The river has jammed and two guys are going out to make about a 7 mile trail today. I can not travel the river yet for a couple of reasons; First and foremost, I am a chicken and there are still a few areas of open water. Second, we don't have any snow on the river so there is nothing to lubricate and cool the snowmachine.
All I need for river travel is some snow and someone elses tracks (that did not fall in the river) to follow.
Pictures and stuff to come, just pretty busy for now. Wanted to do a short update.
Thanks for caring enough to read this!
See Ya,
Roger
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
A Mental Experience
Today was a typical day. I went over to one of my wood stashes and split, hauled and stacked about a cord of wood today then I started cutting up another really big tree that fell down in the forest near the trail. I have been trying to collect dead and down trees fast enough to keep up with our wood consumption so that our stock pile does not deplete until the dead of winter. Myra did her domestic chores and visited with Shan today. I cut wood until it got too dark in the woods to be safe. I looked at the sky and it was glowing red so I headed for the river to see what was left of sunset. This was about 4:30pm this afternoon.
When I arrived at the rivers edge I had one of those experiences that I want to try my best to share. Please close your eyes and read along, try to feel and picture this through my words. Oh wait, open your eyes back up or you can't read along.
The Air; it was 9 degrees out side and very low humidity. There is a gentle breeze blowing along the river bank and it is gently polishing my face with the crispness. It does not feel all that cold mostly crisp, I believe this is due to the low humidity. Breath in deep through your nose and get a sense of the cleanest air with a crisp edge. There is no smell that can be separated or sensed, just clean and crisp.
The Snow; crunchy under foot. When on a path the snow is very solid. Step into the fluff over by the edge of the high bank and sink to the middle of your shins in a delicate powder of crystal snow. You walk through this snow easier than walking through water, it just moves away from your feet as you stride foreword.
The Sound; Gentle breeze, only the slightest rustle in the trees. The water is flowing over rocks in the river, there is a bubbling noise from this. There is Ice and Slush floating in the swift current. The ice, as it hits the edges of the rim ice makes an almost Hollow sounding grinding noise. As the slush rubs together in the water or along the bank it makes a hissing noise. This gentle hiss never stops along with the gentle breeze and the bubbling water. The sounds are gentle and orchestrated, it could lull you to sleep with a perfect picture in your mind.
The Scenery; Standing twenty feet above the rivers edge, water and ice flowing. Surrounded by a Forrest behind, beside and across the river. Look to the right, up river, and there is Yenlo Hills and Yenlo Mountain, capped with snow, but interestingly enough the lower sides of the mountain seem to be void of snow. The sky above this mountain has thin clouds of slightly gray and blue. Look left and there is Forrest covered with mostly blue sky with wisp of clouds painted orange by the sunset. Begin to look from there toward straight ahead and the sky changes. The clouds go from orange to almost yellow to blue, then lavender. The sky clears shortly before the Tordillo Mountain range comes into view. The tops of the mountains appear to be on Fire with the sun. Brilliant, fire orange clouds (blowing snow) lifts from the edges of the mountains. They are lined all along with the fire glow. Peaks to eleven thousand feet down to the valleys as low as I can see above the forest. The contrast between the forest that is just across the river and the mountains that are from thirty to fifty and sixty miles away is spectacular. From deep evergreens to fire orange rimmed mountains going up and down.
All I could do was stand still and breath. Feeling alive beyond any sensation that I could compare this to. The colors change as the sun goes down, I can't move. Minutes went by, Colors went by, Ice flowed, the breeze blew and I just stood there, amazed.
Eventually it got dark and the show subsided. When I finally did walk away I realized I had stood still so long my legs and feet hurt. I had to loosen muscles that had strained for the days work. I climbed onto the snowmachine and rode home, put things away and the day is coming to a conclusion.
I am a lucky man today!
Thank You for being here,
Roger
When I arrived at the rivers edge I had one of those experiences that I want to try my best to share. Please close your eyes and read along, try to feel and picture this through my words. Oh wait, open your eyes back up or you can't read along.
The Air; it was 9 degrees out side and very low humidity. There is a gentle breeze blowing along the river bank and it is gently polishing my face with the crispness. It does not feel all that cold mostly crisp, I believe this is due to the low humidity. Breath in deep through your nose and get a sense of the cleanest air with a crisp edge. There is no smell that can be separated or sensed, just clean and crisp.
The Snow; crunchy under foot. When on a path the snow is very solid. Step into the fluff over by the edge of the high bank and sink to the middle of your shins in a delicate powder of crystal snow. You walk through this snow easier than walking through water, it just moves away from your feet as you stride foreword.
The Sound; Gentle breeze, only the slightest rustle in the trees. The water is flowing over rocks in the river, there is a bubbling noise from this. There is Ice and Slush floating in the swift current. The ice, as it hits the edges of the rim ice makes an almost Hollow sounding grinding noise. As the slush rubs together in the water or along the bank it makes a hissing noise. This gentle hiss never stops along with the gentle breeze and the bubbling water. The sounds are gentle and orchestrated, it could lull you to sleep with a perfect picture in your mind.
The Scenery; Standing twenty feet above the rivers edge, water and ice flowing. Surrounded by a Forrest behind, beside and across the river. Look to the right, up river, and there is Yenlo Hills and Yenlo Mountain, capped with snow, but interestingly enough the lower sides of the mountain seem to be void of snow. The sky above this mountain has thin clouds of slightly gray and blue. Look left and there is Forrest covered with mostly blue sky with wisp of clouds painted orange by the sunset. Begin to look from there toward straight ahead and the sky changes. The clouds go from orange to almost yellow to blue, then lavender. The sky clears shortly before the Tordillo Mountain range comes into view. The tops of the mountains appear to be on Fire with the sun. Brilliant, fire orange clouds (blowing snow) lifts from the edges of the mountains. They are lined all along with the fire glow. Peaks to eleven thousand feet down to the valleys as low as I can see above the forest. The contrast between the forest that is just across the river and the mountains that are from thirty to fifty and sixty miles away is spectacular. From deep evergreens to fire orange rimmed mountains going up and down.
All I could do was stand still and breath. Feeling alive beyond any sensation that I could compare this to. The colors change as the sun goes down, I can't move. Minutes went by, Colors went by, Ice flowed, the breeze blew and I just stood there, amazed.
Eventually it got dark and the show subsided. When I finally did walk away I realized I had stood still so long my legs and feet hurt. I had to loosen muscles that had strained for the days work. I climbed onto the snowmachine and rode home, put things away and the day is coming to a conclusion.
I am a lucky man today!
Thank You for being here,
Roger
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
River Travel maybe Soon
We got word today from our friends at Yentna Station that the river ice jammed in front of their place today about 10:00 am. This is about 25 miles down river from us and as I am told it typically takes from 1 1/2 to 2 days for the jam to reach back to us. I went to the river 3 times today just to watch the ice flow and see it progress. There is definitely the most ice I have seen so far. The excitement from other people along the river is almost palpable. We are in contact with several people via facebook and email and everyone is ready for the river to freeze solid.
We may be able to travel in about 7 to 10 days. the forecast is for clear cold weather for several days in a row then snow on Sunday. This is the perfect scenario because the river will have time to get solid then the snow will cushion it and lubricate the snowmachines.
This is all great news and a little disappointing. We begin care taking the lodge in 9 days and that means one of us always has to be there. This means Myra will not be going to town because she is not traveling 65 miles down river on a snowmachine by herself. I am the MAN around here and that is MY job darn it! Just kidding about all that male chauvinist stuff but, she won't make the trip alone so I will be making a trip or two by myself since we can't leave the lodge unattended. All in the timing huh. I guess God decided to see how she will deal with being in the bush for about 4 months straight without seeing "civilization".
I am very happy to say that we seem to have done a good job of stocking up on fuel and groceries to get through this freeze up period. We did get some good advice from our friends and neighbors about what to expect and how to plan for it. Of course heeding their advice and making the list and deciding just What we were going to stock was up to us. Thank God we were not to proud or dumb to listen to what we were being told. We haven't really ran out of anything except popcorn. Thankfully one of the neighbors had been in town and they called us before they flew home to see if we needed anything and they brought us more popcorn before we actually ran out, but we are using the new supply now. If you know Myra and I well, you know popcorn is a staple of life and it might not be worth getting up in the morning if there is no popcorn available. Thankfully, we never had to find out!
With all of this being said, we still have not seen the river stop flowing here and there is no guarantee that I am going to town in 10 days until I am on my way to town (if you know what I mean). So, I have spoken proudly about us doing a good job BUT, this is still all contingent on God following my plan and he finishes freezing the river. If he fails to read my script (or if he reads it and laughs at it) and he decides to do something different, like thaw the river back out and make us wait longer, then I will have to wait and see if we did such a good job all over again.
Life has been pretty routine for the last few days with a couple of exceptions. Myra got to do laundry in the house, with a machine! I think I posted before that I got the little washing machine that was here working all except the water pump, if not, well I did. We pour the water into it and I re-plumbed it so that it gravity drains. Here is the kicker. I welded together a 33" by 40" stainless steel shower pan and installed it up stairs with a drain pipe into buckets downstairs. We took REAL comfortable showers (here) for the first time last Friday. No standing in a galvanized tub and no shower curtain sticking to my leg Woo Whoo! OK, back to the laundry. I got the idea that the shower pan was big enough to set the little washing machine in it. This is required since the seals on the agitator leak and it drips all the time you are using it. I would fix it but it is obsolete and no parts available. I may have to try to make some new seals if the leaking gets much worse though. OK, back to laundry again. Anyhow; we carried the little washer up stairs and were talking about getting the buckets around to drain it and Myra said "too bad there isn't a way to just put a drain out the kitchen window or something since it will take so many buckets to drain this thing". Bing! a light went off in my head. I grabbed a couple of 90s, some more pipe, tools and misc stuff and in under 20 minutes I devised a detachable drain line that we stick out the window when needed then remove it when finished. No tub under the cabin, no worry of water leaching where we don't want it, and it works. I will dig in a leech field next spring but for now, we have quite a few less buckets to haul and indoor laundry and shower facilities.
Oh Yea, the shower. Our shower curtain rods are made from two 12" wall style plant hangers hanging down from the ceiling holding Birch sapling tree "curtain rods". Myra went to the woods and found 3 saplings of "just the right size" and cut them, then peeled them and sanded them to make the rods. I then screwed two of them to the back wall of the shower (one on each end of the shower) and hung them from the plant hangers. Then laid the other rod on top of them for the front rod and tied them together with some nifty nylon rope. I put Fiberglass board on the back wall of the shower and we have a three sided shower curtain and it looks and works great! Life is SO GOOD when you can take a HOT shower in a full size shower stall. If only I could tell you how nice it is. You might think you know but trust me, until you have gone months with either motel showers (few and far between and in a motel), use baby wipes or you are standing in a galvanized tub with a shower curtain stuck to your legs, you don't know how nice it is to have a good shower. I still have to haul the water to the barrel and charge the battery that runs the water pump, put fuel in the generator that charges the battery, haul the fuel 65 miles to get it here, haul the propane for the water heater, but I have a shower, oh, how sweet it is!
My first trip to town on the snowmachine I will have to figure a few things out. We have purchased a new (used) heavy hauling style snowmachine that is at the Deshka Landing where our truck is. I have purchased a freight sled from our friends at Yentna Station that I have to pick up from them, and I need it to haul our groceries and supplies. I will have to leave a snowmachine at the landing when I pick up the new one so I would like to leave the small machine there. The small machine does not have a hitch so picking up the freight sled would be out of the question. Myra bought a loveseat that I am supposed to pick up along with groceries and propane while I am in town so I need the freight sled. I need a two person snowmachine to be able to take two people to the landing to pick up the little snowmachine and get both machines back up river. It's another riddle of living up here. I can't take Myra, I can't leave the two person machine (the new machine is one person) I can't haul the freight sled with the little machine. I guess I go 40 miles past Yentna Station, with the little machine, get the new machine, go back to Yentna Station and pick up the freight sled, go back down river 40 miles, then go to town. Let me see, that will be 63 plus 40 plus 40, yep one hundred forty three miles to get to the landing on a snowmachine for the first trip after freeze up. Then I get to drive about 35 miles into town.
