{"id":20737,"date":"2022-01-09T12:11:32","date_gmt":"2022-01-09T19:11:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rodbinder.com\/journal\/?p=20737"},"modified":"2022-02-13T11:12:05","modified_gmt":"2022-02-13T18:12:05","slug":"jan-9-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rodbinder.com\/journal\/2022\/01\/09\/jan-9-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Jan 9 The Brute"},"content":{"rendered":"

I grew up on the edge of a national park in Canada – timberwolves, creeks, snow drifts. I really did have to walk home six miles through the snow, like your grandparents used to complain.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dan Aykroyd<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yup, not chainsawing wood yesterday was a mistake. The snow is coming down heavy and has been for a few hours.<\/p>\n

I got it done, wood inside, not chopped, snow gathered.<\/p>\n

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Snow on top 20 minutes worth<\/p><\/div>\n

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600 pounds worth<\/p><\/div>\n

I am beyond exhausted. I had to rest along the way 3 times. The only wood I could get was the very wet, heavy wood. It had been buried under thick layers of sawdust.<\/p>\n

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You can see how much snow fell on the logs since I cut them. About 20 minutes later. In the pic at the top.<\/p><\/div>\n

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You can’t tell how heavy the snowfall is in this pic.<\/p><\/div>\n

My good Samaritan had pushed them out of the ground, so I could cut them. They don’t throw much heat. But I should survive. If I can get them to ignite. \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I went down to the cold garage, to exchange the axe with a cracked head for the one with the broken handle, but still functioning.<\/p>\n

I came back up and thought I would just swing at one log. It split easily. Way too easy. I had forgotten that wet-frozen logs full of ice crystals were easy to split. After they thawed, not so much.<\/p>\n

Hurt, tired and really wanting my morning cup. I knew I had to split the wood right now. I had to split it into the smallest pieces, so they would burn and dry.<\/p>\n

So I started swinging. A half-hour later I had done all except the brute. An 80-pound log encrusted with snow and ice and a million and two branch stubs. I was afraid of that one.<\/p>\n

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The brute<\/p><\/div>\n

The brute was taunting me, so I split him into four pieces. I had other things to do. I wanted a coffee and I needed to get my gen running. My solar batteries needed charging. No sun for weeks during the extreme cold. The solar panels were covered in 6 inches of snow.<\/p>\n

I also needed to heal up and rest in front of my Xbox.<\/p>\n

2 feet of snow moved from the gen shelter. Gen filled with gas, started and buttoned-down.<\/p>\n

I went for the coffee, and now I am starting a new game of ME 1.<\/p>\n

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The brute<\/p><\/div>\n