barefootwalk

This is the week of spring break. No class this week. The campus is quiet. The weather has turned cold. I was planing to go somewhere, but then I had a meeting on Tuesday. The plan B to travel during the second half of the week didn't look appealing either. It is not long enough to go to places I love the most. For nearby places, the weather is not warm enough, so no vegetation. There are however short lived spring blossoms. I am taking short trips, like picnic. Cooking some food, brewing some coffee, short walks with Twyla and letting her enjoy swimming, while I am playing with the camera and lenses.

It is getting warm. Spring is here. I couldn't plan a proper spring break due to a meeting scheduled right in the middle of the break. I guess I can use this time to prepare for summer. I may get a chance to camp out for a couple of days. It is lovely outside. I got two new lenses. They are insanely sharp and fast!

Another one full turn around the sun. I got a new lens for myself, and a few books. Not in digital format anymore, all paperback. "Light and Color in Nature" is the most notable one. Glad to be able to learn something new.

Spring is coming. The weather was cold past few days, but it is gradually warming up. This was a cold winter for being the South. I am still amused by the snow we had for a day. There is a little pond in the park sometimes I walk with Twyla. The pons side is not busy and she can run and go crazy without leash. The pond doesn't look very clean but she jumps and swims anyway. I have newer pictures but they are boring typical brown color, so I put this older image with snow on the bank. iPhone does a good job of stacking HDR images but I still like the pure camera work. Newer cameras do HDR with a press of a button!    

Winter in the South can get cold but snow is rarity. Well, it is never cold as many other places, nevertheless it is not comfortable either. But in my surprise we had some snow this week and they didn't disappear immediately as usually happens. We enjoyed playing around and walking on the snow. The Sun the next day was a nice addition.

Winter Weather Advisory is in effect and the university has canceled on-campus activities. Apparently it is snowing in many places. We were supposed to get some snow, well we got some white powder. It turned to ice due to the temperature. We are working from home today. Fortunately our classes will begin on schedule.

I continued the camper design and improvement. Last week's design was a half failure. The stove jack I got from Lowes, it was rated for 180 F, but it melted in contact with the pipe. I guess the shorter pipe gets hotter than 180 F. So I spent this week with a new more robust redesign. The picture is for the old failed design. I will test the new design this week and if it works, I will post updates. My 2nd design. Three is the charm! Note that although it looks like the pipe is touching the tarp, there is good 8 inch separation between the two. The black jack is holding the pipe tight, but no more, it melted about 1/4 inch around the pipe.  

Finally pulled the trigger and got the wood stove. Although it is not as small and as cheap as many other options, and there are many hassles, I like the aesthetic of it and it also gives me an option of using my MSR stove safely. I have been heating my winter journeys with MSR and cracked window and CO detector, but this sounds safer and more flexible. I spent a day next to pond and build the basic frame and tested the heater. The first impression was good! This is not mounted, it is just a test

Just more DIY projects. Probably most interesting are a new insulated jacket and a wool hat. The merino wool fabric is white(ish). It is wonderful color but unfortunately it shows dirt easily, so I dyed it.

Finally got the comet. After a night with binuclear only and another night of mostly cloudy sky, I managed to capture the comet. I think comets are very impressive. This one will not return until very long time!

A couple years ago I upgraded my down sleeping bag. I removed most of the older 850 fill duck down and replaced with premium 950 fill goose down. Major upgrade and I love it. But the main problem is, sleeping bags are not as versatile as quilts and down requires more attention. Synthetic on the other hand is cheaper and very easy to work with. It also performs better than down in wet condition. Nevertheless it is really heavier and bulkier but this is not a problem for camping. So I decided to make one and I am very satisfied with the results. We will see how it performs in real condition but so far it looks fine. Final product: And a few pictures of the process.

Greenway is getting back to normal and water has gone down. There are still small ponds here and there and the road is closed for cars but it is now walkable. Deers are having a peaceful time without crowd, well not when Twyla is around!

Another tropical storm came and gone. This is the highest level of river water I have seen in the south over the last 8 years, as far as I can remember. The Sinclair dam has opened three flood gates. The weather is getting cooler and soon we can have more comfortable outdoor activities. I can't wait for winter. We went for a walk at Greenway but most lower trails were under water and I could hear the boats not far away behind trees. They must be emergency response people working all day.

Finally it arrived, after 36 weeks of waiting! Why? I have made a few myself, there is also cheaper Walmart version that work fine, what is so special about it? First of all its design is beautiful and functional, it is masterpiece for doing a very simple job: having a small fire! I love the fact that you go above and beyond, make a perfect design and use the finest materials (aerospace sheets!) to build something otherwise cheap and non-essential. Second is being handcrafted. Not sure about staffing now, but in the beginning it was Fritz and an off-grid cabin and welding with batteries, now Jeff and Belle are producing the stove and everything is hand crafted. The mass producing society is so boring. And finally the waiting also adds some value to it in my opinion. 36 weeks is long time, but it think is a good reminder to live slow. Our mindset has become "don't waste your time to waste your life". Running all day, using every minute we have and making sure we don't ...

It is already feeling cooler but not cold, the trees however have started shedding leaves. This adds more in to autumn vibes. So many plans and I am feeling I am already behind the schedule. Never ending chores.

She has been busy chewing this bone. She takes her time and enjoys it. Finally hot summer days are over and we can start spending more time outside. There are so many projects I have started working on but there is no end. At one point you just say it's okay, let's just do it and stop worrying about having the right tool.  "After rain after any days without rain, It stays cool, private and cleansed, under the trees, And the dampness there, married now to gravity, Falls branch to branch, leaf to leaf, down to the ground. Where it will disappear – but not, of course, vanish Except to our eyes. The roots of the oaks will have their share,  And the white threads of the grasses, and the cushion of moss;  A few drops, round as pearls, will enter the mole’s tunnel; And soon so many small stones, buried for a thousand years,  Will feel themselves being touched." ~Mary Oliver

I stopped social media activities about 2 years ago. I still open them but just a quick view and no actions. This is getting less and less frequent and it is safe to say I don't pay any more attention. I must say it was a great decision and I am very happy about it. I miss some friends but I can always call/email/visit them. Another decision today was to do the same thing with similar websites such as YouTube. I enjoy replacing many of these screen times with outdoor walk/camp/hike. In another news, I migrated from ipage today. ipage was for domain parking, but it would charge me for both domain renewal and extra charge to keep my information (such as name, address, phone number) private! Almost all major internet service providers offer this option by default for free so ipage had to go! The webpage redirection might go down for a few days but it should go back to normal very soon.

Finally autumn is here, nice cool weather. What a life it has been so far! I was thinking the other day, what is one piece of advice I would give my young self, if I could go back in time? Well, I think it would be "let them go, let it go". It is simple, it is not easy though. But if someone or something doesn't work, doesn't want, doesn't care, just let it go and carry on and enjoy your adventure! Today finally I closed all WF accounts, my time and piece of mind was more valuable than their constant harassment without offering any tangible service, charging me for holding my money! What a joke! Now it is gone and I have a better service for free, just another new beginning. "To live in this world you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go." ~Mary Oliver PS: After social media, news and YouTube are gone now.

The tropical storm is moving closer. It is surprisingly calm here. I went out to displace my car and I turned my head up, there it was, a beautiful and high contrast double rainbow! Actually my first double rainbow. And panorama:

In our daily walk, we see more deers these days. I am guessing the thick bush makes them feel safe, therefore they show up with less fear. It could also be the timing, as we walk more in mornings these days. Twyla sure has a lot of fun chasing them but they are too fast for her, so with her first move, all deers are gone! I noticed there is actually a family living very close to the walking trails. She has two young kids and another one looks a little taller and probably from the last year. One of the kids especially is very playful (seen in this picture next to the mom). The quality of the picture is bad because this is iPhone at 3x zoom.