Digging holes in the slooshy north
About going to PA to plant 12 fruit trees on my parent's northern property.
Its spring break and Im in PA, I did not inform my roommates as is my want but slipped out at 5:15pm Friday. I apparently drove past Amanda who called me up to inform me of this action. I was a bit embarrassed. I got an pomagrante rockstar at the local Blockbuster and continued on to waht-a-burger for dinner, I ate it in the car, gooey meaty and delicious, fruti sweet and energizing. I entered I10 and proceeded at top speed to Jax. one hour In I encountered traffic, miles and and miles of stop and go. After A bit I called in for help (parents) and got an alternate route. I traveled then much faster and more pleasantly down 2-lane country roads, the dark was just warm enough to make me want to lower my windows but the rushing of the wind was too loud. I reneterd I10 some time later via greenville and quickly ran low on gasoline. I found an exit ramp some miles later. It was steep and banked and twisted around. Finding theese road conditions exciting I started accelerating (well over the 25mph limit) untill the g-forces had me straing against the wheel, I felt pain in my stomach and my eyes, I had no Idea my car had that much grip. I must have been pulling over 1 g force, 2 wouldn't surprise me. Tires howling into the intersection I found gas and was on my way. I arrived 1.5 hours later than expected.
At home I talked with the folks; the usual yakyak how are classes, home life and etc. Cam was there and so was ED, CJ silver and Clain Manthai. I talked to silver about his schools' robot club and my recent forays into flash site building. I had one of my home-made T-shirts on and everyone seemed to like and or comment on it. Ed, Cam, Clain and CJ stayed up playing VS in call of duty 5. A pretty well constructed first person shooter. Hardcore mode is the best, it removes the HUD so the screen is clear and increases bullet damage. Its still a pretty silly game, getting shot in the head with a 50cal dose less damage than a similar strike with a knife at the same range. It was fun.
The next day we drove. Stayed at a hotel where I couldn't sleep due to various reasons.
And we arrived (at noon). The first thing we saw was a deer skeleton in the front drive. Only the legs had any flesh left, the rest had been picked clean by the local wildlife. In movies creature carcases are always scary and weird. here in the real world it looks lik the most natural thing in the world. Part of the landscape; a daily occurrence; a fallen creature of the forest. We set up the house, the house in PA is not used during the winter months (usually) so the pipes are filled with diluted anti-freeze, these had to be flushed. The pump for the well had to be turned on. The pump house had sunken about 2 inches since we left it. We suspect the groundhog living underneath had tunneled under the supports on the front of the structure. Ive never seen the ground hog but we know hes there. If we plug his tunnels they appear when ever no one is looking.
After the water was clean and flowing we lit a fire in the wood burner. The wood burner heats our water and our water runs through exchanges in the house heating it by convection. We fire the woodburner with scrap wood from the property, mostly felled and fallen trees that are cut up and put in the old barn. Its cheap and environmentally friendly. The environmentally friendly part comes from the fact that dead trees left to rot release just as much carbon as they do when burned. The woodburner itself stands about 7 feet tall by 4 feet wide by 12 feet deep. Its away from the house by about 4 feet.
We also set up a directional DTV antenna on the roof which gets us 3 to 4 (depending on angle) or so free digital TV channels which to my surprise are crystal clear. I used this to watch the Late Show which was presented in 16:9 to my surprise.
The next day we dug. We dug or tried to dig 12 holes in the rocky and partly frozen soil. All were 15 inches wide by 18 inches deep. We start a hole with my father's tractor, it has attached to the rear PTO an auger which is spun by the tractor engine is lifted and set by an hydraulic pump and cylinder. The auger if you dont know is a huge drill, 9 inches across and about 4 feet long. We drill or try to drill 3 holes and then break up the dirt in between. Shovel it out and you have a hole. The ground is filled with all sorts of stuff, rocks, cold hard clay and occasionally ice impregnated dirt clods. Several times the auger stopped and skipped forcing us to have to dig the ice or hard clay blockage out manually. One hole was so stubbornly frozen we gave up on it for the time being.
Later we saw my grandfather who with the help of his brother (my greatuncle Harry) had accidentally lit a few acres of his hay field on fire and had just barely wrestled control of the blaze by furiously mowing the field around the fire to create a break. This happened only weeks after a major hernia operation. I hope I can be so spry and with-it at 75. He had plenty of other stories. The moving and population of the deer on his land, the big freezing rain and the trees it tore down, what this means for crops next year, local tales of local goings on. I can see the appeal of country life whenever we visit. If you can get excited by the small things and like nature its a pretty happy uncomplicated life.
Today my dad is off to get the trees. 12 saplings, 3 or 4 kinds of apple, 3 kinds of cherry, nectarines and I forget what else. Im presently in the Library at Juniata College in Huntingdon PA doing home work (mostly).
Hows your spring break going?
Its spring break and Im in PA, I did not inform my roommates as is my want but slipped out at 5:15pm Friday. I apparently drove past Amanda who called me up to inform me of this action. I was a bit embarrassed. I got an pomagrante rockstar at the local Blockbuster and continued on to waht-a-burger for dinner, I ate it in the car, gooey meaty and delicious, fruti sweet and energizing. I entered I10 and proceeded at top speed to Jax. one hour In I encountered traffic, miles and and miles of stop and go. After A bit I called in for help (parents) and got an alternate route. I traveled then much faster and more pleasantly down 2-lane country roads, the dark was just warm enough to make me want to lower my windows but the rushing of the wind was too loud. I reneterd I10 some time later via greenville and quickly ran low on gasoline. I found an exit ramp some miles later. It was steep and banked and twisted around. Finding theese road conditions exciting I started accelerating (well over the 25mph limit) untill the g-forces had me straing against the wheel, I felt pain in my stomach and my eyes, I had no Idea my car had that much grip. I must have been pulling over 1 g force, 2 wouldn't surprise me. Tires howling into the intersection I found gas and was on my way. I arrived 1.5 hours later than expected.
At home I talked with the folks; the usual yakyak how are classes, home life and etc. Cam was there and so was ED, CJ silver and Clain Manthai. I talked to silver about his schools' robot club and my recent forays into flash site building. I had one of my home-made T-shirts on and everyone seemed to like and or comment on it. Ed, Cam, Clain and CJ stayed up playing VS in call of duty 5. A pretty well constructed first person shooter. Hardcore mode is the best, it removes the HUD so the screen is clear and increases bullet damage. Its still a pretty silly game, getting shot in the head with a 50cal dose less damage than a similar strike with a knife at the same range. It was fun.
The next day we drove. Stayed at a hotel where I couldn't sleep due to various reasons.
And we arrived (at noon). The first thing we saw was a deer skeleton in the front drive. Only the legs had any flesh left, the rest had been picked clean by the local wildlife. In movies creature carcases are always scary and weird. here in the real world it looks lik the most natural thing in the world. Part of the landscape; a daily occurrence; a fallen creature of the forest. We set up the house, the house in PA is not used during the winter months (usually) so the pipes are filled with diluted anti-freeze, these had to be flushed. The pump for the well had to be turned on. The pump house had sunken about 2 inches since we left it. We suspect the groundhog living underneath had tunneled under the supports on the front of the structure. Ive never seen the ground hog but we know hes there. If we plug his tunnels they appear when ever no one is looking.
After the water was clean and flowing we lit a fire in the wood burner. The wood burner heats our water and our water runs through exchanges in the house heating it by convection. We fire the woodburner with scrap wood from the property, mostly felled and fallen trees that are cut up and put in the old barn. Its cheap and environmentally friendly. The environmentally friendly part comes from the fact that dead trees left to rot release just as much carbon as they do when burned. The woodburner itself stands about 7 feet tall by 4 feet wide by 12 feet deep. Its away from the house by about 4 feet.
We also set up a directional DTV antenna on the roof which gets us 3 to 4 (depending on angle) or so free digital TV channels which to my surprise are crystal clear. I used this to watch the Late Show which was presented in 16:9 to my surprise.
The next day we dug. We dug or tried to dig 12 holes in the rocky and partly frozen soil. All were 15 inches wide by 18 inches deep. We start a hole with my father's tractor, it has attached to the rear PTO an auger which is spun by the tractor engine is lifted and set by an hydraulic pump and cylinder. The auger if you dont know is a huge drill, 9 inches across and about 4 feet long. We drill or try to drill 3 holes and then break up the dirt in between. Shovel it out and you have a hole. The ground is filled with all sorts of stuff, rocks, cold hard clay and occasionally ice impregnated dirt clods. Several times the auger stopped and skipped forcing us to have to dig the ice or hard clay blockage out manually. One hole was so stubbornly frozen we gave up on it for the time being.
Later we saw my grandfather who with the help of his brother (my greatuncle Harry) had accidentally lit a few acres of his hay field on fire and had just barely wrestled control of the blaze by furiously mowing the field around the fire to create a break. This happened only weeks after a major hernia operation. I hope I can be so spry and with-it at 75. He had plenty of other stories. The moving and population of the deer on his land, the big freezing rain and the trees it tore down, what this means for crops next year, local tales of local goings on. I can see the appeal of country life whenever we visit. If you can get excited by the small things and like nature its a pretty happy uncomplicated life.
Today my dad is off to get the trees. 12 saplings, 3 or 4 kinds of apple, 3 kinds of cherry, nectarines and I forget what else. Im presently in the Library at Juniata College in Huntingdon PA doing home work (mostly).
Hows your spring break going?