Daily Duties - Pearls or Delights?

All success is ultimately derived from having at least one plan.  Having Plans B & C create enjoyment in the journey.  And as most of us learned when we were young, an outline is one way to keep on track.  So, I will lay out my plan, and try to follow it, although being able to change course from time to time is also important.

Our Daily Duties were of utmost importance.  To get into a groove - to follow a schedule, is extremely important.  I know, living outside of society is supposed to mean freedom - and doesn't freedom mean having no schedule?  Well - no!  Freedom is something that is earned, and if all the necessary things are done, then there is freedom to pick and choose the fun, uplifting, and unnecessary activities!  The ones that give hedonistic pleasure!  So, I will detail what we did, and why they were important.  Most interestingly are the systems that evolve to make the mundane efficient and fruitful.

Are the duties Pearls or Delights?  Well - let's explore the words.
Pearls:  they are creations from an irritant that become beautiful, valuable, and joyful.  Duties can become this because they bring a certain pleasure to life.  Imagine trying to manage your day without a water system - that wouldn't be fun!  It would be extremely exhausting if you had to search for water every time you needed a drink or tried to wash your hands or prepare rice or pasta.  So, when one finds an efficient system that brings about joy, value, and beauty - hooray!  (Picture the aqueducts from the Romans)

Delights:  they are products of discovery and can bring satisfaction, fun, and well-being.  Systems can do that, too.  An example is finding wood.  You might have memories of going out and searching for the best small twigs or broken branches lying on the ground to use as kindling for a grand fire.  Imagine having to do this on a large scale - you need to find trees, certain types of wood, and they have to be a useable condition.  We would try to include an expedition where we could discover, photograph, picnic, or just plain relish.  A mundane task then becomes a delight!

One other criteria for the duties is this:  They need to be efficient.  With finite resources, one must devise ways to conserve and produce.  Often times multitasking was in order.  The interesting thing was, we didn't actually consider the terms for this - it became a way to have more with less!  The terms conserve, reduce, reuse, maintain, substitute, manage, compost, patience, practical, create, plan, respect, organize, and communicate all become buzz words for everyday life - even back in the 70's!  These became our checks and balances to determine how well our tasks were performed.

And now - on to the tasks - our Daily Duties

Morning
Especially in the winter, the morning was the most energized time of day.  We would make sure to squeeze in our most important jobs which required the biggest chunk of daylight.  It was always easier to use natural daylight to perform and accomplish detailed tasks than to rely on the Kerosene lamps.  They are romantic, but not necessarily bright!

Fire Stoking:
This was the first chore of the day.  It would determine our rise and shine time.  We would usually have to get up and take care of the little Baby Bear once during the night.  Getting it going again in the morning was prime, especially if the cold winds were blowing.  The importance of having small, dry kindling was key.  Also, having wax-coated milk cartons was beneficial, too.  (They would ignite almost instantly and burn well enough to allow the dry kindling to catch.  Another trick was to roll up newsprint lengthwise and then tie it in the middle.  This would allow the ends to catch easily and burn hotter and longer in the middle, insuring the kindling would catch.)  After all was a-blaze, then the addition of larger diameter pine was added.  After that was going nicely and had produced some coals, the logs were laid, with oak, birch or ash being the choice.

Water Hauling:
We would have breakfast first thing, and then start our water hauling.  If the ice was thick because the night was cold, Russ would have to take the ice auger down with him.  He covered up the hole with some styrofoam to insulate from the cold night, but the water is so cold that it freezes anyway.  Our hole was ringed by ice that was nearly three feet thick!  So - it wasn't practical to chop a hole each night.  I would help him haul up the buckets (or the milk can) past the rocks on the trail.  That was the worst part - sometimes the rocks were snow-covered or ice-covered.  Sometimes we would slosh the water, which was a bit disconcerting, but we got quite adept with hauling it and walking very carefully!

Wood Gathering:
This wasn't necessarily done each day, but we would work on this at least 3 times a week, depending on how easily it was to find a good source of wood.  The winter weather could be challenging.  The best days to to this chore were often the hardest to be outside.  Cold conditions meant hard snow and ice and easy travel over the frozen lake and up onto the islands.  Windy conditions meant the temperature was really cold and frostbite could happen.  Driving fast on a snowmobile could also give frostbite, so we would have to dress accordingly.  That would also make it harder to cut the woods and haul it back.  Luckily we lived in a small place and had a small wood stove that heated up easily.   If we needed Oak for the long nights, we had to travel farther to find the stunted oak stands.  If we needed spruce or fir or pine, that was easier, because they were close by, and often we had some of the windfall already cut and drying.  When we would set out on expeditions, we were always on the lookout for wood stands - and if we found birch or ash - that was a bonus.  After cutting the wood into manageable lengths for carrying and using in the stove (about 3 feet long), we would load the wood onto the trailer behind the snowmobile.  The trailer was designed for hauling over the snow and had 2 skis to help it glide over the snow smoothly and easily.  We would lash the logs to the trailer so if we bumped over some drifts or down the rocks, we wouldn't lose the logs.  After returning to our little place, we unloaded the trailer and stacked the wood neatly.  Russ would sometimes have to wait until it got really cold to split it, because it splits so much easier when the sap and moisture is completely frozen (around -20 degrees Celsius).  If you are interested in buying or building a hauling sled, here are several links:
http://www.northernsledworks.com/Northern_Sled_Works-Home.html

http://www.manytracks.com/Homesteading/Sleds.htm

http://www.motherearthnews.com/do-it-yourself/wood-hauling-ski-sled-zmaz79jfzraw.aspx#axzz2LqfXe0J6

Ok - that takes us up to Lunchtime - and with that, I will let you have a chance to catch your breath and dream about something delicious and rib-tickling for lunch!