A Living Magazine - Tap Root: Day 17 - Stones and Steak

On this morning I discovered that my hiking line was the weakest link in my latest rain barrel configuration. The weight of water pooling on the tarp was too much. It collapsed the scaffolding and broke the line...

Cleaning up the mess.

I

I resolved to create a new system that would last. It all seemed like such a simple thing: erect a tarp to channel rain into a barrel. Yet, as discussed in the last post, using the tarp is problematic. I knew now what the answer was. The tarp needed to be rigid, with no dips or pockets in it. That meant making a funnel-like configuration, with five or six isosceles triangles (rather than right triangles--which cause pockets to form) taped together. It would have to wait though.

Before walking into town I took some shots of just how many stones I had on the lot...

Eventually these stones will be used in the construction of structures around the property. 

I bought a steak while in town, along with more mushrooms. I'd noticed that if I bought individually wrapped cheese slices they would not need to be refrigerated (at least for as long as I would keep them). I also had a pepper (can't remember what kind) left over from visiting Jeff's uncle who gave it to me a few days earlier. From all of this came one of my tastiest meals yet...

I marinated the steak in teriyaki sauce for a good half hour, while I made the stuffed mushrooms. I may have mentioned some of this process before...

The idea is to hollow out the mushroom caps, add a dollop of butter to each,

then push in a piece of bread (which will soak up the butter as it melts),

cover with cheese and (in this case) stick a piece of pepper into them.

I cooked the mushrooms along with the steak--as long as it took. Mushrooms are so wet that they manage to survive the process quite well. I also tried some other ideas...

A piece of steak, cubed, with pepper and garlic hot sauce.

The sun sank behind the mountains and left the sky stained with a magnificent rose colored streak...

This was a good day. It had been a straight line of good days. My mind was not entirely at peace (as usual), but it certainly was not because of the setting in which I found myself. The environment provided such a wonderful chance to be happy and satisfied with life. Were I able to auction off a piece of my soul to actually experience just how happy I should be, I would readily do it.

I seemingly had everything I'd been trying to find for the last ten years. Why on earth couldn't I just feel it? I guess I was still concerned about how the phone situation had tied my hands and also that i should be spending most of every day building a structure that would give me shelter through the winter. That I was currently unable to do anything about either of these circumstances was a psychological splinter that was stuck in my mind and reminded me of its presence every time everything else began to feel comfortable.

Still, there was much about which to be hopeful. And my gift horse was not opening his mouth for me to look into it. That was a good thing. The Spark (which seemed to constantly be holding back in anticipation of more significant events) seemed to whisper that if I were just to relax, things were in the process of working themselves out. 

A Living Magazine - Tap Root: Day 16 - New Cabin Plan

A couple days before this my friend Jeff had paid me a very generous visit. He bought, transported and dropped off a 30 gallon rain water barrel and a very large 6 cubic foot wheelbarrow, along with a care package of food and cookware prepared by his wife. 

These folks are the best examples of supporters who have gone way over and beyond to help me out at the weakest points in my projects. Eventually the full story about them and the extent to which they have assisted and kept me going will be told. This winter, assuming I am able to build my cabin, I will have a lot of time to write the books I have not been able to work on. The story of the people who have stood beside me as well as a kind of autobiographical (non-fictional) novel, and a condensation of my travels are all long past due.

But on this day it was building the cabin that was on my mind. I had been worrying about the cabin, due to the shortening in term from 5 years to 3 years that the seller of this property had negotiated--eliminating any amount of money I would be able to use in construction, but also my inability to use my phone and the employment opportunities that were slipping by.

Specifically, my concern had to do with not being able to have the concrete I needed for foundational footings and piers delivered, nevermind even paid for. The shoestring budget I put together at the beginning of the project was overstretched. In my own defense, I do not believe there would have been a better way to purchase the land, nor was there a better opportunity to finance such a purchase. I took the best of all of it and assumed the risk of that which could not be adjusted. In truth, I had no other possible alternative for my life than the buying of this land. It was a good move, even if I continue to struggle with unforeseen circumstances. I wish I could feel happier and more satisfied about it. But, worrying is my normal state of mind. It is what it is... 

It was while I looked at this space that I realized a cabin could be built here,

rather than in the woods, and that it could be made of materials already available to me.

The original plan was for a free standing cabin very similar to this...

Copyright 2017 ACWallDesigns

In walking around the property and taking inventory of useful trees I collected leaves to make images of in order to see what kinds they were (I still haven't come to a conclusion--any ideas?)...

The following video gives some idea of what it is like at the campsite discussed how to measure the potential of gathering water, but ends with a description of the new cabin plan...

TASKS COMPLETED

* Came up with a new plan for the cabin
* Tested the new rain barrel setup 

A Living Magazine - Tap Root: Days 13 to 15 - Still Wallking

This week I would walk into town and back each day. I definitely enjoyed each trip to town and dreaded each trip back, because of the constant uphill effort. I did discover that taking Middle Road made life much easier for the return walk.

The architecture of Farmington (I think) is quite unique. It is a clean and prosperous little town. A large percentage of the houses are historic. Not only do they have that look of distinct and lasting quality, but they're also well appointed with interesting plants and gardens. Flowers are well represented in nearly every yard. I will do a whole post about Farmington's houses and building at some point. For now, I think this house gives a good idea...

I love how understated and comfortable this place looks.

Perfect example of Victorian sensibility.

As I mentioned in a past post there are many apples trees along the way to town. There are also a lot of wild and Concord grape vines. The wild vines are simply invasive and don't produce grapes. In desperation, one could eat their leaves. Wild grape leaves are more palatable than the leaves of domesticated grape plants. I have been waiting for these Concords to ripen... 

Besides forgetting to fill the water containers I'd brought to the land, there were other things that I had not anticipated. The steep climb up the mountain road to my dirt road was one. I could imagine how hard that was going to be in the winter time. If I had a job by then, I could just see myself walking in the icy or slushy road conditions, in the darkening late afternoons, only to arrive at my unplowed dirt road for another 1/4 mile trek to the cabin. This was going to be a challenging life for sure.

I had a 3 year mortgage to pay off, but getting through just the first year looked to be the challenge of a lifetime. If I could really do it - survive and establish myself - then the rest of the time should become easier and less stressful.

As we have seen, walking and "wallking" (meaning intentionally using walking as a way to think and process information, among other things including simplifying life) is something I have been willing to do. Here in Farmington it really is no different than walking up the East Coast of America, except that I see the same things each day, and my "sleep spot" is a secured piece of my own land (a great triumph for me personally).

Will I be able to complete this greatest of all my wallks? It is a long distance Journey through experience, rather than through a changing landscape. Even if I have to somehow survive in the tent through the winter, if I don't die or become injured in some way, I will make it work somehow.

Each evening I solidified a set of habits upon returning home. The backpack got hung up on a railing, the fire was lit, the food was prepared and then consumed...

The local grocery store, Tranten's, has a good deal on mushrooms,

so I've been buying and stuffing them when I'm able. Instead of breadcrumbs,

I've found that bread itself works well. I smear in butter, then place a piece

of bread and top it with veggies and/or cheese. I'm becoming

a bit of an expert on cooking various things over an open flame.

The time after sundown is for rumination and planning, meditation and occasionally communion with the Spark...

As I've mentioned previously, probably the greatest blessing about living here is seeing these sunsets--every one is an exquisite natural painting of glory, lasting but a short time and never to be experienced again, except through the inadequacy of photographs like the one above. To think that I will be able to look forward to at least ten more years of sunsets makes me happy--yes, even me.

Interestingly, having a western view also gives me weather heads up. In Maine the wind usually blows from west to east. When I see dark clouds over those mountains, I know they will be over me within a short amount of time. On the other hand, when I see a bright patch lighting up sky in the west I know clearing is coming.

The wallk goes on. The figurative road never ends for me, as it never ends for any of us. sometimes I think that the only difference between my road and the roads of most folks is that I KNOW I'm wallking. I choose to do it. It is my Will-Choice. It took a long time - my whole life - for this moment, this last chapter to arrive. My will finally seems to have synced with the will of the Spark.

And when I lie down to sleep each night, I can truly appreciate just how much more healthy it is for me to be out in nature. Good sleep had become a fiction at my sister's place. Now I was able to be advantaged by the inclusion of a regained dream life and the physical rest it included.  

A Living Magazine - Tap Root: Day 12 - Training the Rain

I had noticed the day before that rain was likely in the next few days. When I woke up on this morning I decided to get ready for it.

One of the major things I forgot to do when I made the drop off of my equipment on that day I came up with my mom was to fill the 3 5-gallon water containers I bought. I was really feeling this oversight more acutely each day. I was on a mountain top, with no stream or well. Until I could get a rain barrel I would have to import water--not fun. I'd done it the day before; hauled a gallon of spring water up all those hills. A gallon of water weighs 8 pounds and takes up a lot of space in the backpack. That was not the way to go.

In a couple days my friend Jeff (whom you may recall as "the protector" and supplier from the 2014-2016 Journeys) would be driving all the way from Manchester, NH to visit. He told me he would bring a rain barrel and a wheelbarrow. Extremely generous, as usual, he was going out of his way to bring 2 of the most important things. 

For now though, I was determined to capture as much rain as I could with the containers I had, so after returning from town I set up this configuration...

I did not yet realize the requirements for the mechanism of training the rain to go into a container. As we will see, even when I had the barrel to work with, I continued to use a loose tarp as a channel. There were several problems I encountered because of this. 

There are some seriously windy days up here--often when it is raining. Loose tarps can act like sails, puffing up and lifting their scaffolding off the ground, tearing off of the ropes or screws that bind them, and (most irritatingly) have places that pool up instead of channeling water into the collection containers. All of those situations were still yet to present themselves. Until then, I considered my little system presented here to be rather ingenious. But looks aren't everything. 

Of the five elements necessary for modern human survival (water, food, shelter, heat and electricity) I had a few. And, some were permanent while other were temporary. The tent was shelter enough for a non-snowy environment, but would have to be supplanted by a seriously secure cabin by November 1. The self-production of food would not be possible until next year. Heat would come from a wood stove in the winter--assuming I could obtain one. I was happy to at least be getting the water collection system down. When the cabin was finally built, I would use the roof as my channel for rain. I'd used the system before, when I lived in that camper on my dad's property in North Saco. It worked incredibly well. Until the cabin was built though, I needed to perfect some kind of tarp arrangement.

The one thing I did have permanently and would retain even as I moved indoors for the winter was the solar system... 

Amazing how 1 solar panel and a small battery can provide a sufficient means of

delivering just enough power to charge my tools and electronic gear.

Although I'd planned to have a much more powerful system consisting of at least one more panel, three more batteries and a wind turbine, I was completely satisfied with what my current system provided. At least one of the five elements (electricity) was securely in place. I consider the purchase of the solar equipment to be one of the best decisions I made with the extremely limited resources I had available to invest in this land.

I sat staring into the fire before turning in. My characteristic tendency to worry was beginning to seep into my days here again. I had no money at all for construction. I still had a couple months to get my cabin built, but time moves quickly. Would I be able to buy materials? 

I had dropped off applications for work at a few places, but they needed to be able to contact me. I felt like I was dropping the ball by not getting back to them with a phone number. It made me look unorganized. I resolved to not make more inquiries until I could readily communicate with these and other businesses. Without the income of blogging and part time work, there was no way I would be able to build the conventional cabin I had designed.

When the fire burned down to a dim glow, I turned in for the night.

TASKS COMPLETED

* Processed more birch for the fire pit
* Built a scaffolding for rain catchment 

A Living Magazine - Tap Root: Day 11 - Critter Review

The night before this day, I'd heard a large animal come across the old road and into my yard. Then another came, then another... It was a small group of deer. 

On this morning these fluffy white caterpillars with black spikes were lowering themselves from the trees...

The Tussock caterpillar. Image Courtesy of the Bangor Daily News.

I had no idea they were the itchy kind until researching this post. I did not have a problem with them though. All my itching came from the constant attacks by mosquitoes. In the next weeks these white paratroopers would get trapped under my rain fly, along with myriad other small creatures. They are so determined that their only route of escape is upward, that they are unable to see that escape lies only inches below them. The Tussocks sometimes get stuck (somehow) on the screen material of the tent. And, I'm not sure why, but they can't seem to free themselves. And, after a few days they must die of dehydrations, because all that is left of them is white furry dust.

Some rather impressive looking spiders have discovered the bonanza located between the screen and rainfly, cashing in. There are also hundreds of other kinds of tiny spiders doing their thing in the woods. Experienced readers of this blog may recall my soft spot for spiders? It looks like I will have a lot of arachnid neighbors keeping me company.  

The mosquitoes were mostly there in the morning and evening as one might expect. But if I stood in one place for more than about 5 minutes they would gather around me, orbiting and going in for a little blood every chance they could. I bought some bug spray with DEET and that worked pretty well. I'd have to re-douse myself every couple of hours. Every now and then a precious dragonfly will swoop in from the field and snatch a bunch of mosquitoes and then dart back out of the woods again. In the field there are also bats zipping around pulling impossible G's in their flights to snag insects.

The deer were also around during the day. Secretive, but always present somewhere not far from where I was, they would occasionally come into view and then run away. I would especially see them in the edges of the forest along the dirt road.

I found this little guy (which I have not been able to identify) just before heading in town... 

 After returning from town, I rested and then built the daily fire. There were a few hot dogs left over from two days earlier, so I reheated them and enjoyed the uncharacteristically dry and cool evening...

Sunset

I had cut more trees and was also processing more fallen birch trees - which I separated into bark, wood chips and solid cores.The paper bark is exceedingly good for starting fires. I call it my "gasoline." It isn't so good for steady burning as it releases an enormous amount of black sticky smoke.

The birch wood chips were/are ideal for my composting toilet and they have no insects in them for some reason. The inner core of fallen birch trees is a perfectly cured form of firewood. It may not be very wide, but even a 4 inch log will burn for a couple hours. 

It is the birds that here most prevalently. I have mentioned the whippoorwill.  There is also a strange sounding bird who only sings at sunset. He sounds like a synthesizer and I intend to record his interesting song. 

In the mornings the crows own the stage. There is one particularly loud and bossy crow I call "Angry Bird." H/she makes a big deal out of harassing some other rather large bird across the clearing on another land owner's property. Then a group of crows seem to go into oddly tempered conversations about mid morning. Usually, all but Angry Bird will fly off. I can tell the others are returning in late afternoon when Angry Bird puts out a "CAAWW!" and I hear another "CAAWW!" far off in the distance.

As I lay awake thinking, I heard scratchy sounds on a nearby tree. I learned later that it is a woodpecker climbing up and down the trees doing his thing. This was strange to hear at night, since I usually only hear their pecking in the afternoons. Amazing birds.

There are chipmunks living in piles of wood and squirrels who bark from the trees during the day time. There is also a local skunk, whom I have only ever detected by his fragrant passing.

I'm sure I will get to know all of these folks as the months go by. With that in mind, I slipped into unconsciousness.

TASKS COMPLETED

* Built some railings
* Processed more birch for the firepit

A Living Magazine - Tap Root: Day 10 - Making Myself at Home

This day would be a great settling-in kind of day. 

In the morning the hay farmer who owns the field, and his wife, paid a visit to admonish me for driving up his field just before haying on July 27th, when I'd dropped things off with my mom. I apologized. He was cool about it, but she was ripping mad. We worked out another way to access the old road through the woods.

It was a great way to get into the land, but had no entrance. After making up with them, I walked into town to buy some food and get online.

The phone not working was becoming a big problem. I'd spent extra money to build up minutes and accumulate data to be used to publish posts and access the internet online while at the land. But it just wasn't happening.

By the time I returned to the land I was hungry. So, I cooked up my steak dinner and enjoyed the evening...

I also took time to walk around the tent a bit. Already things were developing and falling into their places...

The solar panel and system in general were working very well--surpassing my expectations. Things don't do that very often in my life, so I truly appreciated it...

 

Though it was only my second full day, I felt so thankful for having a place where the sunsets could be so majestic...

I'd found a bunch of apple trees along my walk to from town and even to the day I write this (nearly a month after the day depicted in this post) I still bring home apples from these trees... 

It was a great day. The realization that the phone would be such a huge problem in the weeks to come had not yet settled in. I was still in a honeymoon mood with this land. I went to bed with the whippoorwill announcing the evening's animal-music entertainment. 

A Living Magazine - Tap Root: Day 9 - Taking Stock

I woke up at about 5:00 a.m. I wanted to keep sleeping but I was too excited to check out the land. At about 6:30 a.m. I saw small glowing orange patches on the eastern side of the tent. The sun rose much further down the hill than I'd anticipated. 

This was great. It meant the woodsy land would receive sun from more angles and for a longer period. It also meant that a large number of small gardens could be situated around the hill and all receive light throughout the day. I made a short video to give some idea what I had landed in... 

I have an HD camcorder with which I filmed each day for the next three weeks. Unfortunately, it stores the files as MTS (a file extension for an AVCHD--Advanced Video Coding High Definition video clip format for high-definition video). These are very large-memory video files. Just to transfer them from the camera takes a long time. But converting them to standard MP4 can take up to an hour per minute (!). Therefore, after Day 24 (still to come) there will be more video, because I changed back over to my phone as my video capture device. For now, and until then, only a small portion of the videos taken can be published here. Eventually though, the camera footage will be appropriate for an HDTV quality documentary (if such a thing is ever possible). 

This day was spent exploring the land, getting the fly up, going into town to check messages (since the phone didn't seem to be working), and generally organizing. As I said above, there was much more video footage that would be very interesting to add to this post, but that is not possible at this time.

I went to bed at about 9:00 pm and had another good night's sleep.

