I wanted to be a lumberjack. Yes! A lumberjack! Leaping from tree to tree! - More Monty Python

As you can see, both The Boy and his dog are completely incapacitated by the weather conditions in Alaska. There can be no fun in the snow whatsoever.

In our last meeting I was just about to let you know the true meaning of life, but between Wednesday and today it seems to have slipped my mind. I'll get back to you when it comes back. Okay.

Above is another thing I've got to do before it gets too much colder. Cut down the tree above. Which one? The one that's gonna fall on my fence if I don't cut it down. It's like Ayn Rand's School for Forest Management - the weak tree has gotta go.



The tree above is weak, and must be destroyed. But, I took an artsy picture of it first.

The sad part is the only way I can figure out to cut it down sounds like the premise for a Three Stooges short film:

1. Get a ladder
2. Get a chainsaw
3. Prop the ladder against the tree I'm going to cut down
4. Climb the ladder with the running chain saw
5. Cut a bit of the tree down
6. Climb down the ladder
7. Cut the rest the tree down, 6' section by 6' section using steps 3-6

If that doesn't have the recipe for an emergency room visit comic mayhem embedded in it, then my name isn't Curly Wilder.

On a side note, a moose was skulking about my property last night. I found tracks out today when I went to go take the tree picture above. I know, I know, it is technically very difficult for a 1500 lb. animal to skulk, but I never heard this one, so, he was skulking.

On the second side note. I went out to take that picture when it was 20F outside. Wearing a t-shirt and some cotton workout shorts, plus some insulated boots. If you've ever gone outside dressed like that below the temperature at which water freezes and goofed around for five or ten minutes, you might be an Alaskan.

Part of it is a mental attitude. 20F just isn't that cold. Now, I worked outside with The Mrs. for a few hours (it was 10F or 15F) and I stopped not because I was chilly, but because I couldn't see the tape measure due to the shadow caused by the hot tub I was working behind.

And, what was I doing? Insulating.

We love our hot tub, but it is tasked with one of the most difficult appliance-jobs in the house - specifically, staying 100F when it's -55F outside. I know, you're saying, hey, an oven stays at 350F when it's only 70F in the house. Sure, but you only use an oven to bake those little biscuits that come in the package that you have to slam against the counter to pop open. Which takes, what, 15 minutes? The hot tub has to do this all the time, every day. Just stay hot. You know, that part of the name "hot" tub.



Hey, hot tubs need love, too.

Our hot tub was just fine, down south where it got as cold as 20F for a day. Now, in October, that might be the high for the day. So, I got some insulation (used) and built a frame so that I wouldn't go out to get in the hot tub and find it has become a thick block of ice, like Greenland.

One of the best uses for the hot tub is to view the Aurora. Sure, your hair might freeze more solidly than Greta Van Susteren's face,
but you can always dunk and melt. I'm near-sighted, and not about to have someone carve on my eyes with a laser, so, I have to periodically dunk my glasses in to get the frost off. But, dang, it's the best show ever, besides Battlestar Galactica.

So, to help the hot tub stay hot, The Mrs., The Boy and I have been wrapping it in a protective coating of blue-foamy goodness, to keep it warm that we might be warm when it finally gets cold around here.

See, now you've made me do it again. I'm still not done on discussing winter preparations in the north. Okay, more of that next time.