Did I ever tell you it is one hundred and two miles to the closest Walmart, and that is in Wasilla (the far side) which is the nearest real town. There is the community of Willow with its population of 83 people and then Huston with 150 people but to actually go to a real store it is well over 95 miles.
Enough for one post, sorry for no pictures again, it is really cold and my cheap little camera is not doing well with it. Maybe I will get a new "cheap little camera" when I get to town.
Thanks for letting me share. It really helped to think thru the snowmachine freight sled thingy.
Talk to you soon,
Roger
We may be able to travel in about 7 to 10 days. the forecast is for clear cold weather for several days in a row then snow on Sunday. This is the perfect scenario because the river will have time to get solid then the snow will cushion it and lubricate the snowmachines.
This is all great news and a little disappointing. We begin care taking the lodge in 9 days and that means one of us always has to be there. This means Myra will not be going to town because she is not traveling 65 miles down river on a snowmachine by herself. I am the MAN around here and that is MY job darn it! Just kidding about all that male chauvinist stuff but, she won't make the trip alone so I will be making a trip or two by myself since we can't leave the lodge unattended. All in the timing huh. I guess God decided to see how she will deal with being in the bush for about 4 months straight without seeing "civilization".
I am very happy to say that we seem to have done a good job of stocking up on fuel and groceries to get through this freeze up period. We did get some good advice from our friends and neighbors about what to expect and how to plan for it. Of course heeding their advice and making the list and deciding just What we were going to stock was up to us. Thank God we were not to proud or dumb to listen to what we were being told. We haven't really ran out of anything except popcorn. Thankfully one of the neighbors had been in town and they called us before they flew home to see if we needed anything and they brought us more popcorn before we actually ran out, but we are using the new supply now. If you know Myra and I well, you know popcorn is a staple of life and it might not be worth getting up in the morning if there is no popcorn available. Thankfully, we never had to find out!
With all of this being said, we still have not seen the river stop flowing here and there is no guarantee that I am going to town in 10 days until I am on my way to town (if you know what I mean). So, I have spoken proudly about us doing a good job BUT, this is still all contingent on God following my plan and he finishes freezing the river. If he fails to read my script (or if he reads it and laughs at it) and he decides to do something different, like thaw the river back out and make us wait longer, then I will have to wait and see if we did such a good job all over again.
Life has been pretty routine for the last few days with a couple of exceptions. Myra got to do laundry in the house, with a machine! I think I posted before that I got the little washing machine that was here working all except the water pump, if not, well I did. We pour the water into it and I re-plumbed it so that it gravity drains. Here is the kicker. I welded together a 33" by 40" stainless steel shower pan and installed it up stairs with a drain pipe into buckets downstairs. We took REAL comfortable showers (here) for the first time last Friday. No standing in a galvanized tub and no shower curtain sticking to my leg Woo Whoo! OK, back to the laundry. I got the idea that the shower pan was big enough to set the little washing machine in it. This is required since the seals on the agitator leak and it drips all the time you are using it. I would fix it but it is obsolete and no parts available. I may have to try to make some new seals if the leaking gets much worse though. OK, back to laundry again. Anyhow; we carried the little washer up stairs and were talking about getting the buckets around to drain it and Myra said "too bad there isn't a way to just put a drain out the kitchen window or something since it will take so many buckets to drain this thing". Bing! a light went off in my head. I grabbed a couple of 90s, some more pipe, tools and misc stuff and in under 20 minutes I devised a detachable drain line that we stick out the window when needed then remove it when finished. No tub under the cabin, no worry of water leaching where we don't want it, and it works. I will dig in a leech field next spring but for now, we have quite a few less buckets to haul and indoor laundry and shower facilities.
Oh Yea, the shower. Our shower curtain rods are made from two 12" wall style plant hangers hanging down from the ceiling holding Birch sapling tree "curtain rods". Myra went to the woods and found 3 saplings of "just the right size" and cut them, then peeled them and sanded them to make the rods. I then screwed two of them to the back wall of the shower (one on each end of the shower) and hung them from the plant hangers. Then laid the other rod on top of them for the front rod and tied them together with some nifty nylon rope. I put Fiberglass board on the back wall of the shower and we have a three sided shower curtain and it looks and works great! Life is SO GOOD when you can take a HOT shower in a full size shower stall. If only I could tell you how nice it is. You might think you know but trust me, until you have gone months with either motel showers (few and far between and in a motel), use baby wipes or you are standing in a galvanized tub with a shower curtain stuck to your legs, you don't know how nice it is to have a good shower. I still have to haul the water to the barrel and charge the battery that runs the water pump, put fuel in the generator that charges the battery, haul the fuel 65 miles to get it here, haul the propane for the water heater, but I have a shower, oh, how sweet it is!
My first trip to town on the snowmachine I will have to figure a few things out. We have purchased a new (used) heavy hauling style snowmachine that is at the Deshka Landing where our truck is. I have purchased a freight sled from our friends at Yentna Station that I have to pick up from them, and I need it to haul our groceries and supplies. I will have to leave a snowmachine at the landing when I pick up the new one so I would like to leave the small machine there. The small machine does not have a hitch so picking up the freight sled would be out of the question. Myra bought a loveseat that I am supposed to pick up along with groceries and propane while I am in town so I need the freight sled. I need a two person snowmachine to be able to take two people to the landing to pick up the little snowmachine and get both machines back up river. It's another riddle of living up here. I can't take Myra, I can't leave the two person machine (the new machine is one person) I can't haul the freight sled with the little machine. I guess I go 40 miles past Yentna Station, with the little machine, get the new machine, go back to Yentna Station and pick up the freight sled, go back down river 40 miles, then go to town. Let me see, that will be 63 plus 40 plus 40, yep one hundred forty three miles to get to the landing on a snowmachine for the first trip after freeze up. Then I get to drive about 35 miles into town.
