Apocalyptic Homesteading (Day 436)

Hello Everyone!

The hobby hunt, Earthen water storage, Creating survival habits & Thinking of the future!

Today I awoke around the same time as I did yesterday so that is a good sign as far as getting my sleep cycle back on track is concerned. It has been a slow correction these last several weeks but overall (bit by bit) I am getting into a better routine. One that is more beneficial to not just being 'more productive' but also adds to my sense of well-being.

At least at this point I am starting to 'stay on track' with my sleeping, eating and working routines and neither pushing myself too hard (nor too softly) which is as good as it is going to get for now given the time of year and the frequent bad weather.

Lately I keep wanting to 'do more' with my life and keep finding myself mentally fumbling around looking for a new hobby or just something to do while I am cooped up indoors. Although doing something technology related keeps coming to mind I am unsure if I really want (or need) more technology related habits, routines, hobbies or whatever you want to call it.

After successfully breaking my 'phone addiction' sometime in the previous few years I definitely do not want to do anything that involves a mobile device and since I am currently in the early phases of breaking my twenty-one year plus gaming habits. I do not want to pick up a new action role-playing game either... which all leads me back to asking myself what the heck am I going to fill all that freed up time with.

Part of me keeps leaning towards going back to designing stuff on pen and paper and seeing what comes of it. The snag that I keep hitting in that regard is my long track record of just filing that stuff away in totes (along with my journals) which makes me think that might not be the most productive thing to do with my time no matter how mentally rewarding I might find it to be.

Another part of me wants to either re-read the Dark Tower or the Wheel of Time series just so that I can re-immerse myself in one (or both) of those worlds and try to glean things that I previously missed. Honestly I have lost count of how many times that I have read both of those series but I think it is safe to say that I have yet to re-read them more than six times.

I do not know how to exactly explain how I can enjoy them so much given the repetition but like I have said before it is always interesting to see how my own thinking has changed over the years from the initial readings and every iteration after that along the way. Not to get lost down that particular rabbit warren but I always find the exercise 'insightful' and the overall process enjoyable.

Perhaps much like the gaming world I enjoy the fantasy of it all and the 'mental visualization' of stuff whether it be theory-crafting a gaming character or picturing highly detailed scenes (and the dialogues) of the fictional tales themselves. To be clear here I think that doing excessive amounts of visualization exercises does something good for my mind in a way that nothing else really does which could be summed up as: If the imagination is a muscle it needs to get used to keep it in shape... and with plenty of usage it can even attain and hold a superb shape!

Anyway, my point there is that I either need a new hobby or I need to resurrect an old one or some combination thereof. If I am going to do anything with my time though I want it to be productive and not some sort of floundering along roaming the internal landscape of my mind whilst seeking a reward of some kind for my interactions with reality. In short any type of technological hobby needs to remain unfettered from pleasure/reward seeking which is hit or miss entirely given how dependent upon technology the financial aspect of earning my livelihood is.

Its a mess when it comes to all that stuff and regardless if I disable/disregard all ads, try to avoid algorithmic suggestions by disabling tracking or any means necessary, do not go out of my way to be influenced by trends, fads and pop culture... there is the actual muscle memory of doing specific actions. That was actually the hardest part to break with the phone addiction but my eyesight getting weaker actually helped me ignore the impulses because using the phone became (like the saying goes) 'more hassle than it was worth' even with a good pair of reading glasses.

Okay, I meandered on there for a while but feel better having spelled all of that out. It is still not warm enough outside for me to 'get out in it' but it is super sunny and it is looking like that bitter cold wind has died down entirely so an early afternoon hike may be in order. After looking at those watering-holes yesterday I am feeling pretty stoked about my efforts and want to at least spend a little time in the meadow today doing something.

Currently I have that handheld auger on loan to me and I am thinking to perhaps use it to do some quick bore holes at a few locations in the meadow and see if any water bubbles up out of them. The main place that I keep thinking about boring at is in that big hole in the meadow that I found a few weeks ago. I have also been considering doing a horizontal bore hole in a few spots in the sides of the 'bowl' that surrounds the meadow on two sides.

Ideally creating a horizontal tap somewhere (even on the hillside below the shelter site) could provide ample water for the sized watering-holes that I have been making. Heck, if I lucked up and got on a really good vein of water I could probably even have enough constant water for a tiny pond. The water itself would not even have to flow full-time and could just produce well during heavy rain events. One thing that I have learned is if I do not have a consistent water source then I really have to maximize the storage and harvesting of whatever water is available, when it is available!

Obviously having as many water sources as possible is a good thing but it really takes a lot of effort to keep it from growing unwanted algae and generally becoming stagnant whether its in a container (or a catch-box) or whatever. Its pretty key that earthen storage devices for water like those wildlife watering-holes have some kind of moving water or get a good 'flush' with sufficient rain or even surface runoff. Aside from all that they need grass (of any kind in my opinion) around them as well as other suitable small vegetation to help filter the water as it overflows or else an 'algae slick' will grow.

There is really a lot involved with making those watering-holes and I cannot stress it enough to folks that to avoid mucking things up its vital to understand the surface water runoff, the ground water table, the terrain, the soil(s) consistencies plus compaction(s), the flora, the fauna and everything in between and truly grasp how 'one thing relates to another' with it all before ever making any alterations.

Making 'mud puddles' with no real understanding of whats going on can endanger wildlife as well as pets and such. Its a heck of a lot easier to patiently study (for the bare minimum of one to three years) the land, the water, the vegetation and the critters and only then making the smallest changes possible that will yield the highest result with the least disruption and impact.

Once the balance of a place is disrupted it is a hundred times harder (or more) to undo what has been done and yeah pretty much anywhere these days has been disrupted if not once then many times over the last few hundred years. I have yet to encounter a place that did not need impact mitigation (to some degree) due to human activity whether in the past or present so I try to keep that in mind.

The thing that I am trying to drive home here is that even with a good working knowledge of one thing's relationship to another and a few decades of experience I approach it all with caution to the nth degree and yeah make the minutest possible changes... if that fails its easy to expand but the opposite just is not true. Well, with enough effort and time a lot can be rehabilitated but that is beside the point given it defeats the purpose of avoiding massive disruption and impact. The mitigation of those things (disruption and impact) tends to be what I am often faced with and most alterations come second to that or as a direct result from that depending on how you want to look at it.

Most folks are never faced with having to learn a lot of that stuff but yeah its important. With how many people are moving towards (or forced into) a simpler (yet more difficult) lifestyle where they are directly interfacing nature, the elements and weather (to one degree or another) I think that its important that the significance of environmental impact not get lost along the way of living/survival.

Its all fun and games until you contaminate your only water source with ecoli or let all your stored water go bad as you are watching the last gallon of good water steadily disappear thanks to your own consumption. The water scenario is one of those things that there just cannot be too many clean sources of nor too much clean storage of. Having an abundance of it in any form is often useful for something even if its just for watering plants or washing stuff off.

Furthermore its hard to get across to folks its significance unless they have faced true water scarcity and while some people are saying 'duh water is life'... but without said experience they have no real grasp of what that entails and no one can truly convey it to them. Once again I just recommend that anyone wanting to experiment with how intrical the relationship is to do the following.

The experiment is this: Go to your kitchen sink, turn off both supply valves to the faucet (have every other household member participate if applicable) and make sure that the water is off by turning on the faucet. Tell yourself and any others involved that the supply valves will remain turned off for a two week period. During that time the water is to remain off and then record how many times you (or anyone) goes to the faucet to use the water knowing that it has been turned off for a two week period.

Of course after just a day or two most folks give up on the experiment but after about two weeks the point gets driven home so deeply that it is hard to forget. Generally speaking anytime I get too accustomed to indoor plumbing I tend to conduct that experiment to remind me not to grow dependent. Given the option I still get my water in a gallon jug that I carry and fill once a day and yup its the same jug that I have been using for well over three years. I do of course have other jugs that I often fill as a reserve but my point is that I enjoy keeping the routine of filling and using that one gallon a day and yeah even walking for it when I do not actually have to.

Long ago I did it from necessity but several years back I realized its actually a really solid reminder of the importance of water and makes for good survival preparedness training which the closer those things are to habit the better off I am. Having survival/preparedness habits can not only ease any transitioning of lifestyle but it also just makes using the related skills a lot less important. What I am getting at is not so much "Survival better be a habit" but that building those habits can take folks a lot further than just practicing a bunch of skills.

Sure the skills are handy but if (for example) I get all out of my daily routine and am required to adapt to a new scenario and environs... then I grow so uncomfortable and downright annoyed that I have to maximize those skills to change the scenario... but if my mood, morale and attitude is shite because I lack the needed habits/routines it makes any forward progress seem insurmountable and albeit way more difficult than it need be!

My point is that even with a few decades of practice and all the habits/skills its often a rough ride adjusting to a new place. Even if having those habits/skills makes it more bearable they do not necessarily make it easy. They sure help more than skills alone do in the long run and I think building those habits should take center stage more and the focus placed on just practicing the habits that folks already have. That is what I do at least and it has been working so far.

I dunno how to say it but the times are challenging and its not like folks should panic but maybe stave off the panic (or fortify ourselves against it) with a lot of 'readiness' and the way to do that is to create routines and habits and stick to them. If they do not work then try a new way, a different method or just a different combination of existing tendencies... whatever the heck works to not panic when plenty of 'knowing what to do and having a habit of doing it' will suffice regardless of the scenario.

With that kind of stuff its the little things like carrying the jug of water each day, where is the first-aid kit, do all the communication devices work, are the batteries all charged, what is the overall water storage and system(s) status, what that is edible is growing this time of year, does the weather radio have anything to say for severe conditions, what sort of game are active right now, whats the vermin status, do the roads need maintenance, what trees just fell in that storm, did lighting just strike the center of that oak, when will it rain, will it freeze and on and on in that vein and many others!

Those are the important kinds of habits and anyone saying otherwise usually accompanies it with some kind of narrative that does not actually help. Basically the coming years are going to require a lot of commiseration and way less confrontation and to achieve that its just a natural process of folks helping each other which like it or not is simply human nature and proven throughout history by folks coming together in the face of scarcity/change and tightening the collective belt so to speak. Kindness is not something that can be forced but it is the default response most folks have for one another by and large and those who go against it are an extreme minority existing on the fringe but not necessarily a real representative of the 'healthy body or whole' of people.

In other words their actions are not accurately descriptive of the majority of human nature. Yeah, its a scary concept to think that if we lived in a world where everyone was just decent to each other... we could all find a way to live decently but there you have it... and why we cannot reach that point is a mystery to me. We can pass on the notion that it is possible (which by the way... we are all a result of) and just maybe there is a chance it can be achieved some day in one shape form or another.

As a side note. No, a peaceful world through tyranny is not a peaceful world it is a tyrannical one and no one should be forced to be a part of that to any degree regardless of cause, country, ideas, beliefs or any notion that can be conceived there of... because the price is too high if the goal is to actually survive as a species and ensure a kinder world for ourselves and those who come after us. I think that is the best that I can hope for and although I infrequently go on supply runs I see it so much there in almost every interaction that I have with folks and I just think that in short: Kindness is winning.

Alright, it is much later in the day. The sun is not quite down over the horizon just yet but it is getting close and I am cutting it even closer on getting this all written and posted before it gets too late into the evening. Once I finished writing earlier I headed outdoors, did some hiking, tried to bore a hole with the manual auger with very little success, dug out the bowl in the bottom of the new compost, used all the soil to fill in under the logs of the compost, gathered a bunch of compost-able material, filled the bowl with the appropriate layers with said material and then later did all my routine chores. It was a productive day and whoa I am going to sleep well tonight.

Okay, although I would love to spell out the details of today's projects... I need to wrap this up, get it edited and finish cooking dinner. I hope that everyone is doing well and has a nice day/night.

The bowl that I dug out in the new compost.

Where the clay is on this auger is as far as I could get it in.

The bore hole where this pipe is inserted is only like one foot deep!

The bird nest in the center of this bush is super camouflaged!

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