The workbench is on the way, and I have electricity in the shop now, providing plenty of light, air in the compressor, batteries a charge, tools electrified, and maybe even a little heat when needed till the wood stove warms things up. There are a few gaps to fill in on the hand tools, and I need to do some exercise to get ready to work. The goal is to get a little furniture made for the house, some trim and tops too, and maybe a few things to put out for sale. The space isn’t much to look at, and not a lot to brag about if you were to see other workshops that appear on YouTube in the videos of other woodworkers, but one; I have got to start somewhere, and two, I really like the old world feel of a relatively primitive shop. It’s not about how it looks, it’s about what can be done in there. Perhaps I am just a minimalist at heart. But I will have a workbench.
It’s coming up to Mid-January, and the weather so far this year has been surprising. We have had precipitation! We need precipitation! Storm after storm has battered California, and at last count I heard 1 people have lost their lives, including a five-year-old boy whose last words to his mother before he was washed out of her arms were “Don’t worry mommy.” How horrifying! That was several days ago now, and still no body has been recovered. The tragedies are horrible. The water is needed. Confusing reports say that the water is putting a stop to the drought, or at least providing relief, while one less that optimistic reporter pointed out that most of the water has washed back into the sea, and that so much of it is dirty from all that it has stirred up, and that it will cost millions to clean. Give her a pot of gold and she complains that it is too heavy. I’m sure we’ll make do. The snowpack locally here in southeast Idaho is benefitting too, and I for one am a bit relieved. Over recent years we have been notified that we will get less water through the municipal pipes, and that it will cost us more money.
Also, on the topic of being mid-January, it is that boring time of the year when it is too cold to do much outside, but I am nothing but eager to get there and get at a few things. With the tractor this year, I have had a hell of a lot easier time of doing my chores! I mean, first of all, the cab is heated, and secondly, the weather has not been as cold as in previous years. Well, so far, anyway. With the tractor and a few tools for it, this promises to be the best spring ever on the farm. There are things to get done. So far, the mechanized help has made a world of difference in just keeping the snow cleared. The tiller and loader will make a hell of an easy job of preparing the garden space! I am extra eager for that. Firewood is holding up this winter, though it is normal for me to question how well it will since I am usually only able to produce enough each summer to get through one winter. Ideally, I’ll be getting closer to two cords ready over the spring and summer and will do that for a couple of years in a row, getting ahead while I can. The difference being that I have the tractor set up to lift heavy logs. Make that bit easier, and I can get the rest done. So, this also makes me eager for the weather to warm and the snow to thaw. I want to get at the work, and I want to get through the burning season without running out of wood too early.
The whole family got bikes this Christmas. There is an opportunity for exercise that I hope all will find tolerable. The girls are eager to get out on them. Mine seems to be set up as a cruiser and climber. It’s a strange arrangement of a multi-geared rear cassette, and a single sprocket front. Teh salesman was an idiot who tried to dazzle us with phrases like, “It’s science and technology!” He also said that biked have improved so much recently that they are nothing like what we used to ride when we were younger. I very narrowly avoided laughing in his face. The gearing arrangement is a small change, and it is simpler. Everything else about the bike ain’t that much different to the Specialized Rock Hoppers I rode in 2000, and in 2005-10. It’s a fucking bike. Sure, it is different to the ones the Victorians rode, but it still has pedals and wheels and needs a person to power it forward. The composite materials are nice where they decrease the weight, but I am not riding in the Tour de France. Ease up on the sales job! Especially where repeating the words “science” and “technology” are so non-specific and tell me really nothing at all. I found the fellow terribly irritating.
Lisa Marie Presley died yesterday at 54 from a heart attack. Another woman who was a model and only 56 did so too this week, of breast cancer. Recently a football player had a heart attack on the field. He was obviously younger. It’s scary to be 51. Well, it’s not scary. I mean, death is just death. Once it’s done, I am not going to know anything about it. But I have still got so much to live for, just like these other people. I’d really like to keep going for a while before popping off. There’s a lot to do!
So that’s a bit of what’s on my mind this early winter. It’s the norm for me this time of year. Cold, snow, death. It’s also early morning, so I expect I ought to get up, drink that orange juice I squeezed before bed last night, and get my day started. It’s Friday the 13th! Time to put on my hockey mask and get my day started.