Saturday In The Park

Hello everyone. As the title suggests - It's Saturday, I'm in the park, however I don't think it's the 4th of July (simply due to the fact that blog date says that it's the 26th of August. I've got a couple of interesting news bits to report.

First of all, Thursday through this morning had been hell. We had some absolutely torrential rainfall Thursday afternoon and evening. It had to have rained 3 inches at least. Everything I own was wet. Once the rain had ceased, I hung everything in the trees to get it to dry. The only problem was the fact that it did not get very warm yesterday, so the clothes did not dry very well. They are for the most part dry today however. That is a definite plus.

I'm not sure if anyone has been reading the comments to the various posts I've made throughout the last two months or so, but I had received a letter from a lady named Veronica at Erberts & Gerberts. She happened to come across my blog and noticed that I had mentioned Erberts & Gerberts in one of my posts. She commented on the post and said that she would send me a "sandwich card". I'm pretty enthused about that! I can't wait. It will taste so good!

That's really all I have to report at this time. I do have to say however that the seasons are definitely changing (it has been significantly cooler in the evenings as of late). I need to begin to consider my plan for this fall. Am I going to be able to continue on once it gets cold outside? I know that I'll be fine for the next month or two, but when it really starts to get cold, I am a bit concerned about that. I'm not so sure that I'll be able to go on with my current setup. I would imagine that I would need to set up a heating system of some sort...maybe even build a cabin with a fireplace. I really am not sure what I will do. Only time will tell I guess.

I am going to shove off for now...not that I really have anything planned. I believe I may go down to the public library and see what they have to offer. I could use a little entertainment. I'll talk to everyone soon!

Eli

The New Fashion

Yes, it was innevitable. I've changed the way the site looks to the new and improved version. It actually comes with Google's upgraded "Beta Blogger". I'm not sure if I am a big fan yet, but it seems to be pretty decent so far.

I'd like to tell you about all of the excitement in my life since I had last written, but to be quite honest, there's not a lot to talk about. I've actually relaxed in the beautiful West-Central Wisconsin weather and enjoyed myself. I haven't done a lick of work since Wednesday. I guess that is part of the reason why I'm doing what I'm doing. It seems to me that I do not need to work as hard as I used to, and life is much more healthy and enjoyable than it was before. This once again proves that money does not = happiness.

Being that I had spent some time updating the blog to the new format, I'm not going to write a whole bunch today. Randy, if you're reading this, I wanted you to know that I'm yet to find a plum tree. I'm confident that I will see one before their done for the year though.

I hope everyone is doing well. If you're interested there is a short not that was written by my friend Chad which is a reply to the "Bird Flu in Menomonie" post. Yeah, that guy's quite the character.

Anyway...Take care and enjoy your weekend everyone!
Eli

Bird Flu in Menomonie

It's a beatiful day in Menomonie! These days are what summer is all about. We've seen quite the transition as of late...from the mid and upper 90s to the low to mid 80s during the daytime. It's been quite cool at night. That makes for good sleeping weather (lord knows I need it, I've been so busy).

I was reading the newspaper from Sunday (I always get it late because I need to wait until I find a copy floating around) and read an article about the Bird Flu being found in a horse Dunn County. Apparently it is the first horse testing positive in Dunn County this year. According to the article, it is possible that the West Nile Virus can be spread to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito.

This has me particularly concerned due to my current lifestyle. I am in the woods most of the time where there are tons of mosquitos (especially since the recent rains). Wendy MacDougall of the Dunn County Health Department says that "The West Nile Virus seems to be here to stay, so the best way to avoid the disease is to reduce exposure and eliminate breeding grounds for mosquitos."

She also had the following recommendations:

• Maintain window screens in good repair to devrease indoor contact with mosquitos. This means I'll have to make sure the tent is good and secured.
• Avoid being outside during times of high mosquito activity, specifically around dawn and dusk. There's nothing I can do about this. I'm outside permanently, and I catch my breakfast, lunch, and dinner during these "high activity" times.
• Wear light colored protective clothing such as long pants, loose fitting long-sleeved shirts and tuck pants in socks when outdoors. I guess that this is a good tip for me...I can do all of these things.
• When outdoors, consider using an effective mosquito repellant containing an active ingredient registered by the EPA, such as DEET, picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus. Hey! More good ideas! Can't afford bug spray though. :(
• Do not provide a breeding ground where mosquitos can lay eggs. Fair enough.

This all seems to be standard knowledge. Here's a fact that I didn't know about. Most people who are infected with West Nile do not get sick. Huh. That's interesting. So, I may actually have it, but I guess I wouldn't know if I do not have symptoms. This leads me to believe that the symptoms must be worse than the fact that you are infected. Does this make sense?

So I went to google looking for ways to avoid bird flu by using items in nature, and found the website of a local "professional classical homeopath" named MaryBeth Buchele. On her site I located an aricle named "Bird Flu or Cash Cow". In this article I found many fascinating points.

One point that the author of the article, Eve Hillary, made was that "In our practice we found very few drugs were in fact necessary for heling and disease prevention." She reports that patients who get proper amounts of vitamins, minerals, 0mega oils, antioxidants and other natural supplements had rarely experienced sickness and infection.

It seems that the government is very quick to announce the latest "epidemic of the week". It's very interesting because when these epidemics are announced, the drug companies kick their "pill of the week" into high production. So here is the order of events: one person gets sick --> government announces "potential epidemic" --> drug companies boost vaccine production --> drug companies make lots of money --> drug companies pay polititians. See where I'm going with this?

Anyways, apparently 10,000 wild birds have died, countless horses, and 146 Americans. There are also 200,000 infected that are alive and well. The info I have read leads me to believe that it may not be as risky as the government and media make it out to be. I guess for the time being I will do my best to follow the recommended "avoidance guidelines" though.

There were many other interesting points that were made in the article (too many for me to regurgitate at this moment). If you are interested in checking them out, visit MaryBeth Buchele's website: http://www.healthnaturally.biz/ .

Well, it's hard for me to pass up a great day like today. I need to pick up some supplies from Lammer's. I actually enjoyed a delightful "Wisconsin Forest Salad" last night. It would have been better with some dressing, so my plan is to pick up a small bottle of vinegar (which is good for me anyway). I may as well enjoy the salads while they're plenty. Other than that, I guess I do not have too much to report. I've been busy collecting firewood. Oh, for everyone's information, I did build my squirrel trap. Haven't caught one yet though. I'll let everyone know how that's going.

I hope everyone is doing well. I'll talk to you soon.
Eli

PS- If anyone has any other natural food ideas that are available in my area, be sure to let me know. I'm getting sick of eating fish, hot dogs, and white bread.

The Journey...Not the Destination

Good afternoon everyone!

I know it's been a while (actually, I'm not sure how long it's actually been). I'm sorry about that. I've been very busy back at camp and haven't really had an opportunity to write to everyone. I'd like to be able to do that more often. I hope you all understand though, it is difficult for me to do this oftentimes because of the fact that it takes an extra amount of effort (besides what I'm already doing) to take the laptop to town via bicycle and to sit down and write to everyone when I know that I really should be back at camp.

I've been contemplating some things, and have decided that I am going to have to come up with some sort a time management plan in order to a.) get all the things done I need to do in order to survive in the woods and b.) have enough time to do the things I actually enjoy doing. It seems to be the best solution to these problems because I feel like I'm just flying by the seat of my pants (which in all actuality is true for the most part).

I am not able to get much done today however, due to the fact that there's a steady rain falling, it's quite dark outside, and I've worked constantly over the last week or so. I stopped into the Acoustic Cafe to charge my batteries (and have a cup of coffee...Thanks Chad!). I'm now sitting in the park under the provilian just typing away to you! Sounds nice anyway...I need to touch base with a couple of people via e-mail anyhow. It appears that it will continue to rain into the evening, so I do not plan to do much work until tomorrow.

I've been working very hard at the camp (trying to make it as comfortable and livible as possible). I've been contemplating several ideas and thoughts, especially about motivation and ambition. It seems to me that a person with a lack of ambition puts themselves at the mercy of the elements (especially when you are in a survival situation). For example, if you decide to sleep in you may miss the best hours of fishing, which in return will make you very hungry later on when you do not have fish to eat. It seems that when people are ambitious, they actually create their own fate.

So what does this mean? It seems that if you are not ambitious enough, you will not succeed because you are at the mercy of everything that surrounds you. If you are overly ambitious, you are at risk of being a slave to your own labor (such as the workaholic that becomes divorced from his spouce and is seperated from his kids because they are not around enough). What is the solution? A balance between the two.

I've realized that it is not money that makes a person happy, although it is true that the feelings that we identify as satisfaction comes from the anticipation of a reward or triumph (not when we actually achieve it). Studies have shown that people are actually less happy after winning the lottery than they were to begin with (so be careful of what you wish). I guess that it's the journey, not the destination that makes us feel happy with our situations.

I'd like everyone to know that I am happy with what I'm doing. I'm also healthy, learning many things, and spending a great summer in the outdoors. I have nothing to complain about. If it's all about the journey, the Lord knows it's been rough...but worth it all the while.

Take care and god bless.
Eli

Squirrel Trap!

Good Morning Everyone. Rain is in the forecast, and it's very humid. I've continued to put some finishing touches on the shelter to make sure that she's ready for the rain they're saying that we're supposed to be getting tonight.

