Words failed me throughout the day yesterday. Likewise anything resembling a coherent train of thought. That, to say the least, is unusual for me.
My vision didn’t abandon me, however, so today’s post will be mostly a collection of images.
We did get a little snow Wednesday night into Thursday morning. It stuck, but it didn’t accumulate (if you know what I mean).
It was kinda cool to look out over the valleys in the early morning hours and see snow squalls defining the layers in front of me.
I still build my fires like an Eagle Scout would, even in the woodstove. But when speed counts — like when it’s 52°F inside the cabin at 4am — there’s nothing like a propane torch to get a blaze going.
That’s how I light my burn barrel, and I’m not ashamed to use it indoors on chilly mornings.
Smudge and I drove to the Yellville post office first thing Thursday to pick up a bag of IAMS kibble for her and two cans of Maxwell House coffee for me. Those staples qualify as big-ticket items in my world, and I’ve found that Amazon has the best prices on both.
Miss Smudge lives for her rides in the truck.
The skies couldn’t decide what to do yesterday. Clouds won, for the most part, parting for occasional patches of blue. Temps never got out of the 30s.
The firewood I expected to last three days was almost gone after two-and-a-half. Time to re-stock from the wood yard.
I pulled my Hardcore Hammers Original TR ax out of the shed yesterday. I’d never used it to do any serious splitting, and I was curious to see how it’d perform.
Short answer: Not well. The head’s too light to generate a significant impact without risking over-swinging. The short handle also makes it hard to achieve decent head speed. And the hollow grind is designed for chopping, not splitting — its razor-sharp bit makes good penetration, but there’s not enough wedgy meat behind the edge to plow through the fibers, and it runs out of gas quickly.
Great pack ax. Great camp ax. Not a good choice for splitting more than kindling. I’ve decided to keep it up at the cabin for that purpose.
Finally, sunset. It’s great to be here.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable