Hello Everyone!
A frigid evening, The tent setup worked well, Frozen water almost everywhere & Uncertainty sucks!
Alright, I am only a wee bit behind schedule with my writing routine this evening... and hopefully I can also stay on track with my posting routine. I swear that this tiny bit of consistency has been doing me a world of good... and simply writing each day sure has been helping a lot regardless of how 'in the dumps' my overall attitude and morale is.
Last night, it got frigging cold... and I was actually rather surprised at just how well my camping tent (wrapped in polyethylene) setup worked to keep the wind out and the heat in. I definitely used the propane heater much more than I have on any other night since first wrapping the tent... but for the most part I did not wind up burning up too much of my precious fuel supply.
Of course, I was also bundled up in three layers of clothes, an insulated jumpsuit, two warm hats and a thick pair of socks... so obviously there was more than the heater keeping me warm. Once I fell asleep things were not too bad either... because I was snuggled up to the dogs under three blankets... and only my feet got cold a few times when they escaped the confines of the blanket while I was sleeping.
On a different note, folks 'worrying about me' finally came to a head today... and although I appreciate the concern it has done nothing but make me feel more and more neurotic for months now. First, it was all my close friends pestering me (almost daily) to get a shed (which I am clueless on how they thought that I could afford) and then it was about getting supplies, heating devices and lastly propane.
I still do not know quite how to explain that 'neurotic inducing' feeling... but it coupled with all the recent grief and trauma I have experienced... along with getting my PTSD hammered on for nearly six months straight now... has been driving me bat shit crazy! At least now folks will hopefully stop... and just let my damned mind settle some... because yeah it has just been too damned much for me... and I need to be able to keep focusing on relief efforts for the WNC DZ.
Anyways, out of all the various containers that I have rainwater stored in outside... the only one that did not stay iced over all day was the overflow barrel that I have resting in that big hole that I dug while constructing that earthen bridge. Depending on if I am stuck here for the remainder of the winter or not (which is dependent on whether I can actually sell this place) I should probably look at digging another hole for the barrel that I store my actual drinking water in.
Much of my thinking of late is incredibly mired by the uncertainty of whether I am 'stuck' here or not... which although is something that I have dealt with for my entire stay... it seems to be really 'throwing me off center' much more of late. I guess that I am just one of those folks that really enjoys knowing exactly what my own plans are... and being able to stick to them in a clear and concise manner!
Well, on that note I am going to wrap this up before it gets too much chillier... and I wind up needing to put some gloves on to keep pecking away at the keyboard in a comfortable fashion. I hope that everyone is doing well.
Wes & Grindan