Well its middle of the day here and the snow that the weatherman was promising is here. According to the weatherman we are going to get 4 to 6 inches of snow. Right now there is a light dusting of snow sticking to the ground. BRRRR I have to admit that snow is not one of my favorite things. I don”t mind the rain but don”t like the frozen stuff at all. Snow does cover the trash and gives everything a clean white coating that makes everything look new and clean. The van is cold today but I do have Mr buddy for a backup when I need a little more warmth. Also if I get hungry I”ll fire up the two burner Coleman stove which gives me the added benefit of warming up the van. I keep the passenger door window open a crack and if I need it I can always open my overhead vent a crack. Insulateing the van is the next order of business. As my brother once remarked”being lazy can cost you money. He was right in his not so humble way. If I had insulated the van earlier this year I wouldn”t have to use as much heat this time of year. O Well live and learn is one of my personal mantras. Todays meal is sphaghetti with meat sauce. Just a basic meal to prepare but one of my favorites. And one of the good things about it is that no matter how much I make it doesn”t get wasted as it makes great leftovers. I have a box on top of my van that I keep all my cold stuff in this time of year and it keeps everything nice and cold. Doesn”t hurt that its covered with snow. I always try to use fresh Garlic as I like to use fresh ingredients whenever possible. Have a box of mushrooms and some pasta sauce as I”m takeing the easy way out with it. Use my iron skillet to cook my sauce in and I have an aluminum pot to boil water in and vie la dinner is served…Well not quite as easy as that but you catch my drift. Theres about five deer that have made this area around the lake(Cave Rub Lake,Ky) their home for the Winter. I spotted them earlier this morning grazeing up towards the edge of the woods. I am in a free camping spot right now by the way. No facilities here but the nearest gas station is about 3 miles away and the nearest town is about 12 miles away so I”m ok. Have cell phone service, A wifi signal when I can leach it off someone else and carry enough water to do me for a few days. If i did have to move from here for any reason I am right off of i-64 and if i head dead east I could be in Viginia Beach in less then a day of travel. Though it would take me two or three dyas the way i like to travel. Maybe a month.. I guess it might be easier to live in a stick house but it wouldn”t be near as much fun as the way I live now, Hardships? No way. This is a daily adventure. Life is what I want to make of it. Stay here for a while,get tired of it and move on down the road over the next hill to see what awaits me in this adventure called life. Want to be warmer ll point my nose towards the south and travel down the road that away.To warm and just go in the oppisite direction. Sort of like the old song”Papa was a Rolling Stone,whereever he layed his hat was his home”.SO untill tomorrow stay warm and be safe and throw another log on the fire………HoboJoe
Well Mother Nature decided I was having it to easy so it decided that the light Winter we were having here in Kentucky needed some help. It is now 4 degrees and the snow is falling! We have 3 inches(I know) and thats more then we have had all Winter. And its still snowing. The roads are slick so I”ve decided to hunker down for the time being and try and wait it out. I”ve got the Buddy going and its nice and toasty in my cargo van and yes I have my light jacket and Sock hat(watch?) on my bald head. Talk about frugal. All you guys paying ten dollars for a haircut is not the way to go. I”ve been shaving my head now going on ten years now. MMMMMMMM Lets say $10 a month for a hair cut give or take a few bucks and that adds up to dang near twelve hundred bucks over the course of ten years. I don”t smoke so thats even bigger savings and I don”t drink very often so thats even more savings. I do tend to eat out quite a bit but I like to eat out as thats one of the things that never happened when I was a kid. I”m makeing up for it in my second childhood lets say. I”ve got the dual burner Coleman stove going now and got my stainless steel coffee pot on it brewing some fresh ground French roast coffee. Life is good. And yes there is Solace in Solitude my friends. Now lets see. I have some Bacon on the outside of my van on the top of it and a few eggs inside as I didn”t really want them to freeze though I could”ve(should”ve?) cracked them and scrambled them in a plastic container and kept them outside with the Bacon. I”ve got a cooler on top that I”m keeping everything in right now and it works very well. Just don”t take off driveing and forget where the Bacon is.lol. I”ve got my 5 gallon bucket that was once a dry wall bucket in its other lifetime and I use it for my toilet and it doubles as my Washer. I have a lid for my bucket with a hole in it that sets on top and my plunger handle goes in so I can swish it up and down. I have a sprayer (insect) (that wasn”t used in its other lifetime) that I take a shower with. Heat some water on the stove and bingo, its shower time. I also keep some baby wipes for the same thing. I do have my buddy Zeb that lives down the road but I don”t like to inconvenience anybody so I try and not abuse our friendship. We served in the Army together in Germany. My rich uncle sent me there three different times and sent me to Hawaii for three years while I was in. My rich uncle also sent me to lots of places in the states while he was at it.lol. Not a bad life at all. Anyway , even though its colder then a witches t!@ in December,I”m gonna go out and walk around the lake a little and look at the snow covered scenery that I have been blessed with today…..HoboJoe in Paradise.
Fog rolling off the lake this morning here in eastern,,Ky and it is cold!! The frost on the grass looks like snow. The finchs are on the feeder I hung last week. Takeing care of business I guess. Have to eat no matter how cold Mother Nature decides it will be. I have Yellow Finchs,Tit Mouses and Black Capped Chickadees feeding this morning. Starting my morning fire is a little chilly this morning. The flames bring a pleasant warmth. The crackleing of the fire brings a welcome sound of things warming up. Ahhhhh the warmth is delicious. I pull my old black iron skillet off the rock that it rests on and set it on the fire to begin warming and think about the possibilities for breakfast? Maybe some skillet biscuits or maybe some bacon and eggs. Decisions,decisions, Guess I”ll go with the old crowd favorite,,,bacon and eggs. As I strip the bacon from its plastic bag I think about the things on my need to do list. Should go see the Doctor and get a check up.Naw!! Put that off till tomorrow.I”m the master of procrastination. Then I think MMMMM maybe go see Zeb my old Army buddy.Hes under the weather right now. The 13th of Feb he goes into the hospital for a complete shoulder replacement surgery. I volunteered to stay with him while he recuperates. I”m not much of a nurse maid but I adhere to the saying that you can find a way to do what you got to do. I sat with my Daddy for the last six weeks that he was alive and took care of him. He had lung cancer and in the last couple of weeks didn”t realize I was there. He kept wanting to get up and go to work. It was sad thinking thats all he knew to do. Its about all he had ever done his whole life. I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters, and 1 brother and 1 sister is all that showed up for maybe 5 minutes durung the whole time he was sick. My oldest sister I haven”t seen for over thirty years now. She always worried about the things we never had. My youngest brother never came to the funeral home much less Daddys funeral. Hes the one with the college education. My college was the school of hard knocks.lol It and the US Army. I did okay I reckon. I made a Warrant Officer before I was sent home on a disability. Well the coffee brewing is calling my name. Check back tomorrow and we”ll see if I make it to the doctors office………
Walked down to the edge of the water this morning to check out the Geese I could hear honking. Not quite sure what all the commotion was about but they were makeing plenty of noise. Decided to walk down the shore to the public boat ramp hear called “Poppin Rock” Like any other normal boat ramp around here the boat ramp is concrete with a concrete parking lot that will hold approximately 150 cars or trucks connected to boat trailers. Very easy access to the lake. Maintained by the Corp of Engineers it requires a day use pass. A three day pass is $5 and a year pass is $30 dollars and half those prices if you have an inner agency pass or a See America the Beautiful pass which I do have. If you are 65 years old or have a disability you are eligible for this money saving pass. You can go to federal parks and pick up a pass but do call ahead and make sure what kind of documentation is required. They also have pamplets at most parks that tell you the requirements and what you can do with your pass. Also Google it on line” America the Beautiful Pass” It is also good at many Military Post or Bases. If you are retired military generally most military bases are cheap places to camp and if traveling consider that showers are readily available at the gyms on military bases or post…. I was disabled out of the Army in 1988. I have found when visiting a new city it pays to goggle the citys chamber of commerce and see what is available locally and usally at a discount for military veterans. Lowes and Home Depot and some movie theaters and various places of business offer senior or military discounts if you just take the time and (for us older folk?lol) remember to ask. I do admit I have have CRS! Whish stands for “Can”t remember s!@#!!!”" I have noticed lately that I have become quite proficient at skipping rocks on the surface of the lake. Not world class yet but I will keep practiceing in case anybody wants to issue me a challendge??? This day is a little chilly with a brisk breeze blowing off the lake but I just tuck my chin inside the top of my shirt and wander along the lake shore. As Clint Blacks song says “Wherever you go there you are” Well here I am enjoying the solitude and how the wind blows riffles across the top of the lake here. Later i will head into West Liberty to see my friend there and make sure hes makeing it ok today and see if he needs help with anything to make his day a little easier. Have a good a day and see you tomorrow my friends…….
People say “Life is what you make it. I choose to make it happy. Life in general will get you down and knaw you like a dog knaws a bone if you let it. As I travel down lifes highways I sometimes wonder how I arrived at this point. Maybe some star got knocked out of its orbit? Maybe its true Gravity sucks. As a man whi knows a little about everything and a whole lot about nothing I have come to the inevditable decission tha we are all going to Hell in a handbasket. Though I”m not sure of the saize of said handbasket? MMMMMM 60 Years comeing up pretty soon and I wonder like a lot of other people where did the time freaking go? SHould I have saved it and nutured it like a gentle bird with a broken wing in the cup of my protective hands? Some people choose to fish,go on new adventures while others are just as well satisfied to strode easily down lifes highwayws. No one to call brother,no one to call sister, Just follow another yellow line down the middle of the road…..
The day is a dreay kind of day. Don”t believe we made it to 60 degrees like the weather man promised. Not that that is a surprize. The lake has a few chops in it as a light wind has sprung up. Pull my collar up a little to beat the chill. Went by to see Zeb(my Army buddy) We served at Miesau Army Depot in West Germany,or what was West Germany at the time. The Berlin Wall came down and ended that distinction of it being a seperate state. Kicked back and remenisced about old times. Drank a brew or two,well maybe three,and traded insults. Zeb is a good buddy though.
Today was a good day for an old retired soldier/cowboy/hod carrier. The weather is chilly at 40 degrees but the water is calm and flat as a flapjack sititing in an iron skillet. A great day to think about different aspects of my life and wonder how so many things have seemed to have gone south. Missed chances? Sure. We all have them. Regrets? Of course. Spring is to long in comeing. I wish for its sweet embrace. To feel its warm breezes upon my brow. To feel the mud created from the silt and the warm lake water between my toes. Ahhhh sweet relief that others go to the Spa to realize.
