Finally getting a little snow.. I harvested about 15 gallon of water today; good thing because the snow is starting to melt.
Shelter vs House
Last night I was sitting in my darkening cabin thinking how lucky I am live the way I do. It’s hard to explain but just sitting there watching it get dark is the best feeling.
That’s the great thing about cabin life, it doesn’t cut you off and protect you from the world like a house. It more enhances life than cut you off from it.
When it’s dark, you know it’s dark. When it’s cold outside, you know it’s cold.
If you want heat, you go chop wood. If you want water, you need to melt some snow.
If the cabin burns down, you need to figure out a new shelter. But that’s all it is—shelter.
Some people think my life is harder than for people who live in a house. I can tell you, from my house sitting experiences, that I have far more time and far less chores to do than a house dweller.
It takes me like 40 seconds to clear the snow off my porch.
When I house sat for my sister, I had a long walk to shovel, many decks to shovel, and a long driveway to plow.
My toilet is a bucket. I have two of them. Once a week I dump them under a big pine tree, rinse them out with my saved gray water, and rake some pine needles over the top. It takes 10 minutes a week at the most. They work flawlessly, don’t use water, and they make top soil.
At my sisters, not one of her three toilets worked flawlessly. A half of day was spent cleaning up after one of them overflowed.
Though my cabin is cold in the mornings, some night it’s probably close to 80 degrees. To be that warm when it’s cold outside feels delicious.
I make a nest on the floor with blankets and pillows and in the dark cabin, stretch out in front of the wood stove and the propane heater, drink tea, look out at the stars, and think, “There is no where I would rather be.”
At my sisters house she has inlay hot water coils that heat the floor of her large house. You set it and the house stays that same temperature all the time. So it’s too hot when you’re sleeping and too cold when you’re awake.
The one thing I thought that her 3500 sq ft. house would have over my 200 sq. ft. cabin was space. In my cabin, I carefully lay myself out to do some yoga postures so I have enough room.
The shocker was that because she had filled all her space with stuff, I had the same problem at her house as in my cabin. She had no more room to stretch out and do yoga as I did.
If I need a new roof—500 dollars. If she needs a new roof—10,000 dollars.
I can wash all my windows, inside and out in under an hour. She needs scaffolding to wash her windows.
My shelter serves me; she serves her’s.
I could go on and on but my point is cabin life is easier, more comfortable, more beautiful, and much more sustainable than big house living.
Getting rid of stuff
I have always liked getting rid of stuff. Even when I was really little, when my parents would yell at me to clean up my room, I would grab a Good Will bag and throw all my stuff into it.
When I had a house it was full of stuff. It made me tired. So, I made a rule. Everyday I had to get rid of at least 10 things. I did that for months. Everything I got rid of increased my energy.
Then one day I couldn’t think of anything else to get rid of. I started feeling so tired. I told my son and he posted on his geek board that I had beer making supplies to give away for free. Within hours there were a couple of geeks taking away my brewery and my energy surged.
After my big purge, I was robbed and then I had even less stuff.
Then I sold my house and I had to get rid of almost everything. There was no room for sentimentality.
It was so freeing to dump all the pictures of my past into the garbage. I don’t need pictures; I lived my life; I was there.
Now, I have less stuff but I still try to get rid of one thing a day.
It’s a good goal to set: by the end of everyday— less stuff.
What’s an uncluttered life worth. Certainly more than any of the clutter is worth.
My new favorite meal
Super oats are out. Apples and peanut butter are in.
Seam ripper: because your stuff shouldn’t talk
This is a seam ripper. You can use it to remove the company logos that have been sewn on to the outside of your clothes and gear.
There are enough ads in this world we don’t need them on our clothes.
Company names and logos look bad and render clothes useless for anything but for the activity they were intended.
I once owned a nylon shirt in vibrant blue with no logos on it. I wore it for everything. When I took my dying mother on a cruise, I wore it with some black slacks and fake pearls to formal night. Then I wore it on a 5-month Pacific Crest Trail thru-hike. I kept wearing it every day for the next year. Then I wore it for the Florida Trail. Next, I wore it for the Appalachian Trail. Somewhere in Connecticut, I replaced it.
That was a good shirt. It didn’t have any logos so all I needed was one shirt that went from formal night on a cruise to hiking a long trail.
My grandchild is preparing to be born, so, I have been shopping for baby gear. The outdoor clothing manufactures are putting logos on baby clothes! I can’t believe anyone could be so crass.
They aren’t going to stop until people refuse to wear their company toting stuff.
Everything looks better without logos.
Related Posts: Yes, we have no logos
Removing the logo from your pot lid
The delightful benefits of a sleeping loft.
Plenty cold here. It was supposed to have got to -4 F (-20 C) overnight. But it’s really sunny this morning.
I think I went in to hibernation mode. I fell asleep on the couch at dark(about 5:30pm). Sometime in the night I woke, the fire had gone out and it was cold. I climbed up to the sleeping loft and slept till after 8:30am.. I never sleep in that late. I’m usually up by 5 am. 
I really appreciate the sleeping loft when it gets this cold. It’s about 20 degrees warmer up there and not as drafty as the rest of the cabin.
If you are thinking of building a cabin, I would recommend a sleeping loft with an operatable window. On nights, when it is not in the negatives, it is often so warm up there that I sleep with the window open. Even with the window closed it’s drafty enough to give me fresh air while I sleep.
When it is really cold, I keep my clothes in bed with me so they will be warm and I can put them all on before going down to light a fire.
I appreciate all the windows down in the main floor when on cold mornings the sun pours in and heats up the cabin.
Kelty Triptease Lightline
Once I was hiking along with Pinball and we were talking about gear. He boasted that he used Kelty Lightline on his tent. It’s reflective so you don’t trip over your tent lines at night.
I said, I used to use that too until I hiked the Florida Trail and then the hunters that roar through the woods at night shooting at anything that reflects made me change my mind.
Then, one long hard day, we made it to a campground with water. There was a bunch of drunk loud people but we were too beat to carry on further. We both put up our gray tents.
After dark, as I was lying in my tent, I hear a truck and see the red backup lights getting closer to my tent. Then I hear, “Oh fuck! There’s people back there.” Then I saw brake lights glowing through the wall of my tent.
It was probably Pinball’s reflective line that caught his attention and stopped him from backing over us.
Final trip to town…I hope.
Since there wasn’t any snow to melt for water, I headed out to town for one final load of water. By the time I got back it was snowing. If I had put my chains on, maybe I could have made it up to my cabin, but instead I decided to park my truck at the bottom of my hill and carry the water jugs up on my backboard.
Times like these, I wish I had bought the 5 gallon jugs instead of the 7 gallon jugs.
It’s cold and dark out there, but I have two more to go…..
The thing that happens when I talk to people.
I don’t talk to people often, but when I do, this weird thing keeps happening: they start mouthing the words I’m saying. At first, I thought it was something weird with this one person but it keeps happening to me with different people.
I’ve asked other people if this happens to them and they all say no. This has been going on for over 10 years.
Do it yourself binoculars
One time when my son and I were on a hike, we were lying on a mountain top. I pointed at a hill off in the distance and said, “I think there is a cell tower on that hill.”
He took my reading glasses and his glasses and lined up the two pairs of glasses so he was looking through both of them. Then he moved them closer and further away from each other and closer and further away from his face until the hill came in focus and said, “Yep, it’s a cell tower”.
He says, it’s easiest to start with both lenses pretty close to your eye, then slowly move them away from your eye. Depending on the lenses, the first one will probably be 4 inches away from your eye, the second will be 3 inches farther.
He also says if you only have one pair of glasses you can still do it, if you don’t’ mind popping out one of the lenses.
No currency ideals
I was reading this guy’s blog. http://zerocurrency.blogspot.com/ He’s a fellow that lives without money, partly as a spiritual practice.
It’s a place I might be heading one of these days. I’ve been attracted to the idea for a long while.
However, I don’t like being hassled. And if you have no money and take a pizza out of the dumpster, apparently the cops bother you. Also when I go to sleep I don’t want someone to say to me, “Hey! Hey! you can’t sleep here.” I hate that.
He doesn’t seem to mind people. So much of my happiness is dependent on blissful solitude and not being hassled by people…. but maybe someday.
Stinky hikers that wear scents
Stinky hikers don’t bother me; I don’t really notice. But stinky hikers that try to cover up their stink with deodorants and scents can make me gag.
Deodorants and scents are for clean people that don’t smell. When dirty, stinky people try to cover up their stink with scents and deodorants it doesn’t make them smell good, it amplifies the stink.
If you want to smell better, wash up.
Cheap cabin lighting
This candle is called a 7 day candle because it burns for 7 days continuously. It comes in a glass jar so it doesn’t drip wax. They cost about 1.50 in the Mexican food aisle at the grocery store or in the candle aisle at Walmart. Sometimes they have pictures of Jesus and other saints on them.
If I have a guest, I keep one going all night so they have a night light.
Most nights I don’t even light a candle. I’m either reading on my laptop or reading a book with my LED headlamp. Sometimes though, it’s nice to sit around at night drinking tea, looking at a candle.
Related post: A new era begins—The Age of Light
Everyone can be wrong (and they often are)
If you ever have have an idea that goes against what everyone else is saying, you should know that everyone else can be wrong. In fact they most often are.. why? Because people in society are not meant to think. They are meant to follow and receive instruction. It keeps everyone going in the same direction, making the same mistakes but all agreeing that they are right. Whole societies are built around bad ideas.
This is vibrantly illustrated to me on the trail when on the rare occasion I hike with someone for awhile and they want to believe they are on the right trail even though they have no proof and I’m feeling unsure. When I question whether or not we are on the right trail or I take out my map, they act exasperated.
“We may be lost, but we’re making good time.”