Pain Control

Almost went too far, but I had set in my mind what needed to be accomplished. Over to B's for a second coffee, then split everything in the shed and froe out some starter sticks. Armed with a second wedge and I'm back in the hollow where I free the first wedge. I bust the three trunk sections into 14 pieces, lining them upright against the remaining log. Halfway through I bust my left thumb between two sticks, bad enough that I have to go back to the house and repair the damage. With damage to both thumbs rolling a cigaret is an act of not-so-quiet desperation. Excellent lunch, B had rolled chicken hearts and gizzards in corn flour and chili powder, browned in olive oil and simmered for several hours in enchilada sauce, gave me a container. On toast, with a mug of hot chicken broth. Incredibly tender and wonderfully rich. Finished splitting, carried out the maul, two wedges, small bag of kindling, then laid flat on the floor for an hour, nursing an afternoon espresso and munching aspirin. Go back down and make two carries out of the hollow, just to prove I can, toss in the towel; heat some water, sponge bath and shave, eat a can of beans, right from the can, using my fork and pieces of bread to get all the juice. Shoulders sore, a little cramping in the legs, nothing a toke and drink can't mellow out. I should sleep well tonight, or maybe not, I could wake up hurting. Doesn't really matter, sometimes a little pain is a good thing, reminds you you're alive. My thumb is throbbing but I can push that away. If you're going to live this way, dependent on yourself, isolated, basic, then it's a good idea to have a high pain threshold. There was a flock of blackbirds and a couple of nuthatches while I was at B's. Not another live critter all day, not a peep, not a squawk; especially after I smashed my thumb, maybe I wasn't paying attention, enough attention, to the world outside. What happens in the winter wood is subtle, if you're not paying attention, you miss it. Everything is a distraction, almost everything we do diverts us from the primary course. Consider the foundation and imagine what corrections need to be made. A course at a time. Spring the arch exactly where it needs to happen. Backward or forward, or technically correct, if the spring point happens where it should, we're cool. I have friends in Weights And Measures that could adjust the clock, but I don't think that's necessary. If you followed the problem back to the source you'd probably find the difficulty, a hearing problem, or something, what you thought you were saying was misunderstood. Or maybe not. It's so hard to tell sometime.