30 December 2009 “Stihl ain’t going nowhere

Even at 1600 with an air temperature of 46°F there is still ice on the logs in the creek. Winter promises to be here in force over the New Year. The forecast is grim for many people.

Thursday: Chance of Rain High: 49°F Low: 29°F

Friday: Chance of Snow High: 34°F Low: 18°F

Saturday: Mostly Cloudy High: 31°F Low: 16°F

Sunday: Partly Cloudy High: 27°F Low: 13°F

Monday: Partly Cloudy High: 29°F Low: 13°F



These temperatures are fully consistent with winter in the mountains of N.E. Tennessee.

The necessity of having a working chain saw led me to Greeneville today. After the morning’s hike with Mike, I completed a few more chores and left Gloria and Loki to protect the house and the free world from cats, vandal dogs, and turkeys. Loki takes her tasking seriously even if Gloria has rarely met an animal she didn’t like.

At By-Pass Lawn and Garden I put my trust in the employees, told them what I needed to do and asked for recommendations. They universally suggested the top model in the Stihl occasional user product line. My research supported this model and I was going to buy it when I realized that the models they had were not upgraded to an easy start configuration and no-tool needed chain adjustment. They had no models in that configuration on the shelf so I stepped down one level. One of the shop salesmen indicated that his personal saw had the easy start modification and he felt it well worth the cost. Since I spent hours pulling starter cords Monday and Tuesday with less wood cut than I needed cut, I believe my back, neck, and shoulder will benefit. They also unanimously recommended I go out of my way to find non-ethanol –containing gasoline in order to obtain better service from the chainsaw engine. There is one station in the region that has gas blended without ethanol. So I bought a 2 gallon gas can, winterizer additive to use on stored gasoline already on site, and pre-payed for two gallons of gas, amusing the counter clerk quite a bit.

As luck would have it, the chainsaw purchase left me only a few meters from our favorite local barbeque restaurant. Dinner sits on the kitchen counter waiting to be warmed up a bit.

The final stop on the trip home was a brief stop to record a phone number from the sign on the back of a dump truck filled with firewood. We took delivery about 1430 and I spent about two hours doing outside chores, moving and covering wood, weighting a tarp down over it, carrying 40 pounds of salt pellets to the well filter housing and adding them to the softener, changing light bulbs in the filter shack. By 1630 I was glad to leave the out of doors to the turkeys.



At 1730, the sun has set, the temperature has begun its slide toward freezing, and it is a nice, quiet evening.

The last time I played and sang that particular Dylan song I was accompanied by Gloria and our very good friend Anna Fedrick. That would have been somewhere around 2002 at Temple Beth El, Bradenton Florida. Anna’s in D.C. Metro now. We keep inviting her down and we figure that she’ll knock on the door one day.

I have beef and shellfish thawing now for tomorrow night’s dinner. We have always tended to stay in on New Year’s Eve. There is little pleasure in dodging drunk drivers, particularly in bad weather. I’ve everything and everyone I need with me at home or within reach of a phone call.

Here’s to a quiet evening, a peaceful night, and the promise that tomorrow brings.