Did I ever tell you it is one hundred and two miles to the closest Walmart, and that is in Wasilla (the far side) which is the nearest real town. There is the community of Willow with its population of 83 people and then Huston with 150 people but to actually go to a real store it is well over 95 miles.
Enough for one post, sorry for no pictures again, it is really cold and my cheap little camera is not doing well with it. Maybe I will get a new "cheap little camera" when I get to town.
Thanks for letting me share. It really helped to think thru the snowmachine freight sled thingy.
Talk to you soon,
Roger
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
What Routine?
Let me start off by saying Thank You to all who have served or are serving in the Armed Forces. Without your sacrifices things like this blog would not be. Thank you.
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| Jeff and Hans |
OK that said now it is my turn to let you know how life is for me today. I have no "routine" per se other than if it needs done, do it. LOL Most days Roger gets up before I do, he is a morning person, I am more of a night owl. He will usually let me know when the coffee is ready unless it is really early like this morning. (He got up at 6:30 for some reason). I was awoken at about 8 when he yelled at Hans to "KNOCK IT OFF"!!!!!! Apparently Hans was chewing on the underside of the house. He loves to chew on wood and loves to grab a hold of roots etc and try to pull them loose. He is such a puppy! Oh wait he is only 6 months old. Sometimes it is hard to remember since he is bigger than Jeff.
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| Roger "cooking" |
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| Medium Rare Rib eyes Mmmmmmmmmm! |
Anyway where was I? Oh yeah time to get up. Coffee, Internet, Farmville. Got to keep those crops and animals alive right? It's just practice for the real ones. Get dressed, do dishes if needed, they do NOT get done everyday. That would take too much water so I do dishes when necessary. Which means either we are out of silverware or out of counter space to stack the dirty ones. One way of saving on the amount of dishes we dirty is to cook in the wood stove like tonight. When I had asked Roger what he wanted for supper he said he was in the mood for beef. Anyway he pulled a couple of rib eyes out of the freezer and we were talking of ways to fix them when Roger said something about cooked over fire. Well I was off and running with that one. How could we possible cook them inside the wood burner? We don't have a basket thingy like some people use on grills for fish or hot dogs so how could this be done? Steaks over a wood fire just sounded wonderful and I was going to figure out a way by golly. So I started looking at what I had for cooking on the grill and over a campfire and BINGO! Two really big long handled cooking forks and some S hooks squeezed together and WALAAAAAA!
There is always cleaning of some type or other that needs done, laundry, cooking, making bread, sewing curtains, and then do it all over again. It is a continuous cycle that you just do. There are some days when I just don't feel like doing it so some of it gets put off but you can only do that for so long or you get buried pretty quick in a 640 sf house. Thank God for the back porch and the "barn" for storing stuff in. Yes Roger is probably right that I have been "bushwhacked" at times. I think some of that is also the time of year. The first Halloween not with the grand kids, and now Thanksgiving coming. We will be lodge sitting between Thanksgiving and Christmas so if the river doesn't freeze up and become safe to travel on by snow machine it may be after Christmas before I get to town. I won't go by myself, not like Roger would let me anyway, even though I hopefully have my "crash" out of the way. I was just trying to get it over with early. Actually I was paying too much attention to the dogs and not enough to what I was doing and where I was at. Oh well, lesson learned, the dogs will have to watch out for themselves.
I posted a picture of the Let It Snow sign before but I think someone read it as you can see. This isn't even since the last snowfall but the one before. Now you can't even see that little bit of Santa. I could post tons and tons of pictures of the sunset from last night but I will do that later. It is getting late and I am about ready for bed. So here is one of them, again an incredible, indescribable unbelievable show of God's Handiwork. On those days when I am struggling with the isolation and missing family and friends it seems that God gives me a show like this to again remind how blessed I truly am. I have a wonderful husband that I finally am getting to know, usually even like him, 4 wonderfully fun and funny animals, a roof over my head, food in my belly and some of the most incredible scenery imaginable. I truly am blessed to have this opportunity. Thank you all for sharing it with us. Blessings, Myra
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| What could I possibly say? |
Quick Update
I don't have much at all today but wanted to touch base with everyone.
The snow machine "Lucky" just might not be at fault for all those broken mirrors? Myra and I went for a short ride the other day. It was her first time out on the machines this year. I warned her of how soft the snow is (top 6 or 8 inches anyhow) and told her to shift her wieght and lean in extreme because it was like driving on water. I was riding Lucky and was leading out our back trail. I got to the end of our property and stopped to look back before I turned onto the next trail. NO Myra. I turned off my machine and listened, No Myra. I hollard loudly and I hear a return "something". I hollard again and I hear "I got it back up". Well, to make a long story short, when I got back to Myra she was still cleaning the snow off of her glasses and staightening them. It seems she went in face first as she fell off the machine as it was tipping over.
No harm, No foul, she did not get hurt and neither did the machine, but her face sure did get red from the cold for a few minutes, lol.
Anyhow, she now leans to extreme on the little hills and corners and no more incidents have taken place.
Over the last few days we have gotten about 13" of fresh powder snow that has settled down to about 8" of fluff now. this is on top of 6" of very hard packed base. The temperatures have been in the single digits the last couple of nights, 2 degrees last night, and a high of 12 yesterday.
The river has the most ice on it I have seen so far. Neighbor Eric came by yesterday, during conversation he said in his experience that it appears to be about 2 more weeks for "Freeze Up" maybe three at the absolute most. Of course he then added the disclaimer that, God is in charge and this is always subject to change.
Oh well, still here for now, and living the dream.
