Day 9, Friday 8/10/01

Butchie gets up at around 6:00 AM! I said 6:00 AM! In the morning! He is crazy. I get up around 7, way too early for me. We went to the Liberty Diner for breakfast and to form a plan. We will call Butchies' folks and ask them to put his new Stihl chain saw out for Laurie to pick up on her way here. Well, its not really on the way, but she will do it. We decide to retrieve all the good wood from the steep part of the property that we had cut down for the electric poles and wires. It is a steep slope, maybe 45 degrees, and there is several cords of maple and beech laying about. I have a few pieces I want to keep in 8 or 10 feet lengths to be cut into 4x4's and planks for future things. They weigh a few hundred pounds each. We chain these and lower them to the gully beside the street. The rest we cut into wood stove sized lengths and roll down the hill into the gully. One person rolled and one stood in the street to stop any wayward pieces. I drove the Big Yellow One down and we filled up the bucket several times. The long pieces we chained to the front bucket and brought them up to the site. That Butchie is a worker. I don't think we even stopped for lunch. We did have dinner, hot dogs for Butchie (he only likes them boiled) and beanie wienies for me. Yummy. After dinner and a few beers (him), he picks up the maul and starts splitting firewood. I figure he will quickly tire of that after a long hard day. He doesn't. I join in the fun, now it's a contest to see who can split better.

I concede. Buy the time we quit there is a large pile of split firewood near the fire ring. Awesome. I take a shower in the camper then show Butchie how to use it. It is a sprayer like you have on your kitchen sink. It is hooked to the six gallon propane water heater. We are low on water so you have to be fast. Two showers, two gallons. It may not look like much, but that little shower is a gem. Laurie calls around 9:30 PM. She is heading up now, I hope I can stay awake till then. I tell Butchie if he wakes Laurie up at 7 tomorrow she WILL KILL HIM. He says "hypothetically speaking if I did wake up at 6 or 7 and went for donuts and coffee what kind of donuts and coffee does Laurie like?" I inform him that she doesn't drink coffee and likes chocolate donuts and if he goes for donuts and coffee at 6 or 7 he should get lost on the way back. He nods grudgingly. He is asleep in seconds. I work on the computer, dozing. Laurie arrives at 12, exhausted. We fall into bed and sleep the sleep of the dead.

12 hours Hazy 90