While most forecasters began warning Ozarkansans a week ago about a winter weather system that’ll rake the central US tomorrow and Monday, Ryan Hall Y’all, by contrast, adopted a measured, wait-and-see approach. It’s looking like that was the right thing to do.
Predictions of a massive ice storm hitting the northern counties appear to have been premature. The latest forecasts have freezing rain staying on the other side of the Missouri line. We’ll probably get straight rain and thunder, maybe a little sleet and a few flurries.
That could change, obviously. This is, after all, weather we’re talkin’ ’bout.
We will, however, plunge into The Freezer beginning Sunday night — four overnights in the teens, followed by six more in the 20s. The only White Stuff in the forecast shows up tomorrow night (40% chance of snow showers) and next Friday morning (30% chance of snow showers).
Last winter’s first snow came to The Mountain on December 29th. We saw almost a foot of it in mid-January three years ago while parked in Harrison, 30 statute miles to the west. This winter is taking its sweet time revving up, it seems.
(That was not a complaint.)
Since Deb missed a day of work this week to visit the dentist, her boss asked her to fill-in at one of the Mountain Home locations this morning. (The Yellville branch is closed Saturdays.) She was up and off The Mountain early.
It was a short day, though, only 9am to noon.
Right about the time she greeted her first customer, I was driving down to pick up the wood I cut yesterday. It would be the simplest of tasks, all physical, no real thinking required, and some days (like this one) that’s exactly what I’m in the mood to do.
I did bring our Husqvarna chainsaw with me. The idle still needs some tweaking, but it ran well enough to let me buck a dozen more small lengths. With the area policed and the bed of the Silverado about one-third full, I came back to the wood yard and unloaded the fresh-cut oak.
I did a hasty stack. It’s nothing fancy or permanent, but getting it up on pallets to start seasoning was better than dumping it in a pile to rot.
What I ended up with, once it was all together, was ten good-sized rounds (10 to 14 inches in diameter) and maybe another ten worth splitting. The rest is gnarly branch wood — twisted and crooked, the kind of stuff most folks don’t keep.
I don’t like to discard anything I can burn for heat. A good example is a weird crotch piece (pictured) that looks like a mangled hand. About a foot long, it’s ugly and won’t stack for shit, but it’s solid and has BTUs inside. I kept it.
Once I’ve processed the trunk of this tree, I’ll go back to the brushpiles I created and mine them for kindling and coaling wood. Waste not.
Today also was the first outing for a new tool — a Fiskars XA22 28-inch Hookaroon (MSRP $55, street price $42). A riff on the traditional pickaroon (picaroon), a hookaroon, aka “Sappie,” is designed for moving logs with speed and ease.
I haven’t used it enough to perfect the flick-of-the-wrist release that experienced users brag about, but I know already that the hookaroon will become one of my favorite woods tools. It let me put this entire load of wood on the ground without getting up into the bed of the truck, and fast.
It’s still work — just smarter work.
Deb came Home from her one-day assignment with a couple of thoughtful surprises. First, the branch where she was working was but a stone’s throw from Harbor Freight, and she snagged me a nine-piece set of combination wrenches — free. Then she grabbed us lunch at Mountain Home Burger Company.
Life is good.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB
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