Thanks for being here,
See Ya
Roger
The snow machine "Lucky" just might not be at fault for all those broken mirrors? Myra and I went for a short ride the other day. It was her first time out on the machines this year. I warned her of how soft the snow is (top 6 or 8 inches anyhow) and told her to shift her wieght and lean in extreme because it was like driving on water. I was riding Lucky and was leading out our back trail. I got to the end of our property and stopped to look back before I turned onto the next trail. NO Myra. I turned off my machine and listened, No Myra. I hollard loudly and I hear a return "something". I hollard again and I hear "I got it back up". Well, to make a long story short, when I got back to Myra she was still cleaning the snow off of her glasses and staightening them. It seems she went in face first as she fell off the machine as it was tipping over.
No harm, No foul, she did not get hurt and neither did the machine, but her face sure did get red from the cold for a few minutes, lol.
Anyhow, she now leans to extreme on the little hills and corners and no more incidents have taken place.
Over the last few days we have gotten about 13" of fresh powder snow that has settled down to about 8" of fluff now. this is on top of 6" of very hard packed base. The temperatures have been in the single digits the last couple of nights, 2 degrees last night, and a high of 12 yesterday.
The river has the most ice on it I have seen so far. Neighbor Eric came by yesterday, during conversation he said in his experience that it appears to be about 2 more weeks for "Freeze Up" maybe three at the absolute most. Of course he then added the disclaimer that, God is in charge and this is always subject to change.
Oh well, still here for now, and living the dream.
Thanks for being here,
See Ya
Roger
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Today, as I experience it.
We have posted twice now that freeze up has started. As of today we have had snow on the ground for 12 days with absolutely no sign of melting. We even had a hard down pour of rain about 4 days into the snow and it did not melt. It has snowed some every twenty four hour period since it started. The river on the other hand, well, as the video will show it was beginning to freeze nicely. While a little of the rim ice is still in place, there is no floating ice on the river again today. I know that I don't know much about the Eco system around here but this river is strange. Freezing is as fickle as water depth during the summer, I have no idea what it is going to do.
We have been land locked to our little "Island in the Forest" for between 7 and 8 (me 7, Myra 8)weeks now. This is the first time I actually looked at the calender and counted weeks since we have been to town. We do have the two different neighbors that are a couple of miles away and Willie did move to his cabin which is a little closer. Willie is a true Bush person in every sense of your imagination. Picture a guy in his Fifties, lives alone with a couple of dogs, little formal education, lots of love for the territory and been in the woods a long time. Yep, that's Willie. Anyhow, visiting with the neighbors is not a regular thing. There is always so much to do for everyone out here. Just living requires so many hours of the day, it does not matter if you have our little cabin or 10,000 sq ft lodge with a racquetball court, there is a lot to do just to get thru the day. We have only been to each neighbors place one time, together, that I can recall. On occasion I will go over for something like water or mail, or Myra will go for mail or water and this will result in a short visit, but this is not a social event out here. Accessible right now, by means of land are, Northwoods Lodge with Shan and Eric, Bentallit Lodge with Tom and Pat, and Willie.
When living a "Normal" life we would get up in the morning, start the coffee in the Bunn coffeemaker and let the dog out. Coffee was done in 3 minutes or so and off to the shower we go. Then, onto the computer, do email and begin the day of work. Walk into the garage, get into the vehicle and drive to a destination. Get out of the vehicle, walk into a heated/air conditioned building and go about business. When we would get hungry, just go buy a meal somewhere convenient. Building to vehicle, back to building, back into vehicle, etc. If at work in the same building for 8 to ? hours then it was back to the house, picking up an item or ten at the store on the way home. We would live for the weekends and time away from work so that we could go play or do something for ourselves, or just relax and do nothing. Does all of this sound familiar? Work and the number of hours required to travel to and from was the means in which it afforded us to "live". We did see more people (many thousands more) and have very close relationships with some of them (you). The personal time spent together talking, visiting or playing was limited and precious, and still is. Life just seemed to keep getting in the way.
Today we live a very different life. I will speak of my " developing routine" here. I get up in the morning put on my robe and slippers. Go down stairs and change into tennis shoes.Go outside to pee, let the dogs out and start the generator. Come in and start percolated coffee and check the wood burner and get it stocked up and warm in here. Thirty Five minutes later coffee is done and the wood burner needs adjusted. I have now been up for nearly and hour and done virtually nothing but get warm, get electricity, get coffee, get "pee'ed" and maybe have time to get dressed but not usually. Now there is time for a little "wake up" so I fire up the computer for a while, Read the news on the Internet, check email and cook some breakfast. No microwaved or fast food here, usually oatmeal, if we have cereal you get out two cans of condensed milk, dilute it with water, shake it in a sealed quart jar, then you pour your cereal in a bowl. Now put on the tennis shoes again and go outside to relieve some coffee. How many of you have gone outside in nothing but a robe and tennis shoes in a foot or more of snow and 15 degrees to pee, more than once? I know it is a really bad mental image but it is life! Now dressed I've been up for 2 hours and time for chores. Dress for work includes putting on the outside clothing and boots and the gun. Outside is shovel a path, clean snow off of vehicles (snowmachines), scrape snow off of roofs (cabin, generator shed, barn and shop), fire up a snowmachine and pack snow, then groom smooth so we can walk around comfortably, then stock wood into the back porch as needed. Now Pump more fuel into gas cans if needed and check the water supply. Once all of this is done I can begin my task(s) of the day. These may include cutting or splitting more fire wood, going after water, fixing something or building something.
Yesterday for example Myra said she needed an Ironing Board to make her sewing task easier and we did not bring an Ironing Board. We went to the barn and picked out some wood and proceeded to Make and Ironing Board. She now has a nice little portable Ironing Board that she is Making a cover for. I proceeded to work on welding the stainless steel Shower floor pan that I am making. At this point in time we still stand in a 15 gallon galvanized laundry tub to take a shower. At least we have running hot water to it though we do have to haul the tub outside to dump after every shower. When I finish the shower pan I will install it with a drain pipe to go outdoors into the galvanized tub for now, that we will have to dump it quickly so it does not freeze. Next year I will dig in a leech field for the shower and "Gray water" from the house.