I've come into town early this morning because I wanted to get most of my "running around" dealt with, and I also wanted to enjoy a cup of coffee.

I need to find some thin string-like wire because I am going to be building some squirrel traps. I have found how to build them on the internet. You basically take a stick that's about and 1 1/2" thick, and create little nooses on different sides all the way up the stick. You then place the stick from the ground to a tree that you see a lot of squirrels in diagonaly. Supposedly it takes quite a while for the squirrels to rid themselves of their fears of the stick, and eventually curiosity takes over. They will end up having to crawl through a noose. When they go to do that, they'll get stuck and strangle themselves. Apparently the more they struggle, the tighter the noose gets.

Now, you're probably wondering why I'd want to kill a squirrel. Well, I'd like to eat something different than fish. To be honest with you, I'd really like to kill a deer but there's a few problems with that. They're hard to catch, there's not as many of them, and once I've killed one I have no way to store the meat. I believe with squirrels at least I may be able to get a few of them per week and cook them easily on my campfire. I'm not so sure how tasty squirrel would be, but it would be a nice change from the same old same old if you know what I mean.

Speaking of eating, I've started to get a bit creative with what I've been cooking. Of course, I have plenty of fish (I think I've nearly mastered the art of fishing at this point). Speaking of which, I've noticed how fast you can get good at something when your survival relies on it. For instance, fishing. Most people look at fishing as a leisure-time activity that they do for fun on the weekends. A lot of these same people do not do very well at it (in fact their stories are typically larger than their catch). I on the other hand have to catch fish or I will not survive. I had never caught a fish in my life until a month ago, now I catch several fish per day quite effortlessly.

Anyway, back to the topic of food. Like I was saying, I've started to get a bit creative with what I've been cooking. I've made a significant purchase of canned vegetables which I store in a shady corner under my shelter. Canned vegetables are nice because they're scentless, won't spoil if kept in a shady spot, and easy to ration out in order to make sure that I can spread out enough of them to last a long time.

I've also made a significant purchase of canned soups, but I don't just make soup with them. The cream of mushroom and cream of chicken I've used to mix with fish or vegetables to add flavor and create a good mixture of everything. It's quite tasty. I have a few boxes of instant rice which I've cooked on the fire and mixed in fish, vegetables, and cream of chicken soup. This makes for a tasty home-cooked meal.

I have purchased some pasta noodles, but am not sure exactly what I will do with them. I guess it would be easy to boil the noodles and toss in some goodies. It's difficult to buy any kind of meat to mix with this stuff because I can't store it, and it's also very expensive. I really would like to figure out a way to store some products (at least for a few days at a time) where they wouldn't go bad right away. If anybody has any ideas, please let me know.

Well, I had best be on my way. I have no clue where I will be purchasing this wire from today. Hopefully I am not wasting my time on a stupid scheme. Anyhow...I hope everyone is doing well. Take care, and god bless!

Eli

Life in Menomonie has never been so great!

Good Afternoon Everyone!

I am in high spirits because I'm near completion on my shelter. Actually, I had finished the roof on it before the heavy rains hit the other evening. It seemed to hold up great! I covered the skeleton of the roof with industrial plastic, then covered that with pine boughs and plants. I would imagine a lot of the vegetation I had used will wither and shrink, but I'll just add more of it. I think over time it will build a level of protection from the elements, and it also helps to blend in with the wonderful (and now greener) surroundings of the camp.

I received the money I was expecting from Chad, and Paul actually gave me a huge pack of Ramen Noodles. I can tell you, after being as hungry as I've been, Ramen tastes great (especially with a little fish on top).

I've been catching some panfish during the day, which I have to say are quite tasty. I'm now cooking a lot of the fish in the frying pan I had purchased at the thrift sale I was at. I'm actually in the process of setting up a device in the pond where I can bait a few different hooks overnight that are strung from a couple of poles that extend about fifteen feet into the pond. My hope is that I can pick up a few bullhead every morning. I'm going to give that a try and see if it pans out or not.

I guess that I'm also quite happy that the temperature has cooled down quite a bit. I had gone so long in the 90+ degree heat that it was really starting to wear on me both physically and emotionally. I'm also feeling better because I've picked up some reading material as well. It gives me something to do in my down time (which I've decided I need more of too because attending to tasks constantly also wears on a person).

I stopped in the Acoustic cafe a little while ago to have a cup of coffee, and moreso to recharge my laptop battery (this is why I haven't written in a couple of days...the battery went dead).

That's about all I've been up to. I thought I'd take some R&R time today because I've been working very hard just to survive as of late. I've got to say that I'm actually getting better at this. Moral is high, and I'm quite optimistic in regards to the continuation of my journey here in the outskirts of Menomonie.

I haven't received much mail or any comments. If anyone out there is reading this, I would like to urge you to reply to my message.

