Author: Martian Joe

It was a calm, quiet, introspective weekend in the ranch.

The weather has taken a turn this week. A cold front moved in, but not so much moved in as blew into the region with dizzying speed and fury. The winds were wild for an afternoon, and then the snow came. The first large accumulation of the year; several inches, and drifts of eight to ten inches in varying places. Temperatures dropped, fires were lit, and the seasonal shift was noted.

My wall repairs were not sufficient, it would seem. The patched wall, now settled, sealed and all trim replaced, is still not up to structural integrity even with the new log beam, which may or may not be the solution. Long story short, another bay window cracked in the overnight. The largest and heaviest of the three split into three sections.

In the interim, another patch that was in progress was sped up today. Large steel plates had been ordered, drilled, painted and prepped. Each plate can tie four D-logs together, thus stiffening the wall, or so is the intent. Lag screws arrived last night and were picked up this morning. Merely lamenting my window woes via text this morning and a ranch neighbor, and real friend, dropped his day to come help me. We had the plates installed a little after noon.

There is a far sturdier, stiffer and more stable wall today. I have to shave the window trim around the braces, but as a balanced pair, they look fine, and have added much stability to the window wall. Alas, a day or two late to save a window, but winter is fast approaching. If not addressed now, when?

There are times in life where repetitions occur. Have you ever had things happen in threes? Like hearing or reading a new word three times in a day? This morning it was a recurring concept, and it was about steam.

Steam is merely the vaporous form of water. Dipping below freezing overnight, the dog and I simultaneously steamed the ground this morning on our first outing. Steam was emitting into visible form when I exhaled. Steam escaped my travel mug as it slid open, accessing my ranch friend’s home roasted coffee I am savoring this week. Home roasted, freshly ground and cold brewed… a luxury to tickle the brain.

Back inside, the ear piercing tea kettle beckoned me, connecting me back to the simplicity of the steam whistle we mostly take for granted. Someone sat down, thought it through, experimented, and prototyped this little ‘coffee is ready’ signal. I am unsure of the math, and even though a watched pot never boils, I am firmly convinced that, the further you are from a heating steel tank of water the higher the odds of the whistle erupting.

Sipping a fresh hot beverage, a video playing on the laptop took a bit of steam out of my sizable wood pile winter reserves. I stumbled upon my third steam concept of the morning with an adage I had never before heard.

Either aspen or pine; we’ve got what we’ve got when it comes to firewood here. The video, in reference to pine for firewood, stated “Any easterner worth his salt wouldn’t give you the steam off his piss for a full cord of it.”

With the help of a friend, I got the log onto a set of rudimentary horses. I decided to build them the height of my frame, thus preventing stooping and bending whilst cleaning.

Working with a log in a manner that is new has been fun, interesting, and Zen-like. There was a drawing knife in the garage amidst the array of tools left for me. A nice, large, wooden handled knife with a nearly new blade. It pulls easily, notably since the fire scarring has loosened the bark.

Surprisingly, how to pull, draw, and shape without digging is a nearly instinctive act for this man. A few hours simply vanished as I got in synch with my task, and the transformation into a structural timber appeared.

There is much clean up left to do. Branch ends to grind, burn scars to remove, but to complete the day, I processed the section not used for the new beam. Ten rounds of about nine chunks each is a bonus for the wood pile.

The cabin’s window has been repaired, but the wall in which they sit is mostly glass. It seems proper, notably upon the advice of men out here who have built their own homes, that the wall itself should be stabilized with a new supporting beam to bind the wall into the interior structure of the cabin.

I do not own a moisture tester but after some hiking and exploring, I found a tree, albeit fire scarred, that was dead before the fire, and is tall and straight enough for the task, with a proper diameter.

I dropped the tree, picked out a 25 foot section to extract, and using a technique that worked well in the past, drilled a hole, inserted a steel pole and attached it to the Jeep’s winch.

The cliff behind the house is very steep, and the winch really only works well while the Jeep is running, so I used an aspen to help the emergency brake hold the vehicle in place.

The Jeep has a really long (like 150 foot) cable on the winch, and it steadily pulled it up the hill.

Eventually, I was able to simply back the Jeep out, log still attached to the winch, and haul it into the driveway. It needs cleaning, hewing and shaping, but it is in the yard now.

I met a new ranch couple last night. We ate, we drank, we talked and we learned of each other. There are so many wise, unique, creative people here, and I always enjoy discovering new folks as such.

One noted topic was that this area is known for anomalies in the sky, prompting much speculation about other worldly craft that might visit with us. I was specifically told, “make sure you take pictures so someone will believe you.”

Taken at 7:11 am this morning. There was no time to put on the long lens. I make no claims, but this is what my camera captured.