After six to ten hours of working on projects plus meal times I can settle in for the evening. Oh Yea, first I may have to re-shovel and pack snow and clean roofs and cover the snowmachines as it seams to be snowing regularly and Every night at least a little. Then gas up the generators so they are ready for the following morning.
We do not have normal TV so most evenings are spent reading with the radio on and some time on the computer looking up "God knows what" stuff or reading a manual for something that isn't working right etc etc etc. Sometimes I watch a video (DVD) and a couple times a week I will watch an outdated TV show on the Internet.
Did you know that even though it seems simple to set down and type that it takes between two and three hours to do one of these blogs. By the time pictures are sorted, re-sized, uploaded and the typing is thought thru (most of the time) the process is quite extensive. This blog post has now taken over two hours and has one video.
Anyhow; back to the general theme of this post. Our life is very much different from what it used to be but it has many familiarities. Instead of going to a Job to earn money to buy the things to live and entertain the Job is to live and build the things we require or want. There is no more "free" time than there was before, in fact, there is less time because of things like wood stove (needs attention 24/7), water (hauling and transferring), waste water and honey buckets, preparing every meal (always), outdoor attention requirements etc. There Are NO modern conveniences even though we have conveniences that are modern. Examples: We have electricity but not with out a generator (and maintenance) and fuel and we have running water but not with out hauling it In & Out etc. There is different time available to "spend" unlike anything that I was once accustomed to. Vegging on the couch for a day still involves maintaining heat, power, water and meals. The utility companies and pizza delivery just don't exist. We don't just run to the store or the fast food place, we don't Just plug in the microwave, we don't Just turn on the faucet to get a drink.
Now after eight weeks of virtually no contact with other people other than computer or some telephone I do see it starting to wear on Myra. I have never been a social butterfly and have always said I could be a hermit. This might just be true for me as I feel very grateful and happy to "just be" here. I do miss the kids and grand kids and will be happy to see them when we make a trip to Ohio, and I even miss most of you folks. I am pretty content to just Be here with Gods gifts of nature for the most part. This style of life does afford time to think. Prioritizing what is Really important is coming to the forefront of my thought process more and more often. I also see Myra struggling with the seclusion. This was the first Halloween she missed with the grand kids and it has brought about a tough period to go along with eight weeks of just being here. There is a lot of personal learning going on with in both of us.
As a couple I think we are doing quite well (at least as I see it). Of course I could be the last to know if there is a problem brewing between us because I am a guy. Again, we are together (at least in very close proximity) twenty four hours a day. This is a change from me traveling about three weeks a month for work. This is another Huge change in our lives, almost as big as the relocation. I personally am as happy with this change, or happier, than anything else. (You will have to ask Myra for her prospective on this.) I feel like I am truly getting to know my wife on a whole new level than ever before, and I like most of her. (She understands, as anyone who has been married thirty one years will understand.)
It is Sunday morning, I have been typing this post for nearly three hours, Myra is beginning to make bread (have I ever mentioned I like bread day) and I have my chores to get done. Sundays we are pretty Non-routine around here. I have found it good to still Take a day to do something different. We do also make time to get out into these surroundings and enjoy the gifts God has given us today. Being able to appreciate the little things is an important part of this life.
Thank You for allowing me to share,
Talk to you soon,
Roger
We have been land locked to our little "Island in the Forest" for between 7 and 8 (me 7, Myra 8)weeks now. This is the first time I actually looked at the calender and counted weeks since we have been to town. We do have the two different neighbors that are a couple of miles away and Willie did move to his cabin which is a little closer. Willie is a true Bush person in every sense of your imagination. Picture a guy in his Fifties, lives alone with a couple of dogs, little formal education, lots of love for the territory and been in the woods a long time. Yep, that's Willie. Anyhow, visiting with the neighbors is not a regular thing. There is always so much to do for everyone out here. Just living requires so many hours of the day, it does not matter if you have our little cabin or 10,000 sq ft lodge with a racquetball court, there is a lot to do just to get thru the day. We have only been to each neighbors place one time, together, that I can recall. On occasion I will go over for something like water or mail, or Myra will go for mail or water and this will result in a short visit, but this is not a social event out here. Accessible right now, by means of land are, Northwoods Lodge with Shan and Eric, Bentallit Lodge with Tom and Pat, and Willie.
When living a "Normal" life we would get up in the morning, start the coffee in the Bunn coffeemaker and let the dog out. Coffee was done in 3 minutes or so and off to the shower we go. Then, onto the computer, do email and begin the day of work. Walk into the garage, get into the vehicle and drive to a destination. Get out of the vehicle, walk into a heated/air conditioned building and go about business. When we would get hungry, just go buy a meal somewhere convenient. Building to vehicle, back to building, back into vehicle, etc. If at work in the same building for 8 to ? hours then it was back to the house, picking up an item or ten at the store on the way home. We would live for the weekends and time away from work so that we could go play or do something for ourselves, or just relax and do nothing. Does all of this sound familiar? Work and the number of hours required to travel to and from was the means in which it afforded us to "live". We did see more people (many thousands more) and have very close relationships with some of them (you). The personal time spent together talking, visiting or playing was limited and precious, and still is. Life just seemed to keep getting in the way.
Today we live a very different life. I will speak of my " developing routine" here. I get up in the morning put on my robe and slippers. Go down stairs and change into tennis shoes.Go outside to pee, let the dogs out and start the generator. Come in and start percolated coffee and check the wood burner and get it stocked up and warm in here. Thirty Five minutes later coffee is done and the wood burner needs adjusted. I have now been up for nearly and hour and done virtually nothing but get warm, get electricity, get coffee, get "pee'ed" and maybe have time to get dressed but not usually. Now there is time for a little "wake up" so I fire up the computer for a while, Read the news on the Internet, check email and cook some breakfast. No microwaved or fast food here, usually oatmeal, if we have cereal you get out two cans of condensed milk, dilute it with water, shake it in a sealed quart jar, then you pour your cereal in a bowl. Now put on the tennis shoes again and go outside to relieve some coffee. How many of you have gone outside in nothing but a robe and tennis shoes in a foot or more of snow and 15 degrees to pee, more than once? I know it is a really bad mental image but it is life! Now dressed I've been up for 2 hours and time for chores. Dress for work includes putting on the outside clothing and boots and the gun. Outside is shovel a path, clean snow off of vehicles (snowmachines), scrape snow off of roofs (cabin, generator shed, barn and shop), fire up a snowmachine and pack snow, then groom smooth so we can walk around comfortably, then stock wood into the back porch as needed. Now Pump more fuel into gas cans if needed and check the water supply. Once all of this is done I can begin my task(s) of the day. These may include cutting or splitting more fire wood, going after water, fixing something or building something.
