Fall is fully upon us now. Temperatures normally drop below freezing in the overnight, rising into the fifties during the day. It feels good this year, and feels normal. We did not suddenly plunge into the depths of winter and are gradually transitioning this year.
There is much equipment to move and relocate. I have learned where the wind whips the hardest, where the drifts formed, and how brutal, blind and lost anything outside can be, left untended. Nothing is left out this year. Nothing is untended, unsorted, or has no home. This place enters a form of stasis, once the snows persist, and a man comes to rely on his equipment out here, so tending is a must.
I am also extracting and tuning for the winter. Re-greasing every fitting on Moon Bug. Changing the oil in the generators. Rotating tires on the Jeep and Tacoma. The log splitter might be safely stored for the long winter, but other equipment is just ramping up its required usages, so we shift from Summer equipment to Winter. Summer clothing to hats, gloves, and wind proof jackets… Even a shift is required in mentality – from the Summer time full of warmth, beating sun and little side by sides buzzing the open roads to one of hunkering down, chimney stacks smoking, and quiet reflection by a near constant fire.
