Get Outside!

I find there are a number of different activities many skiers like. Obviously most of them are outdoor activities, if the cold, snow, and winds of Winter do not keep us from skiing we will surely find as many reasons we can to be outside during the summer. I am sure I am not the only one that goes crazy being confined inside all day when it is sunny and pleasant outside. I will find any reason to be outside. Watch the grass grow was a common reason last summer.

When someone says they are watching the grass grow it is usually metaphorical saying they are doing nothing, however I am being literal when talking about an activity of mine last summer. Last summer our yard came in. So, I would water the lawn and I would break out a lawn chair, get a beverage, sit outside and watch the grass grow (and tweet about it). I would be watering our new yard and watching that. I would let my sprinklers go for a while in a location, move them, and repeat.

There is a lot more I like to do outside. I like to make firewood. It is a chore, but few chores give me as much satisfaction as a pile of firewood getting dry to provide winter warmth. I have a six pound splitting maul, access to a Stihl Farmboss saw, access to a tractor mounted hydraulic splitter, and a hatchet. The power splitter is a great help when splitting industrial quantities of wood, but I am never afraid to grab my six pound maul and hand split wood. Hand splitting wood is another slow but steady process. Often times I spend about 30 minutes swinging the maul and I can feel it when I am done. My whole body gets into the act. The hatchet is used to split up smaller kindling, again maybe 30 minutes a day. Last summer, I got a hold of nearly three cords of oakwood. It is amazing to think that is nearly six tons of wood, and I piled it all. Shortly I will transfer this wood so it will be more accessible next winter.

The Grateful Dead say it well: Get out of the door – light out and look all around!

BTW, Happy Easter to all!