What I said yesterday about Nature reclaiming the excavated, stripped and defoliated areas around my cabin — yes, I’m aware that it doesn’t look tidy, much less manicured.
That’s intentional.
This ain’t the ‘burbs, it’s the Country. Nature doesn’t compete with neighbors or worry about running afoul of HOA rules, and neither do I.
The Mountain will stay as wild as I can practically keep it. I want it this way.
Friday came to Ozarkansas with a full moon and a strong breeze. And it found me groggy, foggy, unsteady on my feet. I have mornings like that every now and again, when it seems to take forever to get everything working.
Breakfast was my usual, accompanied yesterday by slices of cinnamon sourdough bread. I washed dishes, vacuumed the cabin and took a long shower.
And then I did something for the first time since moving into the cabin — I brushed my teeth at the bathroom sink.
Until then, I’d kept toothpaste and toothbrush at the kitchen sink. It may seem like a small thing — okay, okay, it’s a small thing — but the change felt important to me.
It was around 9am, I guess, when I left Smudge behind in the cool of the cabin and drove to Yellville to pick up mail. I also stopped at the smoke shop, and because I was passing by the thrift shop, I dropped in.
I went straight to the housewares section, as I always do. A woman passed behind me, carrying a slow cooker, staring at the same shelves that drew my attention.
“I have to put this down somewhere,” she said, sounding a little frustrated.
I started to tell her that the store would hold it at the front counter while she shopped — but then it dawned on me that she was one of the volunteer workers.
“What are you askin’ for it?” I inquired.
“Six,” she replied.
I could scarcely believe my luck. “Well, ma’am, if you don’t mind, could you walk that up front for me? I’ll take it.”
So I left the store with a six-dollar slow cooker. I picked up a pair of old-school EKCO USA tongs (25 cents), too, like the ones I grew up with, which may well have been made in my hometown of Massillon, Ohio.
Now, here’s my back story.
Amazon held its annual “Prime Days” event this week. I wasn’t seduced by that, but hey, if I can save a few bucks on something I’d planned to buy anyway, sure, I’ll bite.
This year my shopping list didn’t line up well with the discounts. I bought a cheap bathroom mirror and an exhaust fan, and that was it.
One item that I dithered about was a slow cooker. It’d be great to use one this time of year, because it wouldn’t contribute unwanted heat to the cabin the way the propane range or oven would. I had my eye on two — a Hamilton-Beach programmable for $60, and a simple Crock-Pot with a rotary switch for $45.
I couldn’t justify spending the money.
The pot I bought for six bucks at the thrift store is identical to the $60 Hamilton-Beach model I’d shopped on Amazon.
It’s missing its temperature probe, which I’m not sure I’d use anyway. (I can get one for $15 on eBay if I change my mind.) And it needed serious cleaning. The first thing I did when I got it home, however, was plug it in, fill it with six quarts of water and test it.
All of the functions checked out. I used a meat thermometer to confirm that temperatures correspond with settings. Once it cooled down, I gave it a stem-to-stern scrubbing.
I’m not an Instant Pot kinda guy. I don’t do air fryers. The way I cook, and the kind of food I enjoy, put me squarely in Crock-Pot Land. That’s why I’m over-the-moon to have stumbled onto this slow cooker.
“Socialism, like the ancient ideas from which it springs, confuses the distinction between government and society. As a result of this, every time we object to a thing being done by government, the socialists conclude that we object to its being done at all. We disapprove of state education. Then the socialists say that we are opposed to any education. We object to a state religion. Then the socialists say that we want no religion at all. We object to a state-enforced equality. Then they say that we are against equality. And so on, and so on. It is as if the socialists were to accuse us of not wanting persons to eat because we do not want the state to raise grain.”
Frederic Bastiat, The Law (1850)
It’s been a long time since I’ve reminded you how much the Left hates you and me for who we are and what we believe. The signs are everywhere, of course — you don’t need me telling you.
Sometimes, though, as much as I’d like to leave well enough alone, I just can’t.
You’d think that if anything would be kryptonite to these assholes, it’d be something like the tragedy brought on by flash-flooding in Texas a week ago. You’d think. But no, they’re so blinded by their hatred of true Americans in general and Trump in particular that they can’t help themselves.
Exhibit A — a Facebook post from someone who goes by “Chris Tina”:
That would be Dr. Christina Propst, a 50-something Houston-area pediatrician, cheering for misfortune (to put it gently) to befall anyone who voted for Trump.
And then there was the disgusting cartoon published early this week by The Buffalo News:
I could cite hundreds more examples — some much more heinous than these, many from elected officials, including members of Congress — but you get the idea.
This is evil. These people walk among us.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable