I tried — really, I did. I fully intended to put my feet up Saturday and embrace not having to do anything about next winter’s firewood.
I couldn’t do it.
It was a beautiful morning, clear, low 40s, just the faintest hint of a breeze. Unfinished business at the wood yard tugged at me, and I was unable to resist its pull.
This was work that had to be done anyway. I began by covering the three pallets I hadn’t yet tarped, then got the tarps squared away on the others.
I use rocks as weights and cedar poles as a sort of exoskeleton. I’ve found that the combination works well — tarps shed rain and snow, rocks keep them from blowing away, and poles prevent exuberant flapping.
I also put the rest of the wood yard right (or more right than it was). Idle pallets were collected and the stack of red cedar was moved closer my kindling-splitting station, where it belongs…
…and three empty pallets nearby now await whatever I might bring in unexpectedly during the off-season. For example, they’d serve as a collection point for storm wood.
Finally, it only made sense to haul a load of firewood up to the cabin (rather than waiting ’til Sunday) in advance of the upcoming cold snap. To my surprise, that involved some splitting.
This was a head-scratcher — what in the hell was I thinking last year when I stacked chunks bigger than the woodstove’s firebox?
I’m sure I had some reason or rationale, but I don’t recall what it was. I swung my ax yesterday and made those pieces manageable.
And so, because I couldn’t quite take a day off, the wood yard is put to bed for the next seven months. The work was easy and the rewards are tangible.
One of the right-leaning websites I follow is PJ Media. It brings me commentary in a voice that differs from what I tend to find on Breitbart and elsewhere. I’d like to call your attention to a piece published there yesterday — “A ‘Michigan Man,’ a ‘Virginia Man,’ and a ‘New York Man’ All Walk Into a Bar…” by A.J. Christopher.
“Stop me if you’ve heard this one. A doddering old sock puppet from Delaware takes the podium and, with a straight face, alleges that the greatest [terrorist] threat to America comes from white supremacy. And, get this… half the country believes him!”
After setting that hook, Christopher goes on to be clear about what’s behind the centuries-old clash between America and Islam.
“Islam and the West have proven totally incompatible with one another. There is nothing ‘phobic’ about this statement. This isn’t an attack or a defense of one race or ethnicity at the expense of another. This is an obvious conclusion about two diametrically opposing systems of values and worldviews.”
Then he names names. He identifies the perpetrators of six (count ’em) acts of “terrorism” in the US within the last two weeks. Speaking for me and for millions of other true Americans, he sums up our reaction to the Left’s refusal to admit that Islam itself is the problem.
“We’re sick of the constant coddling. We’re sick of the cultural concessions. We’re sick of our leaders’ placating, unwarranted apologies. We’re sick of being told we need to understand things from their perspective, rather than asking them to understand things from ours. We’re sick of the double standards.
“We’re sick of the migrant invasions of military age male ‘refugees.’ We’re sick of seeing more and more Muslim
slaveswomen at shopping malls and public swimming pools wearing the full head-to-toe beekeeper suit and having to pretend that it’s completely normal. We’re sick of ignorant troglodytes who come here from third world Islamic shitholes, benefit from our welcoming generosity, and then behave in a manner so ungrateful as to defy all bounds of human decency.“We’re sick of the knives, the guns, and the bombs. We’re sick of the subway attacks and the concert attacks and the church attacks and the synagogue attacks and the festival attacks and the Christmas market attacks and the school attacks and the vehicle attacks and the random street attacks.
“And we’re sick of noticing all the terrorism, noticing the patterns that underlie it, and then be told that the act of our noticing makes us bigots.“
It’s excellent commentary. The arguments he makes can be applied just as correctly to tranny killers, drug traffickers, illegal aliens, race rioters and on and on. Recommended reading.
Few foods are as cheap, flexible, easy to prepare and essentially American as an all-beef hot dog.
But boiling? That’s for the ball park.
Grilling over a flame is best, though sometimes it’s hardly worth the hassle. My solution is a cast-iron skillet on the stovetop.
Yesterday I melted some butter, added garlic and a generous dash of Mrs. Dash, let that get fragrant and then dropped in a couple of Oscar Mayers. I let ’em sizzle ’til they blackened and the skin began to pop.
Nestled in store-brand buns, they rested on American cheese, minced red onion and French’s yellow mustard. A humble hot dog gets no better than that.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable