Ted’s essays

advice to myself

Many people ponder what they would advise their younger selves. That assumes some extremely unlikely things beginning with time travel and including young people taking advice from elders. But these flights of fancy push those aside for purposes of exploring how life’s turns work… or coulda. Make friends with Colonel Sears (the neighborhood ham radio operator). Hams in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s are ahead of what will become an explosion in electronic technology. Learning about the world of amateur radio will provide a foundation for a massive world of electronics to come. Take Karate lessons… assuming you can find them. Self-defense will always be a handy thing to have. Karate teaches much more including self discipline, control and respect […]

icicle

Merry Christmas

Bitterroot beaver

In a rare treat today, a beaver strolled and swam upstream past our front window. Incredible on many fronts, this was an exciting event for us. None of us three had ever seen one in the wild, ever. Here was this one 30-feet away. And, by all appearances, impervious to the ice and icy water. No wonder their coats are prized. P. S. Did I mention how much I LOVE my new Canon SX710 HS? It zoomed in and out on command and just flat TOOK these pictures through the front window. Dang clever … and easy to use. […]

splitting station

I am working over the now enclosed breezeway. It is nearly completely sealed from the weather and has significant insulation. I expect it to make a pleasant work environment when I get done working on it. Akin to spending 100 hours setting up a computer to save yourself 5 hours of bookkeeping. Since our cabin is rather small, our woodstove is necessarily small as well. Firewood requires another split or two before it can come in to heat the house. Thus every day we heat with wood, that is to say every day this winter, I spend 15 minutes or so splitting logs and kindling. That process had to be designed into my workshop / storage space. The windows also […]