Stuff That Works

We don’t entirely live without electrons. We have two cell phones, two radios, a weather radio, a scanner, a laptop, a wall light, and a few flashlights. Charging these devices involves using inverters connected to the cars when we drive around town. We always have something charging, even if it’s a top-off charge.

We will begin the typical homesteader’s foray into solar power, and as with all energy – including firewood – it’s an industry loaded with great advice and a good bit of treachery. It’s important to research before buying anything, and that means asking around in addition to simply Googling around. Our big advantage is that we need very little energy to get by, not even 100 Watts, which used to be one typical light bulb before they were outlawed.

But this post is about stuff that works, things I’ve bought that I use every day and holds up to the extreme environment here. First up is this little LED light. I bought it about 10 years ago and use it every night for navigation around a dark cabin. It never completely turns off, always emitting a very low power glow but bright enough to see in the dark. That little feature makes the light easy to find in the dark. It has three power settings and batteries last about 5 years.

Continuing with flashlights, this one is my EDC, as the doomers say. It’s clipped to a well made Leatherman Squirt and I use one or both every day. I’ve carried a pocket knife since I was in 1^st grade (these were the days when boys were actually expected to carry a knife. Try bringing a penknife to school today and the security apparatus will confiscate it at the metal detector, then call the police, who will arrest you and your parents. Your name will be entered into the DHS database and the TSA will put your entire family on a no-fly list). Anyway, back to the light, it has three power settings, the bulb is protected by a lens and it runs on easily available AAA batteries. The knife has a pliers, screwdrivers, a remarkably functional scissors, and a file.

I use this weather radio daily, but it has a few flaws. First is the cheap latch on the battery compartment, hence the rubber band (repurposed from a bunch of broccoli). Then the power button on top is way too sensitive, bump it and it’ll turn on but be muted – an utterly useless feature, by the way. Do that and your batteries will drain, a fatal flaw in my world where every electron matters. For some inexplicable reason the bottom is rounded, which I suppose doesn't matter but I like my radios upright, not supine. The reception is what matters, and even more so around here because the transmitter is on Mt. Mansfield, over in Vermont. When that transmitter occasionally goes down we can pull in the Canadian version of NOAA, which is a good way to learn a little French while getting a weather report. The radio is an affection nowadays, we can access the same info on the NOAA site, but somehow it's just not the same. It's also important to have backups for everything - we'll lose phone and Internet when the cell tower goes down.

I’ll finish this post with two more useful devices, both related to propane (another large subject for the future) will wrap up this post. First up is a nicely made adapter that recharges propane canisters. It’s a horrific waste to use them one time and throw them away. I don’t think it’s possible to buy one in a store because of the liability associated with stupidity. It takes some basic mechanical skill and common sense to use (refill canisters outdoors, wear eye protection, remember that the 20 lb tank has left-hand threads, etc.). Mechanical skills are increasingly rare and common sense isn’t so common, which is why retailers typically don’t carry it.

Lastly is the little Primus lamp, a fine source of heat and light. It’s designed for lightweight but wasteful and non-rechargeable butane cartridges. Once again, the Internet provides a wonderful propane-butane adaptor, certainly not approved for sale at Wal-Mart or Dick’s. But it's  readily available online, direct-ship from Korea. It’s extraordinarily well made. If you appreciate fine machining, you may want one just to have as a paperweight even if you don’t need an adaptor. There’s a slight amount of skill involved to use this also and the instructions are in Korean so you have to figure it out yourself (easily enough, or just Google it).

Kovea LPG Adaptor

That’s it for now, but I have several other Things That Work that I may discuss in future posts.

Snow Day

Up before 5:00 am, KeroSun silently heating our place on less than 2 quarts of kerosene in the last 12 hours. That’s fairly efficient for a cabin that’s 40 degrees warmer than outside, especially considering that our windows are drafty and probably establish the baseline for inefficiency.

The snow that fell overnight makes the outdoors look like a beautiful postcard. I suppose it’s nature’s way of Photoshopping the outdoors into a surreal scene. I just want to look out the front door and marvel at the sight. Mine is decidedly a minority opinion, the community has utterly had it with winter-like weather in what’s nominally springtime. But the beginning of spring is purely an astronomical event here, the snow isn’t interested in the calendar. 

It’s amusing to ask the neighbors when to plant. Bob says to plant when you can work the ground, which at this rate ought to be around August. Bill said that he planted after his mom’s birthday, May 24. The ladies at the library were firmly of the opinion that one should wait until after the first full moon in June; then plant the below ground crops in the waxing moon. They said to be prepared to cover your plants when there’s a hard freeze – usually the night after you finish planting. 

I’ll continue to collect advice and take the square root of it.

Yesterday was the much-anticipated Poultry Day at Ward’s Lumber. I expected to see chickens scratching about the store, probably the little peepers in a big washtub under a heat lamp. Instead there was one frozen dressed chicken next to the signup sheet, 'dressed' being an odd term for a bird that was denuded and gutted. We all sat facing a projector screen, so this was going to be a PowerPoint presentation. Jay Ward spoke first, definitely a good guy in my opinion. He advocated sustainable farming, offering to let people borrow his Pollan and Salatin books. He also had several documentaries on agriculture and the food business to loan out, such as King Corn. Incidentally, the producer of that documentary, Aaron Woolf,  is running for Congress here. There’s a lot of sustainability awareness here, far more than I’m used to.

Jay introduced Mike, who drove up from Pennsylvania. It was wonderful to hear that there's a growing market for sustainable agricultural products. Some consumers are making deliberative food choices instead of thoughtlessly buying whatever’s cheap or happens to taste good. It was depressing to hear firsthand from a poultry farmer that there are no economics in raising pastured poultry. We learned that pastured poultry bears absolutely no resemblance to the ‘free range’ poultry, which is marketed as healthy and humane. Free range is just a marketing gimmick that sounds good but still permits farmers to cruelly pack their birds in huge CAFOs with only a little door leading to a green patch of pasture – that they never venture into. Pastured chickens are truly free range, they supposedly taste better and are, predictably, far more nutritious.

Mike used his own records to show that farmers are woefully under-compensated for their efforts. I suppose we already knew that but it’s sad to hear about it firsthand. No one wants to pay a fair wage for reduced-cruelty and nutritious farm products. Until society can get over that - or we reach an unsustainable tipping point - we’re going to be stuck with the current system that ‘ain’t normal’, to quote Salatin.

The presentation was intended for growers, not spectators like us. Mike went in depth about feed and processing, and we weren’t interested in ‘processing’. We left after the de rigeor filibustering-type question from an attendee who had a lot to say after being quiet for two hours. 

When we got home I made a Tuscan bean and kale soup (which, come to think of it, fairly cried out for diced chicken). We ate it with a Kalamata olive bread baked by our local grocer, Arly. Then we prepared for our big overnight snowfall.

Catching Up

It's been a productive week. Not hectic or overwhelming, but productive. We have to trudge up the driveway because our driveway is buried in about a half foot of snow. If the truck gets stuck we'll need a bigger one to drag it out and we're not taking any chances. I rather like the walk anyway, it's terrific exercise especially when hauling stuff uphill. We never make the trip empty handed, here's S with a typical load.

Here's a view of the cabin as it first appeared Sunday morning. It was a beautiful sight.

This is the new firehouse under construction in Upper Jay. It'll be completed in May. I'm going to a meeting at the old one, next to the river, on Tuesday to meet the firefighters and check on joining the VFD.

And here are the movers, Bryan and Kenny, utterly reliable and they did a very competent job on both ends of the move. We're all moved in.

S also found a terrific spot to board the horses, just a couple of miles away. We've also met several neighbors - after living in nice but impersonal areas it's nice to get to know the people in the community. 

Blue Line

We crossed into the park on  Sunday morning and arrived to a snowed in cabin before noon. We had to haul essentials just as we did on our earliest visits. But the cabin was again as we left it, no trees fell on the roof and the well was flowing nicely. We got busy building a fire in the wood stove, cooking gathering wood and water, etc. I met another neighbor today and Wendy, the Postmaster, activated our PO box. It was below zero this morning: 2 below according to the truck and 9 below according to Tim, the mechanic in town. 

T-Zero

The movers came, packed, and left. We'll see them again next Wednesday to unpack at the storage facility. That's better than Monday, gives us a little time to get the cabin organized and the weather will be a more endurable 28F vs. 20F on Monday.

So today we will leave and begin our journey to life at Woodman's Lee.

L Minus Two

We're close enough to departure to contemplate victory. Our dream that was inspired by our first visit to the Adirondacks 27 years ago will soon be realized.

 "To finish the moment, to find the journey’s end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom." - Emerson

"Life is a journey, not a destination" is the succinct misattribution of Emerson's quote. My reaction to achieving significant goals is ambivalence. I used to think that was disturbingly odd, then I grew to accept it as merely eccentric, but now I think it's just normal. Why waste time and energy looking back on achievements when there are so many other opportunities to explore and grow?

The wilderness is a constant challenge, especially to urbanized sunbelt flatlanders. There are many situations that appear utterly hopeless at first. That's the usual cue to give up and do something else. But if you persist the wilderness will relent and you'll figure out how to manage what seemed impossible. So that'll be our next journey - preparing for an overwinter.

Week Zero

We're in final preps for departure this week. Most of our stuff has been packed, donated, discarded, sold or shipped. There will be plenty to do in the next five days, but the big jobs on the to-do list are complete. There isn't much left to do except Suzy has one more trip to FL and I have 4 more work days to go. We've selected a route that avoids any travel on 526, 26, 95, New Jersey and the entire megalopolis between Richmond and NYC.

The movers arrive in four days, then we 'camp out' at the townhouse overnight on Thursday. The carpet cleaners arrive on Friday and all we have to do is tidy up after them, then we're go for departure. We should leave here at midday then begin our 20 hour drive to our new home at Woodman's Lee.

