Home Work

Talk about having let things slide. Spend some time cleaning, spend some time on firewood, hope to spend a full day tomorrow working firewood, fill all the stations of the cross. First real cold snap and the leaves falling in sheets, very beautiful, if somewhat austere, the remaining color. The vistas open, I can see across the hollow for the first time in months. One Pileated Woodpecker, then two, then three crows squawking in a snag out beyond the outhouse. Thinking about the porch roof and the weight of snow that slides off the back of the house, and even though I'll be using metal roofing, I think it needs to be plywood instead of purlins, which is probably a good thing because I could put a layer of half-inch foam on top of the sheathing to dampen the sound. Uninsulated metal roofs are very loud and I'm easily distracted. Finalized plans to meet the girls in Jacksonville over xmas, their last chance to see my parents, but I'll be away for two weeks. I've had a one week limit on being away, because I can't stand being off the ridge, I lose my center. My brother has a lap-top for his FEMA gig, maybe I'll be able to write down there, last time I was there, I remember, I had a fair amount of extra time (free time? not really, but there were times everyone else was doing something) and I'd interested in trying some field posts. First all-day fire. Reject wrack burns very well. I bow-saw enough to burn until tomorrow, didn't want the noise of a chainsaw. Tomorrow, though, will be a noisy day. B stopped by, he and Sarah had spent the night on the ridge, cleaning the cabin, said that Bucky was selling dry saw-mill slabs of oak for $30 a pick-up load. I want a load. A great stash, to have, against the common cold and the various strains of flu. I love burning slabs because they're so easy. Slabs are generally the outside cut off a saw-log, the natural edge, and they vary greatly in size. If it's the butt-log they have to cut off the bottom flare, if there's a burl, they have to cut it off, they're looking to get down to a flat surface, they're not interested in form. No, wait, they are interested in form but have a very flat view. There was an interesting conversation, I don't remember when, we were talking about people who bothered us; we were spread out in the gallery, attending chores, talking loudly, so we could hear each other (Darren's outside voice carries like a honker) and I think it was Kim who said he didn't like people who wake babies. Common ground. I hate anyone who interrupts, check back over the text, I don't like anyone who pre-supposes anything, whatever they meant. I thought I was clear, this meant that . Where we thought we stood. Glenn is coming Wednesday. I'm pretty sure I'm correct. It's a show. Couldn't make a connection, to Send, last night. Another day of Home Work, one I really needed, colder weather and rain turning to snow maybe within the week. Up early and start a fire, heat water, do the dishes and shave, suit up, out-side by 8 o'clock. Warm-up exercise is splitting kindling. Currently I'm using slats from wooden pallets, cut to about 8 inches; I kneel on a piece of three inch Etha-Foam and split on a small stump using a dull hatchet (not too dull, but not sharp, avoiding cuts) and aim to get them three-eights of an inch wide, filling a 6 gallon trash can (rectangular) to the top. Kindling for weeks. Next I split out select straight grain very dry oak into pieces the full depth of the cookstove, 15 inches, in various sizes from three-quarters of an inch up to maybe an inch and a half. Starter sticks. The wood-shed was a mess, got the electric chainsaw and cut all the reject wrack to length, moved things around, split some oak rounds and made a couple of ricks. Some of the wrack I couldn't identify, maybe Slippery Elm, set a piece out for B to sniff. Whatever it is it burns well, holding the oven (the thermometer in the door is fairly accurate and provides information about what's burning) right at 450 degrees, burning just small chunks. When I'm home all day I mostly burn odd chunks, off-cuts, knots. Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich for lunch, comfort food. I want to walk, so instead of using the truck to transport, I carry 12 double saw-logs back to the shed, from the head of the driveway, 175 paces each way, 10-12 inch logs, specific gravity .71, weight per cubic foot 44 pounds. Take a break for afternoon coffee, rereading sections of Procopius before I put it away, funny stuff, vitriolic. After the break I suit up in the velcro-sealed army motor-pool jumpsuit, take the staple gun and go under the house to repair insulation. More than half done on the Permanent Fix, which is 6 inches of fiberglass held in place with two inches of dense foam wedged and toe-nailed. A great solution if you're on a ridge-top and experience high winds. I might seal it with slightly expanding foam, sealing the edges might give me an edge. Everything is really speculation. By then I was seriously dirty, but I didn't want to bathe (insulation) and elected to shower on the deck, in hind-sight a sponge-bath would have been fine. But no, I have to take a shower on the deck and it's 42 degrees. Requires planning. Flush off with cold water, the pores shrink, the fiberglass washes off, immediately flood your body with warm water and soap-up, then quickly rinse with another pail of warm and get your ass inside. But I am clean, and that means something, to get there, after a day like today. I hadn't made plans for dinner, looked in the cupboard, and there was a can of premium crab meat, I keep cans of boiled potatoes around, seems stupid, but I live alone, a few potatoes go a long way, canned boiled potatoes are just potatoes, cheap, and I often need a binder. Mashed potatoes are the perfect binder, I always have cream and butter around. I make three killer crab cakes that are nothing but crab and potato, fry them in butter: before I can even think about a topping I've eaten them all. What might have been. Jesus, to be honest, I'm sore in every particular, a physical push. I needed this. I like being sore, I know you needs to suffer, thinking about this, what you wants to be, thinking how sore I am. I defer to your greater knowledge.You didn't have to do this, I did.