TASKS COMPLETED

* Got the rain fly onto the tent
* Set up the solar power system
* Organized tools and other equipment
* Built a fire pit

A Living Magazine - Tap Root: Day 8 - The One Way Trip

I woke and returned the van, then walked up to Starbucks where I had coffee and waited until about 12:00 pm. Then I walked down Congress Street to the Greyhound Station to catch a 1:00 pm bus to Lewiston.

The bus was quite late as is Greyhound's habit. And, the attendant at the station was quite negative. Looked like he had been working there a bit too long...

Portland Greyhound Station

My last day in the Portland area was like every other day that I'd hung out in the city. I honestly did not know when I would see it again. I certainly planned to return many times, but had no idea when the next time might be.

I got on the bus and was whisked off to Lewiston, via Brunswick. It didn't take long. I had a reservation to transfer to the Farmington Bus (Western Maine Transportation) but had a layover of an hour at the Lewiston bus station waiting for it... 

Saggy, The Wonder Pack resurrected for one last trip.

The Farmington bus was also quite late (about a half hour). When it arrived I boarded, paid my $6 and took a seat. Unfortunately, we waited another 15 minutes for a rider who never showed up. The day was dragging on and the hours were growing later. I'd wanted to be at the land by 5:00 pm in order to erect the tent before sunset.

It was about that time when we rolled into Wilton. Then instead of continuing on to Farmington, we took a right and dropped off two people. The driver was kind of a character, often talking to we remaining riders. This was an unusual route for her, so I (and another rider) used GPS to help her get back to Route 4.

At about 5:30 pm, we finally entered Farmington and the driver dropped me off at Walmart. I was about 5 miles from my land. It took quite a while for me to do what I needed to do there. First, I bought a pillow and pillow case, shoved it into Saggy's bottom pocket (where I used to put my sleeping bag during the Journeys). I'd also planned to buy a bike and ride the rest of the way to my property. I did this, but quickly learned that the whole way there was uphill. The bike was also not the best. It's gears became a bit tangled. I found myself getting off and pushing up the biggest hills, with the last, very steep hill up the mountain being ridiculously cumbersome. 

Soaked with sweat, over-tired from not sleeping well for the last two and a half weeks, irritated at the bike-burden I'd just dumped upon myself (and spent $125 on), and worried that I would not get the tent up by sundown, I finally got back on the bike to ride the last half mile down the dirt road and up the field to my land. As I dismounted the bike, I felt the left strap on Saggy break, causing the backpack to fall further down my right side. I had to laugh. This backpack that had carried everything I needed - twice - across the US had finally resigned its loyal service at exactly the right time. What a day.

I held my breath praying that my stuff - dropped off the day before - would still be there and intact. It was. The sun was quite low in the sky and I checked my watch. It was 7:00 pm. I had about 40 minutes to get the tent up. It came with no instructions, so I used the image on the bag to figure out how to get it up. It was definitely meant to be a two person job, as I would find nearly every task to be on this land in the weeks to come.

I did it though. The tent (without the fly--didn't look like rain would be coming that night) was up just as the orange rays of the sun disappeared. I was enormously exhausted but looking forward to be sleeping in peace on my own land. It was my first night there. I had that strange feeling of butterflies that I used to get when finding a sleep spot along my recent cross country Journeys.

I used the little air pump that my sister had given me to blow up the air mattress. Then I laid down the comforter and my new pillow. Settling in and feeling very comfortable, I lay awake for a short time, listening to a whippoorwill (whom I would hear each night in the next weeks). In the distance I also heard coyotes celebrating a kill in that ecstatic way they do, seeming to laugh hysterically the waxing moon light. I hadn't heard them for over a year.

As my consciousness faded I passed over America again in spirit, looking down on all of the places I had been; checking in on all of the people I had met and imagining them getting ready for bed. The last Journey before returning to Maine had been called "Homecoming." 

Then, after the brief final Journey up Maine's coast, barely surviving a heart attack and consequently spending the last 9 months in a dignity-destroying stasis of uncertainty, sleeping in a dirty attic (even my niece good-heartedly teased me about being an "attic uncle"), unable to work or get an apartment...feeling like a waste of human life, was I now "home"? I think I was. I think I am.

The Spark (essentially) said, "Yes, but the new wallk will be the hardest you have ever done. Then, you will finally sit back and feel the accomplishment." Or, maybe it was just me fictionally reassuring myself. It doesn't matter. The same process must lead to the same result. 

For the first time in weeks I slept through the whole night.


TASKS COMPLETED

* Assembled the tent.