Yesterday for example Myra said she needed an Ironing Board to make her sewing task easier and we did not bring an Ironing Board. We went to the barn and picked out some wood and proceeded to Make and Ironing Board. She now has a nice little portable Ironing Board that she is Making a cover for. I proceeded to work on welding the stainless steel Shower floor pan that I am making. At this point in time we still stand in a 15 gallon galvanized laundry tub to take a shower. At least we have running hot water to it though we do have to haul the tub outside to dump after every shower. When I finish the shower pan I will install it with a drain pipe to go outdoors into the galvanized tub for now, that we will have to dump it quickly so it does not freeze. Next year I will dig in a leech field for the shower and "Gray water" from the house.
After six to ten hours of working on projects plus meal times I can settle in for the evening. Oh Yea, first I may have to re-shovel and pack snow and clean roofs and cover the snowmachines as it seams to be snowing regularly and Every night at least a little. Then gas up the generators so they are ready for the following morning.
We do not have normal TV so most evenings are spent reading with the radio on and some time on the computer looking up "God knows what" stuff or reading a manual for something that isn't working right etc etc etc. Sometimes I watch a video (DVD) and a couple times a week I will watch an outdated TV show on the Internet.
Did you know that even though it seems simple to set down and type that it takes between two and three hours to do one of these blogs. By the time pictures are sorted, re-sized, uploaded and the typing is thought thru (most of the time) the process is quite extensive. This blog post has now taken over two hours and has one video.
Anyhow; back to the general theme of this post. Our life is very much different from what it used to be but it has many familiarities. Instead of going to a Job to earn money to buy the things to live and entertain the Job is to live and build the things we require or want. There is no more "free" time than there was before, in fact, there is less time because of things like wood stove (needs attention 24/7), water (hauling and transferring), waste water and honey buckets, preparing every meal (always), outdoor attention requirements etc. There Are NO modern conveniences even though we have conveniences that are modern. Examples: We have electricity but not with out a generator (and maintenance) and fuel and we have running water but not with out hauling it In & Out etc. There is different time available to "spend" unlike anything that I was once accustomed to. Vegging on the couch for a day still involves maintaining heat, power, water and meals. The utility companies and pizza delivery just don't exist. We don't just run to the store or the fast food place, we don't Just plug in the microwave, we don't Just turn on the faucet to get a drink.
Now after eight weeks of virtually no contact with other people other than computer or some telephone I do see it starting to wear on Myra. I have never been a social butterfly and have always said I could be a hermit. This might just be true for me as I feel very grateful and happy to "just be" here. I do miss the kids and grand kids and will be happy to see them when we make a trip to Ohio, and I even miss most of you folks. I am pretty content to just Be here with Gods gifts of nature for the most part. This style of life does afford time to think. Prioritizing what is Really important is coming to the forefront of my thought process more and more often. I also see Myra struggling with the seclusion. This was the first Halloween she missed with the grand kids and it has brought about a tough period to go along with eight weeks of just being here. There is a lot of personal learning going on with in both of us.
As a couple I think we are doing quite well (at least as I see it). Of course I could be the last to know if there is a problem brewing between us because I am a guy. Again, we are together (at least in very close proximity) twenty four hours a day. This is a change from me traveling about three weeks a month for work. This is another Huge change in our lives, almost as big as the relocation. I personally am as happy with this change, or happier, than anything else. (You will have to ask Myra for her prospective on this.) I feel like I am truly getting to know my wife on a whole new level than ever before, and I like most of her. (She understands, as anyone who has been married thirty one years will understand.)
It is Sunday morning, I have been typing this post for nearly three hours, Myra is beginning to make bread (have I ever mentioned I like bread day) and I have my chores to get done. Sundays we are pretty Non-routine around here. I have found it good to still Take a day to do something different. We do also make time to get out into these surroundings and enjoy the gifts God has given us today. Being able to appreciate the little things is an important part of this life.
Thank You for allowing me to share,
Talk to you soon,
Roger
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Transistion Time
Well, the snow has been on the ground for about 5 days now. We get an inch or so more every night, then a little melt and settling during the day. We are up to about 6 inches of wet heavy snow pack on the ground. It is time to transistion from ATVs to Snowmachines.
I found it necessary to do some playing the other day before it was time to put the ATVs away and Myra took a bunch of pictures. I had a good time tearing up the yard. You might notice the black straps under my Bibs. There are still Bears wondering around out here, so my gun is still strapped on. I am told that on years like this (late winter arrival)we should expect to see bear sign for another month at least, Oh yea, and they get hungry, tired and discontented.
Today I got out the Snowmachines from under their tarps. They both started right up, as expected, and away I went on the test runs down the trails. All went very well with the little sled,it ran well, handled a little stiff but loosened up and back to the cabin I came. I hooked up to the groomer that I have built and pulled it around a little bit and it works very well also. The snow is so wet and heavy that the short track machine did have a problem pulling it so I parked it and emptied the snow out of it and declared, all is good.
