Deb got up with the dogs this morning, and for that I’m grateful. I haven’t slept well the last few nights, suffering from the discomfort of somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 chigger bites. I applied DEET repellent before Tuesday’s tree-trimming and still got nailed, followed by another assault on Wednesday.
Downing a couple of 25mg diphenhydramine (generic Benadryl) at bedtime helps a little. I hate popping pills (vitamins and supplements notwithstanding). I expect that tonight will be my last dose.
Waking up chemically groggy today, I took my first cup of coffee indoors before moving out to the “back yard” behind the cabin. I think it’s going to become one of my favorite places here — sheltered, nestled, quiet, still.
The cabin remains an empty wooden box with a metal roof. Four windows, two doors. Deb refers to it as “a blank canvas,” which is apt. Everything must be done. Something has to be done first, then something else next, then another thing after that.
We’ll do it right. We’ll do it our own way, in our own time. Don’t hold your breath expecting a finished product anytime soon.
We’ll get there. Slow is fast.
Soon, according to tasks-at-hand and as our resources permit, we’ll be securing the materials we’ll need to finish the cabin to our liking. We’ll also need certain tools, some of which we’ve accumulated over the last year or so. Others we’ll rent, borrow or buy, depending on what makes sense for our needs.
Because we don’t have a pile of money to throw at tools, we’ll make the smartest decisions we can. I don’t aspire to be a woodworker and, because I have a realistic grasp of my (limited) carpentry skills, in most cases I’m not looking for the latest or greatest. And I don’t have a problem with used gear.
Deb often cruises Facebook Marketplace for ideas and bargains. That, for example, is how we snagged a woodchipper. Our burn barrels, too. This morning she ran across an ad for a table saw — one of the power tools on our wish list — over in Mountain Home. It was a ten-inch Craftsman, at least 20 years old. The seller was asking $100.
An exchange of private messages produced an address. We set out for Baxter County, knowing that even if it was a dry well or a scammer, we still had some business we could conduct there.
We followed a series of county roads until we ended up on a one-lane track. In Appalachia (and maybe in Ozarkansas, I dunno) they’d call it a “holler” — rugged and ragged, tight-knit. At one point we turned into the wrong driveway and immediately were approached by a boy playing in a tumble-down shed, as well as a passerby on the narrow dirt road.
Eventually we found the address given to Deb by the seller. Three older folks sat in lawn chairs outside a garage, an animated conversation underway. A young man approached, introduced himself as the one having a table saw for sale and walked us over to it.
It met with our approval. We handed him a hundred bucks and loaded the saw (including its stand) into the bed of the Silverado. Then, because this is Ozarkansas, we all stood around a talked awhile.
The same young man also was selling a side-by-side. Friends of ours in Missouri are looking for just such a rig, so we asked to see it. He said it was up at his uncle’s place, and that he’d be glad to take us to it. He hopped on his minibike and led us back down the dirt road — right to the driveway we’d turned into by mistake.
The same kid came out of the shed to check us out. The same passerby, returning from wherever he’d been, stopped again to query us.
Venturing into that holler was one of the coolest experiences we’ve had since we’ve been here. And we emerged with an old table saw that’ll suit us just fine.
In closing this evening, I want to acknowledge Dave Whipple and Bushradical for reaching one million YouTube subscribers. He announced the accomplishment today in a brief video, in typically humble fashion. He also hinted that he means to produce more content in the coming months — that’s definitely welcome news — and perhaps launch another channel.
Bushradical is useful and watchable, skillfully done. I don’t know Dave Whipple personally (though we have mutual real-life friends), but I can say that no one deserves this distinction more than he does.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB
Deb caught this memorable sunset from The Amphitheater this evening.