There's Something Out There

I'm one of those people who often falls into a rut and doesn't realize it for a long time. When things don't change, my perceptions get lazy and I am less likely to notice what little there is going on around me, which makes the my rut deeper and harder to snap out of.

It's a self-reinforcing cycle.

The upside is that when I do finally drag myself out of it the world is made all the more glorious for its sometimes tiny swirls of order and chaos.

You don't see what I see.

Rain Maker 3000

Expect unprecedented rain and clouds over central North Carolina for the next few months. I've just completed my new solar oven, a more durable version of this guy . Made of plywood and acrylic mirrors, the Rain Maker 3000 is sure to bring down soggy gloom on all your outdoor cooking efforts. The fact that I was able to set it up for a few minutes this afternoon only shows how nature loves to taunt us.

I still need to insulate the oven box, and find a good seal for the glass top, so all those precious BTUs I've worked so hard to collect will stay in the oven and actually cook something. Further updates as events warrant.

To go boldly where no man has gone before...

They'll split my infinitive when they pry it from my cold dead larynx.

Back when the solar system was young, there was life in my back yard. That was thousands of dollars ago. Now that the trees are gone and the long, dark, brutal North Carolina winter is coming to an end, it's time to grow grass.

Yeah, right.

I could step out there right now, put a shovel in the ground, and come up with a big scoop of clay that you could throw, fire, glaze, and would last a thousand years. There are no organic components to that "soil", unless you count the two crickets and 40-odd ants that have freakin' starved to death trying to cross that vast, barren, unforgiving wasteland.

Back in Auburn all I needed was a few bags of composted cow manure.

This time I'll need a cow. Maybe a bison.