We've discussed our first week up there at length, to the point where Suzy has heard enough about the need for additional firewood. I guess I say that a lot! Anyway, our primary goal is to arrive safe and sound, and by driving two vehicles we double our risk of an accident enroute. The most hazardous part of our lives, by far, is driving. We can mitigate that risk by prudently taking rest breaks and limiting our driving to around eight hours.

Our next objective is to access the cabin and assess its condition. On every visit thus far, it's exactly as we left it, but we can't simply assume that'll be the case. On our last trip in November we were able to ascend the driveway on our first try but we can't assume that, either. We may have beaver dams obstructing the driveway, but if that's clear drifting snow or downed trees can block the driveway. We can park down the road and hike in but we do have a lot of stuff to carry in.

Once we open up and clean the place - my Chemistry of Nutrition class is turning me into a germophobe - we'll establish the usual water access and gather water. The Jøtul will be fired up to drive out the cold - it's currently 11F (above zero!) but Sunday, our arrival day, should be in the low 30's. With a chance of snow, by the way.

Then we'll continue with stowage and straightening out. I'll string up the clothesline, cook, clean up and get ready for Monday. That's the first day that the movers can arrive at our storage facility in Plattsburgh. We also have to go to the Upper Jay post office and activate our PO box. As soon as we get that we'll order our wringer from Lehmans. We may also shop for a mailbox and a post, but I think the ground is too frozen to dig a hole.

Suzy will begin planting the seeds into the starter boxes and we'll lay out the garden. Once our stuff is secured at the storage facility we'll begin constructing the raised beds. I also want to meet the neighbors and Suzy has to arrange for horse housing - and get some ideas for the barn.

I think routines are important so typically I'll get up early, shower (that takes a while, water has to be heated), eat breakfast (invariably steel cut oatmeal - but I may actually eat an egg if we can find a fresh, local and ethical source). The hills are good exercise so I'll take my morning walk. If it's a weekday then I'll get online and check the premarket - matching wits with investors around the world is the antithesis of simple living so there's my exception.

After the opening bell, around 10am, it's time to do the chores. One day will be cutting wood and maintaining trails. One day will be devoted to fixing up the cabin - windows, for instance. One day for driveway work. Maybe one day for building a structure, perhaps a garden shed. I haven't assigned other days.

I also want to engage the community. We've identified many fun things to do, lectures, a movie in town, plays and other performances. I hope to join the volunteer fire department and I've contacted the federal prison in Ray Brook (yup, the former olympic village) to inquire about volunteer tutoring opportunities.

That sounds ambitious but we'll have lots of free time. I won't get into the North Korean labor camp mode, whereby I labor every day under miserable conditions, I think I know how to pace myself.

Seed Time

Our Garden Seeds

Suzy spent many hours with the seed catalogs (Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Uprising Seeds, Baker's Seed Company, High Mowing Seed Company, John Scheeper's Garden Seeds) and made the big order earlier this week. Here's the result, many seed packets all spread out on the table. She recreated our garden plan in another online program and here's that result:

This looks quite ambitious, eight raised beds all built from stones that we'll gather from the property. Then we're supposed to erect an 8 foot high fence to keep the deer out...

Exploitation vs. Nurture

"The spiritual poverty of the Western World is much greater than the physical poverty of our people. You, in the West, have millions of people who suffer such terrible loneliness and emptiness. They feel unloved and unwanted. These people are not hungry in the physical sense, but they are in another way. They know they need something more than money, yet they don’t know what it is."

- Mother Teresa

It's only thirteen work days to retirement and our new, simple life. The glideslope to retirement has given me a perspective on the soul-less nature of corporate work. I've started to notice small but profound things that I ignored - mabye to save my sanity. One is the pained faces of many coworkers. Most complain often,  that's the norm in the workplace and I've certainly contributed. Maybe it's cathartic to share the pain with everyone else. It doesn't seem to help, but it adds to the stress and fuels the cycle.

Another is the complete acceptance of exploitation, that it's okay to grab what you can, while you can. The attendant indifference to others is evident all over, notably in the preference for email and texting, as that avoids having to talk. It raises the insulating wall between the workers inside the gate and the outside society. 

That wall was evident to me last week when I participated in a blood drive at work. I asked about turnout and the nurse was pleased with only 48 blood donors they received - out of thousands of employees. That's a shockingly small number, one-tenth of the norm elsewhere. We work hard and make lots of money compared to those outside the gate, but most of us can't be bothered to help the community. It's an example of spiritual poverty.

"The exploiter’s goal is money, profit; the nurturer’s goal is health—his land’s health, his own, his family’s, his community’s, his country’s. The exploiter wishes to earn as much as possible by as little work as possible; the nurturer expects, certainly, to have a decent living from his work, but his characteristic wish is to work as well as possible. The exploiter typically serves an institution or organization; the nurturer serves land, household, community, place."

- Wendell Barry

I've done my time as an exploiter. It's time to nurture.

More Things I Won't Miss

The Annual Noise, Crowds and Waste Associated with the Family Circle Tennis Cup

The Friendly Signs Around the 'Family Circle'

The School-day Traffic 

The Nonstop Development