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Spring is coming. Ive been laying out new geocloth runs, getting ready for planting. I pulled up the old geocloth runs, and fertilized the soil beneath them. We are going to grow alot of corn this year. Purple and blue corn for food and drying, and were trying popcorn this year. I built frameworks out of alder logs for bird netting, and for vertical gardening. We learned alot last year, and we are expanding our food production. We made it through the winter using just the small cubic foot wood stoves I installed last fall. They put out enough heat to adequately heat our small living spaces, and the wood requirement is much less using the smaller stoves. I also did alot of cooking over the wood stove this winter. I absolutely love it.
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I am sitting next to the woodstove in the silence of my life, and I am listening to a report of how my government has been meeting with mega banks and big tech, to discuss how to silence dissent. I know that those who came before would feel deeply betrayed. As I do. And they would tell us to fight. What I know, is that I am even more commited now to creating a life that exists outside the reach of their systems and manipulations. And I feel a calm resolve. I will not live as a slave. I will live, or die, a free man.
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I had an incredible summer. I cooked alot over an open fire and a rocket stove. We harvested so much food from the garden. Purple corn, tons of beans and potatos, and ate tons of fresh blackberries. I very rarely left the property. It was so peaceful. I started work on the outdoor kitchen, and kept the grass down using a scythe. My wife and I had long streches where we would just sit together in chairs side by side and just talk. When you have been a vagabond much of your life, finding yourself with your own property, a happy wife, and a whole summer of peace is a blessing that is hard to describe the depth of. I find myself having less to say. Which is why I have not written as much. I am more content to do, and to think, and to be.
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Yesterday was the 4th of July. Gratitude, and Revolution was in the air. My wife and I grilled burgers and sweet corn on the cob in front of the garden, and listened to music on her phone as we ate. The chickens and the dogs layed in the sun. The feeling of blessing and American identity was tangible on our little offgrid property. We laughed, and enjoyed each others company, and talked about everything. It was a wonderful day.
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It feels like too much has happened to even be able to say anything. Wars and rumors of wars. Democracies turned fascist. Everyone being right about everything, and everyone else being wrong. Its as if the world is under a plauge of self righteousness and short sightedness. And all I want is to grow some food, have some interesting conversations, and live a life of peace. And to the best of my ability, that is what I intend to do.
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Over the last couple weeks, Ive slimmed down my focus with what i am working on. Im focusing on 3 things... Loving my wife, doing simple tasks that will improve the property, and Ive been taking everything Ive learned in my years of building Linux systems, and Ive been applying it to an installation of OpenBSD. All of these things are connected somehow. A refining process. For years I would build Linux installations, then destroy them, and repeat the process. I came up with methods to speed up the process, and limit the risk of loss. With this OpenBSD installation, all of those years of experimenting is coming together. But this time, it feels like Im building something to last. Im working on building simple streaming functionality using just shell scripts. I think its time to start sharing some things Ive learned. In computing, and in life...
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I hit my data cap early this month. Off Grid internet can be limiting. I remembered the unused Ting SIM in the drawer, got it set up in minutes.
I spent the better part of a day trying to get tethering set up on an old Google Nexus 5 with Lineage OS. When it started looking like I might have to compile a new kernel, I off-handedly stuck the SIM card into an older Net Gear mobile hot-spot. Poof. Full operation.
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I went for a walk today gathering natural colors from my environment to use in web and art design.
Walked to the end of the lane with my wife and the pups. Beautiful fall evening, beautiful conversation.
My wife is flying out early to head to the South to spend a few days with some friends. Ill enjoy the time alone, but will of course miss her.
I'm working on finishing the outdoor bathtub. I'm thinking of building a fire chamber beneath it, and running a chimney up and out the back, like the design of the wood fired pottery kilns in Japan.
The Autumn leaves are starting to drift downward, and French Press coffee is really good in the fall.
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