I don’t know what it was about the kind of work I did yesterday — stacking cordwood, clearing brush with a chainsaw and tossing it onto a pile — but something prompted Deb to acknowledge me with a post on social media. She paid me a great compliment.
“They say you can take the boy out of the Country, but you can’t take the Country out of the boy,” she wrote, adding, “He’s definitely in his element.”
I was raised rural but spent most of my years in urban or suburban lifestyles, working for the most part in the corporate world. I’ve never considered myself a “Country boy,” despite roots and preferences, knowing that there’s nothing so despicable as a poser.
But Deb’s right — living on The Mountain puts me in my “element.” I’ve never felt so much at Home. The work is honest and hard, the rewards profoundly personal.
My surroundings and my Life are the stuff of dreams, my dreams. I’m where I always was meant to be, doing what I always was meant to do.
Shortly after we opened our eyes this morning, Deb and I vowed to each other that there would be no physical exertion today. As in none. Both of us bore the effects of yesterday’s labor, so we took a day away from sweat and strain.
That’s not to say we were idle. I installed a pass-through in the cabin wall that’ll give us electrical flexibility while we’re still running extension cords.
I think it’s a pretty tidy solution. It’s only temporary, of course, until the cabin is wired. Once that happens, I’ll move the pass-through to the shed for use with a generator.
Deb was cruising Facebook Marketplace again this morning, looking for bargains on stuff for The Mountain. She found two appealing items in Flippin, same seller, and got an address.
The 12-mile drive out Arkansas Route 178 and a couple of county roads was scenic, and the guy with the items for sale was affable. Soon we were rolling back Home with what we came for.
Now we have a place to sit in our “back yard” — we picked up a pair of nicely made pine Adirondack-style chairs, complete with footstools. And I got myself a small two-piece tool chest in great condition, which will save me from lugging around and rummaging through a tool box for what I need.
As we build out the cabin, the rollaway will make life easier. Besides, it scratches my itch for keeping things organized.
Other than that, we kept our promise and didn’t break a sweat. Tomorrow may be another story, but we’ll just see about that.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB