This year’s colorful foliage, while it lasted, was breathtaking. It might’ve been the most spectacular autumn I’ve seen on The Mountain. (If you’re keeping score, it’s only my fifth.) But if you pressed me, I’d say that right now is when this patch of Ozarkansas puts on its best look.
The world gets bigger. It’s grander. I can see peaks and ridges along the north shore of Bull Shoals, on other side of the state line. As I drive down The Mountain and look to my left, I’m reminded how high above the valley floor I am — the bottoms south of Crooked Creek, a mile away, are over 400 vertical feet below me.
The sky grows, too, in ways that matter. I can see the horizon again, and with it the fire of sunsets.
If I were prone to seasonal depression — which I’m not — it sure wouldn’t be fall-into-winter that gets me down. I can dress for the cold. Greenery isn’t the only act of Nature I enjoy.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
It looks like Miss Smudge takes almost four weeks to go through two full canisters of kibble in the cabin before I have to visit the shed and refill them. Each 30-pound bag holds a little less than five canisters’ worth. Doing the math, then, I can get ten weeks from a bag.
And that’s what I thought about while refilling the canisters yesterday morning. I have to be frugal, which requires being mindful. I never run myself out of a staple, whether that’s dog food or something else.
I’ll buy another bag in a week or so.
Also on Saturday’s refill list was firewood. The weather’s been so agreeable that we haven’t burned much lately. In fact, I was able to clean out the firebox Friday while it was idle and cold.
We got through Friday night without lighting a fire, but I resumed burning in the morning — cloudy, high in the 50s. The afternoon devolved into drizzling rain. And sub-freezing overnights will return on Thanksgiving.
The cordwood routine is familiar now. This time I brought the truck down to the wood yard.
I picked up splits, one at a time, with my right hand and loaded them into my left arm…
…and then carried them to the bed of the truck. I figured that topping-off the indoor rack yesterday would take seven armloads…
…and that turned out to be exactly right.
Seven armloads off the stacks became nine smaller ones between truck and cabin, to allow me to negotiate the steps and the doorway more easily. The full indoor rack should be good for about two cold days, maybe a little less, before I have to stock it again.
I still haven’t touched my outdoor rack — that wood remains covered and dry. I’m saving it for stretches of inhospitable weather and occasional miscalculations.
A different rhythm develops as the coldest months approach. I’m getting a sense of that now — a cadence that’s both comfortable and comforting. It has to be conscious, though, and active.
Feels right. It’s great to be here.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable