Focus

     Beautiful, crisp, clear, 30s, midwinter Eugene today - reworked front porch allows plenty winter sun into Swett Lodge.  Seasonable chill, unusually dry so far this fall.  Spend two weeks in Chicago at mom's house: winter yard clean; rearrange extra refrigerator and freezer from basement to garage, streamline food procurement/storage; generally help out as mom swings into tenth decade planet side recovering mucho gustos from cancer chemo/radiation treatments.  Entire visit mid west temps warmer than PNW - go figure.  Enjoy Ducks tromp UCLA, become BCS champs, roll on to Rose Bowl against Wisconsin - loyalties somewhat divided, will root for new home's team.  Latent football interest, Kate 'n Spud's Duck's enthusiasm awakened, yester Sunday relax fireside, follow Green Bay Packers roust Raiders, Super Bowl bound.  Obligations mostly met, mom well on recovery track, pretty much retired from monetary pursuit, dyed in wool non consumer, Swett Lodge projects need doing more than noodling: fewer brain demands than ever!

     Apparently couple readers continue Swett Lodge tale follow as fate's tail wags this dawg.  Mentally characterize SwettLodge.blogspot.com as public service, but regular haps record provides basic project accountability, focus: good thing, mind increasingly wandering alluring uncharted mental reaches.  Can pretty well reconstruct what brings me here, haven't slightest clue why.  So tale continues, Swett Lodge reconstruction central.
     An acute observer might miss something in today's SwettLodge photo.  Last week, Chicago fortnight prior, had little Swett Lodge agenda, generally tying loose ends before travel.  Wednesday night extremely gusty for Eugene; sole Swett Lodge back yard tree sways, undulates, slaps electrical entry wire around enough, causes audible complaint.  Next day size up obtrusive limb: besides impacting electric service, abrades porch roof.  Decide it's time for THAT limb to come off.  Not my first barbecue doing this sort of thing, feel comfortable limb, with a little come-a-long persuasion, will fall clear.  Undermines a guy's self confidence a bit when limb does exactly unexpected: falls straight down, lands atop electrical service wire, well bends two inch galvanized steel entry mast before yanking wires free of utility pole.  Oops!

     Realize service mast permit/inspection required to reconnect electricity; head out, procure new mast pipe.  Rainy evening, buckle down, get out ladder, tools; take electric service entry wires/mast apart; carefully - slippery out there - rerig electric entry, figure they might inspect/reconnect service next day if ready to go, finish up 'bout 8 PM.  Friday AM head to permit office, purchase.  Gal says 'if work's done can probably inspect/reconnect today' but decide: wire down, leaving town - may be good eliminate tree time.  Saturday AM catch early Portland Greyhound for midday flight to Chicago - behind schedule, number of passengers require personal attention: driver's ability to forge ahead, deal one issue then next unflapped, impresses.  In Chicago contact Eugene utility company's arborist: can't take entire tree down, will trim back off high power lines north edge Swett Lodge property.  Finalize tree decision in situ. 

     Along with other Chicago chores spend hours cleaning up HD, finally reinstalling OS on mom's old excruciatingly slow computer: fortunately effort proves worth while 'cause that's hard work!  Return flight into Portland Saturday evening, long enough lay over Eugene Greyhound prior; enjoy hot chili, chicken salad; watch Wisconsin finalize Rose Bowl berth.  Again driver's sangfroid impresses.  Too, folks ability to maintain lives worth having while resources dwindle - one man all the way up from Mexico via Greyhound visiting young daughter.

     Return cold, dark Swett Lodge early Sunday AM.  Crank up Earth stove - chill off.  Day light allows thorough back yard tree examination: EWEB definitely trimmed tree back, feel competent can fell without further mishap, spend Monday shovel flatten behind garage car park, redistribute soil to backyard low spots, evenly spread cement/wall plaster over car park, contemplate tree felling.
     Didn't set out to remove tree, opportunity presents, decide good time remove tree that left will only cause trouble, me getting older less willing/able deal with such monster.  Tree branches in EWEB's high power lines, my entry service wire; branches abrading house top; roots salivating for water at recently replaced sewer line - that tree's a goner.
     Fortunately, unlike most neighbors, not entirely electric dependent: reliable wood stove heat, adequate moody amber sodium vapor street light stream through west windows.  Kate loans battery transistor radio.  Along with fire place; unphotographable Mondrianesque shadow wall laces - passing traffic interrupted/altered; cold beer provide necessary entertainment for week of nights electrically unsullied.

 

     Borrow Spud's saw, procure 2 cycle oil, mix with gas, never without trepidation begin dismantling tree.  Ladder remove one sizable branch, then able drop all but tallest branch as unit from ground - prefer ground work with saw: more escape routes - with neighbor standing in street, traffic redirect.  On ladder with saw one final time successfully drop remaining limb atop other limbs sprawled out into street without as much as grazing high power lines.  18 inch blade, good running Stihl make fast work dice limbs, brush.  Leave five foot tall by thirty inch round stump for another day, stack brush stump side, stack limb chunks/rounds backyard wood shed adjacent. 

 

     Saw dice, dice, dice brush pile 'til nothing's too stove box long, throw in 'tween round stacks.  Sharpen saw project beginning, still sharp enough, bisect stump to ground, then quarter.  Cut stove size stump chunks to ground.  Finally axe chip dirt bearing bark off stump ground line, saw remaining four chunks saw tip well below ground level - fill with dirt/saw dust will be able to mow over, keep tree from resurrecting.  Final chunk requires second saw sharpening - pretty well kept saw blade out of dirt this tree.  Quarter inch cat piss soaked luan plywood cover diced tree.

     Tree down; entry electric Wednesday inspected, little blaze orange sticker verified (upper left box); Friday EWEB appears, reconnects juice.  Feel a little more mainstream though still familiarizing with more spartan backyard: tree had good aspects - some neighbors would agree - decidedly prefer my future without that tree in it.   

     As part of clean up tree effort, collect piled leaves by park across street, spread on dormant garden.  Have seven yard leaf batch on order from city that will complete garden winterization.

     Nights are chilly - into twenties - so despite air stilling weatherization projects which have made Swett Lodge pretty darn comfortable even without insulation and only thin sheet of fabric 'tween me and outdoors in some spots, house cools off pretty well during night.  Enjoy snuggling under covers/warm down sleeping bag 'til fully awake then get up, pursue the day.   Refinding winter rhythm: feel chill, stoke fire, feel warm; plenty warming wood on hand - front porch, back yard - moseying around to Swett Lodge gut work.  For a moment consider moving on to repair then plumb garage, make ready as stand alone apartment - perhaps for ma - decide stick with repair Swett Lodge under girding.

     So path leads on: who knows where, why?  Past experience encourages follow intuition - limb felled on power line not with standing - toward unknowable though assuredly positive ends.  Inscribe assists with clarity, as do good life essentials - rest, eat, exercise well.  Have shifted daily exercise routine to late afternoon rather than burn limited morning light.  Might expect few more interruptions early evening 'stead of morning, but was pretty shocked Saturday last while during crunches, full size hook & ladder fire truck pulls up outside my west window all lights, sirens ablaze, shining spotlight in window at me.  Moments later, pants donned, fire guy at the door says 'someone called, said looked like no one was home, noxious fumes coming out chimney - we had to check'!  Clearly someone not from the hood.  Fire folk affirm Swett Lodge has every right to burn wood - 'c ya later'.  

     Chicago two weeks work ass off 'round ma's place, eat their schedule, waste down to 155 pounds - active guy needs four times as much food as two 'rents - smaller than in high school.  Glad to be back to largely vegetarian repasts, replete with garden squash, in large enough quantity to put on weight - even fast day/week, untenable at ma's.  Parse big squash, pot cook whole chunks stove top - they'll certainly appear in next year's garden - remainder (above) awaits cooking another time.

     You know BIG stuff covered here.  Stay tuned.  Enjoy.