I can divide what I do every day into four buckets — routine chores (keeping things running); working on the cabin and the property (aiming to divorce ourselves from the camper); preparedness tasks (readying for the inevitable); and recreation (enjoying Life on The Mountain).
This blog goes in the recreation bucket, I guess.
Chores aren’t negotiable. They never end, and they’ll only multiply once we’re keeping house in the cabin. Ditto maintaining the property.
Prepping is still another drumbeat. Stakes are high. And though I’m considering it here separately, it truly is integrated into everything else. That’s the only way to do it right.
Recreation often slips, taking a back seat to necessaries. That’s a tendency I’m trying to correct — making joy a priority.
These dog days bring challenges, whether it’s creating joy in recreation or discovering it in ordinary work. Early this morning, before I got all productive (and while temps were still in the 80s), I took a walk in the woods. I ended up at White Rock, the second fire ring I built.
Obviously, I didn’t go there to make a fire. No, this was just a place to be — a spot where I could revel in the natural beauty around me, as well as feel satisfaction in having crafted a respectful space within the wildness.
“We need the tonic of wildness,” said Thoreau.
I was able to see the road clearly through the trees. That surprised me. I didn’t expect to have that view until the oaks and hickories began shedding their leaves.
And then it dawned on me — vegetation is responding to the dog days, too. The lush growth of spring is long gone. The color and crackle of fall are a couple of months away yet. This is a season for conserving energy, for defending against ruthless heat and surviving with little water.
Thus my clear view of the road.
We’re doing pretty well in the rain department, though. I saw a National Weather Service map this morning indicating that soil moisture in our part of Ozarkansas is well above the norm for this time of year.
I did get a little work done before I retreated indoors. Once I’d settled, I picked up a Swiss Army knife I’d found a couple of years ago on the garage floor at Second Chance Ranch — corroded, gummed up and dull — and set to work bringing it back to life.
See, there’s joy in that.
I made good progress. The neglected knife now walks, talks and shines, but there are bigger things in store for it — stay tuned.
When Deb got home from work, we spun around and drove right back to town for burgers at Blacksheep BBQ (our first meal there in quite a while) and beers at Crooked Creek Pub.
Life — all four buckets of it — is good.
Yesterday afternoon, I caught wind that two of the biggest social-media outfits — Google and Facebook — were unashamedly manipulating searches and stories about the assassination attempt on Trump, skewing what users would see. I tested both platforms myself, and I can assure you that reports of meddling are true.
Facebook “covered” (read: “censored”) images of the assassination attempt, claiming that its AI “fact checkers” had flagged them as “disinformation.”
Google intentionally crippled auto-complete for searches on the subject. For example, I spotted Google “assassination attempt on tru,” and it wouldn’t come up with the “mp.” The first suggested result was — are you ready for this? — “assassination attempt on truman.”
Along with that head-scratcher, a search for “donald trump” would return the Wikipedia entry for the 45th President. That, however, was followed by a transparent dump of dozens of puff pieces about Chuckles.
I’m gonna say this again, louder this time so the people in the back can hear — Trump isn’t running against a candidate, he’s running against a machine. Big crowds and chanting “U-S-A! U-S-A!” won’t get the job done. What will?
Fight — fight!
That was Trump’s call-to-action the day he was shot. With all due respect, I’d like to amend his exhortation.
Fight dirty. And vote like your country depends on it.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB