Lunch Bags and Theives

The other day we all woke up to get ready for school and work, groggy and bleary eyed. Breakfast, dressing, brushing teeth. The half hour drive to work was the same; Klondike highway, left onto the Alaska Highway and on into town. The normal routine is to drop off the kids at the college so they can wait for the school bus while I park the car and walk back and give them a hug each. That day, as I locked up the car doors after dropping the kids off I noticed Eli had left is lunch bag in the back seat (a nice, washable lunch bag, made of a neopreen type material) so I grabbed it, happy that I realized he forgot his lunch. The kids were both waiting at the bus stop when I walked back so I hugged them each and handed Eli his lunch.

"Oh." he said. "I guess I forgot it".

At the end of the day, when Eli arrived back at the college he walked into my office and said "I'm hungry 'kuz I couldn't find my lunch".

"What do you mean you couldn't find it? I gave it to you this morning."

"You did?" he said, fully doubting my sanity.

He kind of turned about, obviously thinking and wandered back out of the office. A little while later, when work was done I headed out to collect the kids and there was Eli, eating his sandwich.

"Oh great! You found it!" I said.

"Well...I found my sandwich at the bus stop..." he said around a mouthful of food, "but someone stole my lunch bag and my cake."

That was pretty rotten. Stole his cake. Sheesh! It was chocolate too.

Annual Cycles

The seasonal line as been drawn again. This line is painted with orange and grey and the brush is made with the feathers of geese and swans as they fly to their southern homes. The world become quieter this time of year and the clock seems to slow in its hourly circle ticking the seconds in un-rhythmic time with the rain drops falling from the eves. All of these annual signs add up to one thing: Eli! Shut the door behind you!

Yup, each spring I train the kids to leave the door open for the fresh air and each fall I need to retrain them to shut the door because it's cold out. The furnace will kick on the element to preheat the chamber then begin blasting it's warm, comforting air through the air ducts while the cold air pours in the front door which the kids have left open as they enter or leave the house. What is so hard about remembering to shut the door when it's cold out I will never know but each year it's the same thing: shut the door!

Re-Forge

Forge update.

No photos yet but I'm creeping along with my forge. I've got a stand worked out for the hearth (I've up-ended an old wood stove which happens to have a hole in it the same size as my breakdrum hearth), I've got my anvil with a decent sized stump and I've found a door (need to put in a new door jam so the door will fit). All that remains is the air pump and pipes for the air feed. I hope to have that setup next weekend. There is no power in the shed so I plan on doing everything the old fashioned way. I'm trying to rebuild an old oil lamp for light (just need the glass for it now) and the air pump will either be a double action bellows (western style) or a double action pump asian style (sort of like a piston). I may need to run a long extension cord for an electric fan until I build myself the bellows. Hopefully I get it all assembled before too long.