great tips on how to set it up correctly and keep it in good working order. They even gave us this neat wooden chest they had built to store it in. We're not planning on using it right away. I want to give it a good scrubbing and Ray needs to repair a few of the parts. While we're at camp this weekend, we will choose a site for it. Hopefully, the next time we go up, we can build the platform and set it up in it's permanent home. Ray loves it and keeps saying how it's just like MASH. I love it and say it will be just like Out of Africa. I envision 4 cots in there with mosquito netting fluttering over them as well as a small table and chairs with a little lantern hissing cheerfully in the evenings. Thor says he would like to use it as a stable for the horse we going to keep at Camp Freedom. Guthrie is excited to cook a steak over the wood stove. We each have our own fantasies about what this adventure is. Luckily, so far, there is enough overlap between those fantasies to keep us all happy. In the meantime, hopefully, this will become a comfortable home base for us while we work on the rest of our projects.

Lists

We are heading up to Camp Freedom this weekend. The closing is on Friday afternoon and we going to stay there for a few nights. I came home from work and Ray had been writing a list of things he wants to bring with him on the trip. Here is that list:
Tent
4 Sleeping Bags
3 Tarps or Poly
Tent Stakes
Sleeping Mats
Camp Chairs
Camp Stove
Gas for Stove
Matches
Big Water Cooler
Small Shovel
T.P.
Twine or String
Flags
Hatchet
Bug Spray
Itch Cream
Measuring Tape
Fire Starting Kit and Kindling
Flashlights and Lanterns
Dishes and Food Prep Supplies, Tongs
Hobo Dinner
Paper for Mapmaking
Pencils, ruler
Bows, Arrows
Binoculars
Waterproof Boots
Campfire Coffee Pot
Mallets
First Aid Kit
Bucket
Long Pants
Closed Shoes
Hats
Grass whip / weed wacker

Now I don't want anyone to think I am criticizing him by publishing this list. I appreciate his planning although I am getting a bit nervous about the scope of this. Normally, I am this kind of camper:

Lawn Chair
People Magazine
Poptarts
Beer

I may be in a bit over my head, but at least I have some good company!

Warrior

Thor is home! I just drove up to Eveleth yesterday to pick him up from Camp Warren. He was gone for 2 weeks and I finally feel like I can breath again! He had an amazing time swimming, boating, shooting bows and arrows and riding horses. Each camper gets to choose 4 different activities and work on those skills during the session. One of the activities he chose was called "Warren Warriors." There was a little awards ceremony before we left where each activity leader got up and told a bit about their program. A nice, soft-spoken young man named Colin got up to describe this new program. Apparently, he just wanted to take the boys out and teach them how to have fun in the woods. It was a combination of lifting and throwing heavy things, poking at gross things, jumping off tall things with a liberal sprinkling of ninja moves thrown in. The first thing Thor wanted to show me when I got to camp was his running shoulder roll. I have to admit, it was quite impressive. I know a lot of these skills will serve him well at Camp Freedom!

Serendipity

We've spent a lot of time wondering what to do first. This project is so big that it's hard to know where to start. One thing we've been thinking about is our transportation. We have a little minivan with 4-wheel drive. It isn't pretty but it runs like a tank and we abuse it like a truck. We decided to have a trailer hitch put on it and buy a small utility trailer that we could use to haul tools, camping gear, building supplies, etc. to and from the site. I had been looking at trailers on craigslist (where I get everything) and everyone seemed to want several hundred dollars for what appeared to be broken old trailers. Then one day I saw this little cutie on the parkway a few blocks away from home. It was clearly part of a free pile. There was an old couch and some other garbage laid out around it. The trailer looked so nice that I couldn't believe my luck. I parked the car, got out and looked at it for a while hoping someone might come out of the house. Pretty soon a nice guy came out. I knew him a little bit because the family has a daughter who is in Guthrie's class at school. I asked him if they were actually getting rid of the trailer. He assured me they were. He said they used it for family camping trips for many years and just didn't need it anymore. He wondered what I was going to do with it so I told him a bit about our plans. He seemed happy that it was going to a good home. I don't have a hitch on the van yet, so I had to go home and get another neighbor with a truck to help me haul it to my garage. Ray was out of town on a boy scout camping trip at the time so I surprised him with it when he got home the next day. Being able to get the trailer without Ray's help (or his money) made me feel resourceful and competent. I am so lucky to live in a neighborhood full of helpful, friendly people with great free piles!

P.S. This post is dedicated to the family at the end of 30th Ave. and neighbor Sam. Thanks for being awesome!

Photos

I had a nice evening last night. A few of the girls got together for a little baby shower for Julie who is expecting #3 in a few weeks. The showers have really changed as we've all had more kids. It used to be baby food games and onesies, now it's just an excuse for booze and cake. Way more fun if you ask me! I was showing my guests the photos of Camp Freedom from the realtor's listing page and it occurred to me that maybe I could transfer them onto the blog. So I am going to attempt that today. Some people seem to be surprised that I am attempting this blog, what with my reputation as a bit of a technophobe. So far it's been easier and more fun than I expected, mostly because of all the nice responses Ray and I have gotten since yesterday. It has been great to hear from so many of you! Who knows, this "internet" may catch on after all . . .