I jumped on the two person 800cc machine and took off down the trail. This machine has a history of bucking, unexpectedly, like a pony we had when I was a kid. The ponies name was Lucky and I was never sure if the pony was Lucky because my Dad did not kill it with the two by four, or if the rider was Lucky that the pony did not kill them? Oops, got sidetracked, back to the snowmachine. Well me and the 800cc Lucky rounded the first tight corner and caught the side of a little mogul and over I went. "Luckily" I had just rounded this corner and was only doing about 2 mile an hour. It was a slow motion tip over, with plenty of time to recall my mistake. I even had time to watch the machine tip onto the mirror on the left side. "Luckily" it was the mirror on the left side because this machine has broken 3 mirrors on the right side. One of them was less than two hours after being replaced from the previous rollover (ask Myra, I can't tell). Anyhow, the left mirror flexed on its' spring loaded mount and snapped right back into position. No Harm, No Foul, the machine is perfect and hopefully it got its' bucking out of its' system for the year. I drove it back to the cabin and hooked up to the "Skwagon" that I built.
Definition: "Skwagon" vowel, meaning; ATV Tow behind Wagon that Roger made Skis for and strapped them to the wheels. Another story, another time, with pictures.
OK, I hooked up to the Skwagon for a test run with it. The Skwagon performed flawlessly but, the snow is so wet and heavy, when I had to run slow with the Skwagon I could not kick up enough snow to cool the radiator and the machine overheated. I caught it quick and again, No Harm, No Foul. Another lesson learned and another challenge to overcome. We had planned on pulling the Skwagon with "Lucky" to haul our water. Now the snow is deep enough using an ATV is not feasible and I can't pull the Skwagon until it gets colder, the little snowmachine has no hitch, a short track and I don't believe enough traction to pull a skwagon full of water up the hills around here. Here in lies the challenge. It is not easy to just strap a full 50 pound water jug on a snowmachine, let alone 9 of them. We have about 35 gallons of water in the barrel and 9 empty jugs now. I have got some "Sifering" to do in the next day or two to figure this one out. Or maybe we will get "Lucky" and we will get a good cold powder snowfall and the problem will be solved. I REALLY don't want to carry these jugs by hand for a long distance and it is a very big slope on the bank of the river to try to strap them on a snowmachine, the machines are tippy enough with out more top heavy weight. The neighbor water is still about two miles away and to make that trip five gallons at a time on the snowmachine might be the only option, we will see.Oh yea, we can always melt snow on the wood burner. It takes about 11 gallons of snow to get one gallon of water (I looked it up). That should only take about 4 hours a gallon. Ya think?
Always remember, Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it. I have been asking for snow, I got it, AND I get a new opportunity to solve a need. I guess this is Gods idea of a Bonus gift ay?
I am really not complaining, just sharing the thought process.
Thanks for listening, and being here with us.
Life is good,
Roger
I found it necessary to do some playing the other day before it was time to put the ATVs away and Myra took a bunch of pictures. I had a good time tearing up the yard. You might notice the black straps under my Bibs. There are still Bears wondering around out here, so my gun is still strapped on. I am told that on years like this (late winter arrival)we should expect to see bear sign for another month at least, Oh yea, and they get hungry, tired and discontented.
Today I got out the Snowmachines from under their tarps. They both started right up, as expected, and away I went on the test runs down the trails. All went very well with the little sled,it ran well, handled a little stiff but loosened up and back to the cabin I came. I hooked up to the groomer that I have built and pulled it around a little bit and it works very well also. The snow is so wet and heavy that the short track machine did have a problem pulling it so I parked it and emptied the snow out of it and declared, all is good.
I jumped on the two person 800cc machine and took off down the trail. This machine has a history of bucking, unexpectedly, like a pony we had when I was a kid. The ponies name was Lucky and I was never sure if the pony was Lucky because my Dad did not kill it with the two by four, or if the rider was Lucky that the pony did not kill them? Oops, got sidetracked, back to the snowmachine. Well me and the 800cc Lucky rounded the first tight corner and caught the side of a little mogul and over I went. "Luckily" I had just rounded this corner and was only doing about 2 mile an hour. It was a slow motion tip over, with plenty of time to recall my mistake. I even had time to watch the machine tip onto the mirror on the left side. "Luckily" it was the mirror on the left side because this machine has broken 3 mirrors on the right side. One of them was less than two hours after being replaced from the previous rollover (ask Myra, I can't tell). Anyhow, the left mirror flexed on its' spring loaded mount and snapped right back into position. No Harm, No Foul, the machine is perfect and hopefully it got its' bucking out of its' system for the year. I drove it back to the cabin and hooked up to the "Skwagon" that I built.
Definition: "Skwagon" vowel, meaning; ATV Tow behind Wagon that Roger made Skis for and strapped them to the wheels. Another story, another time, with pictures.
OK, I hooked up to the Skwagon for a test run with it. The Skwagon performed flawlessly but, the snow is so wet and heavy, when I had to run slow with the Skwagon I could not kick up enough snow to cool the radiator and the machine overheated. I caught it quick and again, No Harm, No Foul. Another lesson learned and another challenge to overcome. We had planned on pulling the Skwagon with "Lucky" to haul our water. Now the snow is deep enough using an ATV is not feasible and I can't pull the Skwagon until it gets colder, the little snowmachine has no hitch, a short track and I don't believe enough traction to pull a skwagon full of water up the hills around here. Here in lies the challenge. It is not easy to just strap a full 50 pound water jug on a snowmachine, let alone 9 of them. We have about 35 gallons of water in the barrel and 9 empty jugs now. I have got some "Sifering" to do in the next day or two to figure this one out. Or maybe we will get "Lucky" and we will get a good cold powder snowfall and the problem will be solved. I REALLY don't want to carry these jugs by hand for a long distance and it is a very big slope on the bank of the river to try to strap them on a snowmachine, the machines are tippy enough with out more top heavy weight. The neighbor water is still about two miles away and to make that trip five gallons at a time on the snowmachine might be the only option, we will see.Oh yea, we can always melt snow on the wood burner. It takes about 11 gallons of snow to get one gallon of water (I looked it up). That should only take about 4 hours a gallon. Ya think?
Always remember, Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it. I have been asking for snow, I got it, AND I get a new opportunity to solve a need. I guess this is Gods idea of a Bonus gift ay?
I am really not complaining, just sharing the thought process.
Thanks for listening, and being here with us.
Life is good,
Roger
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