Our Dream Fulfilled

Discussion in 'Personal Diaries' started by Gary O'Dan, Feb 11, 2023.

  1. Gary O'Dan

    Gary O'Dan Well-Known Member
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    Yes!
    My first experience with snowshoes;

    A little story from a few years back, living at the cabin
    (glad I pen things soon after they occur)


    I don’t have cabin fever

    w-a-a-a-a-a-y past cabin fever

    it rained yesterday
    ice, snow, and rain make trekking somewhat entertaining

    if one more bird lands on my shoulder while I’m peeing I’m gonna break its tiny neck with my channel locks

    got out a bit

    helped an ol’ guy fetch his water

    since we live among our native American brethren, I’ve been given to naming folks what I think fits their character

    this fellow gets around with the help of a putter

    calling him Walks With Iron

    didn’t know what was involved with fetching water

    if I had, I’da just offed Walks With Iron, with a large rock

    ‘where’s the water?’

    ‘oh, it’s just up the trail a piece’

    ‘a piece’ is several hundred paces

    ‘up the trail’ is up, steep (gravity fed don’tcha know)

    turns out I’m in pretty good shape

    I can twirl, tumble, scream and flail several times in succession without losing a dogged trudge

    He normally does this on his own, but his back is out

    His little woman is a little woman

    Does art, feathers n’ things
    That’s her contribution

    I’m going to end her too

    He did hand me a pair of snow shoes

    I’ve never worn snow shoes

    One does not mosey, amble nor stroll in snow shoes
    One should stride as though slogging thru deep quicksand when in snow shoes
    When turning in snow shoes, one should be aware of what can occur when stepping on the back of the adjacent snow shoe

    Snow angels are overrated

    When picking one’s self outta four feet of snow, one should remove at least one snow shoe



    Walks With Iron now has 77 gallons of brackish brown water in his indoor tanks, 120 lbs of dog food in his feeder (don't recall seeing a dog), and three big wheel cart loads of blood stained wood on his porch

    I’m home now

    Happier

    Relieved

    My water is only a hundred paces away

    On flat land

    That’s my story today

    Waltzes In Snow
     
    #31
  2. Gary O'Dan

    Gary O'Dan Well-Known Member
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    Many a scene of nature out there

    risen 3.jpg



    But my very best of times were towards dusk

    I'd be sipping a steaming hot mug of java
    Listening to the prairie wolves
    Their songs of mourning
    drifting thru the pines

    It'd give me a bit of a chill

    I so miss that

    [​IMG]
     
    #32
  3. Faye Fox

    Faye Fox Veteran Member
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    I miss everything about living in the mountains except all the people that moved in.

    They left the cities because they paved paradise and put up a parking lot.

    They ruined the forest and range land with their pseudo-environmentalism.

    They drove the real stewards of the land out with their recreational ways.

    I build my cabin "lodge" so it would stand for 150 years. They bulldozed it and reduced it to ashes.

    Now a two-million-dollar home stands with all its environmentally friendly appliances and high-tech security.

    Expensive horses just for trail riding have the once lust pasture where cattle roamed, all stomped to fine dust.
     
    #33
  4. Gary O'Dan

    Gary O'Dan Well-Known Member
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    Oh, that's mighty sad......,mighty sad
     
    #34
  5. Gary O'Dan

    Gary O'Dan Well-Known Member
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    As @Faye Fox experienced, building with yer own hands is a profound experience

    Towards finishing the first cabin, I took my sweet time

    There's a pride

    new entry.jpg

    and......you'll be looking at what you did for possibly a very long time

    5WV1z61.jpg

    I built with the ever real thought a wildfire could wipe it all out within minutes if the wind was wrong

    Didn't seem to matter
     
    #35
  6. Gary O'Dan

    Gary O'Dan Well-Known Member
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    as a side note, I enjoy capturing nature while its not looking

    we get the sun rises

    Here's one I put words to;

    photo and words.jpg
     
    #36
  7. Mary Stetler

    Mary Stetler Veteran Member
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    That is beautiful!!! Thank you.
     
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  8. Mary Stetler

    Mary Stetler Veteran Member
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    And we have to get rid of the cattle because of all the methane.:(
     
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  9. Faye Fox

    Faye Fox Veteran Member
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    Beautiful work Gary. I forged my hinges and slide bolt locks and they were a bit crude but they worked. It is crazy my cabin and "lodge" survived 6 major forest fires, 4 of them when I lived there. I was evacuated 4 times. I was also living there when St Helen's blew.

    It might interest you to know my outhouse maintenance. I dug 4' deep holes and always cleaned out my ashes from my wood cook stove daily and dumped them in there. My cookstove was used year around and also heated my water. I then would lime it weekly and never had a problem. When the hole was half full, I moved it. One winter I had 6' high snow walls on either side of the path. The last 5 years I live there, I had full-fledged indoor facilities.
     
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  10. Gary O'Dan

    Gary O'Dan Well-Known Member
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    That's above and beyond
    Quite remarkable
    A guy up the path had a forge
    He made me some hinges for my rustic cabinets
    Nothing better

    I'll post some pics.....when I find them
     
    #40
    Last edited: Feb 17, 2023
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  11. Gary O'Dan

    Gary O'Dan Well-Known Member
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    Yeah, that's pretty much the norm

    Thing is, our water table was quite high
    Didn't want to risk it
     
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  12. Gary O'Dan

    Gary O'Dan Well-Known Member
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    Found 'em

    forged hinge.jpeg

    forged latch.jpeg

    first jelly cupboard 100.jpg

    first jelly cupboard 2.jpg
     
    #42
  13. Faye Fox

    Faye Fox Veteran Member
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    So was mine but I had it downhill 100 feet from the well which I had to abandon because of high iron and other minerals. It was a big project developing my spring on the hill. but worth it. When I was in the mountains of Montana, I had an electric composting toilet. I hated it!
     
    #43
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  14. Gary O'Dan

    Gary O'Dan Well-Known Member
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    That first cabin was tiny.....too tiny
    Did the bump outs
    That helped....some
    Still too small to live in.
    Can't recall the sq footage, but under 200SF

    As this thread travels, I'll talk about our main cabin and other buildings

    This is the main cabin;
    We lived in it six years

    2nd cabin.jpg
     
    #44
  15. Gary O'Dan

    Gary O'Dan Well-Known Member
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    The subject of running into undesirables on another site reminded me of some folks

    Mostly renegades live around the cabin
    Miles away, but still neighbors
    They don't bother with anyone
    .....and they don't like to be bothered

    Hermits, mostly

    One ol' boy came down to our cabin
    Rare for him
    He brought me a gift
    A strange, old looking mattock
    You don't not take gifts from these folks
    It's an insult

    Anyway, he don't talk much
    So, we sat...sipped a brew
    Talked seasons......fires......critters
    Then
    He got up
    Turned
    Walked away

    No G'bye
    No hand waive
    No nuthin'

    I watched him walk down the path
    'Til he disappeared

    Got to liking that trait

    Less to do

    He's got a tight little cabin
    His refer is a deep hole in the ground
    Does just enough hunting to supplement hisself

    Good guy to know up there
     
    #45
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