I hope you are all doing well (whoever is out there), and I'll be speaking with you soon.

Take care, and God Bless.
Eli

PS - If anyone is interested, there are a few RSS subscription buttons on the sidebar. They should work (that is, if I've set them up properly). This way you can stay updated when I add to my blog.

Let the Rain Fall!

Good morning. It's been another long night, and several extremely long days. Yesterday the temperature apparently hit 102 degrees. If you don't know, that's extremely warm for Wisconsin. Thunderstorms came through last night, and it's still raining now. It's helped to make it a bit more comfortable, but if it gets hot again, it's only going to make it very humid.

I felt much more comfortable with the storms last night, being that I've nearly completed my shelter. It's actually turned out quite a bit better than what I had hoped. My plan was to finish it today, but the only problem is the fact that it's raining out, and I need some boughs from the trees to finish my roof. I'd also like to find a sheet of plastic somewhere. I think vapor barrier would actually work pretty well, being that you can buy it pretty thick. This would definitely keep the rain out (especially once that's covered with the pine boughs).

Well, Chad sent $50 to me. He mailed it to Paul's house, and it should have gotten there yesterday. This is the reason why I had came to town today. I told Paul to send it in cash, hopefully the envelope did not meet a greedy postman along the way! I had spoken to Paul at the end of last week. He was surprised to see me because he had thought that I had just taken off not to be seen again. It was pretty funny. He wanted to come out to the camp to check out where I've been living this entire time, but I avoided the situation. He actually wanted to bring some friends too. I just didn't feel comfortable with that, being that if something were to happen to my camp, I'm finished. The mission is over. He did however say it was fine if I had Chad mail the money to his house.

I'm trying to create a list of items that are essential to my existence that I am going to need to purchase with the money that Chad sends me. It's difficult to decide whether to purchase tools for existence or food for existence. With the tools I may create an abundance of food, but on the other hand starve to death trying. With the food I may get by for a while, but not last long due to the need for tools in the woods. I think it's going to come down to a combination of the two. The main difference between them in my eyes is the fact that I could most likely purchase the tools I need at thrift sales for 10% of the normal price, while food on the other hand is rarely discounted.

I've noticed the last week or so that I've lost some weight. Nothing to worry about, but I'm looking a bit thinner. I'm feeling better though. My arms in particular are quite a bit stronger which is probably from the sawing and hauling of the trees, logs, and branches I had used for my shelter. I'm beginning to feel a slight sense of accomplishment in regards to my mission thus far. I am now vowing to make my camp much more comfortable, and to find some way to enjoy some type of entertainment from time to time (I think that this too is quite essential). I haven't quite decided what to do yet, but I'll be sure to let you know when I do.

I should be shoving off. Paul is only home until about 7:30 or so, then he takes off for work. I hope that everything is going well for everyone. Take care, and God bless!

Eli

It's too Darn Hot!

It's another sweltering day here in Dunn County. The forecast says 98 degrees for today, and 101 degrees the following two days. I'm dirty and sweaty from head to toe, and figured I'd head into town to check my e-mail and to update everyone on my last day's progress.

I had caught a couple of bullheads during the nighttime hours as I was working on my new shelter. LeAnne Ralph had told me that the bullheads would be muddy tasting, and she was right. I do have to say however, that even mud tastes good when you're hungry. At least I've now purchased some good 'ol Morton's salt to use on my catch. Besides, the girl with the umbrella on the front of the Morton's salt canister is both the only girl and the only rain I've seen in quite some time now!

Speaking of my new shelter, I was on my way to Lammer's yesterday and saw a sign for a garage sale. Guess what? They had my saw, my shovel, and some rope there. I also purchased a heavy duty frypan. I purchased all of this for $6.00 (What a Deal!!!). I get the feeling that if I need any of these type items from now on, I'll be sure to look for thrift sales. I do however need to return there today to pick up the shovel.

I've developed my plan for my shelter as well, and began gathering the wood I need for it last night. My plan is to build a shelter that Nate and Cassandra's tent will fit inside of, thus offering shelter from the elements, and still providing the feelings of cleanliness and cozyness.

I've located the precise spot that I plan to build the shelter in as well. It fits right in the middle of two oak trees (I thought oak was a good idea being that they are sturdy and provide a decent amount of shade). The two trees are about 12 feet from one another, and have sturdy limbs protruding at about 9 feet.

I cut a fresh beem to put in the crotches of the 9 foot limbs. I rested the beam in one of the crotches, and raised it to the other crotch with another large limb. I then cut 12 more poles that will serve as a leaning roof. These poles will extend to the ground. My plan is to cut 12 more poles to go perpendicular to the vertically raised poles, and tie them together, thus finishing the angled roof's framework. The open section of the shelter will face east, being that most of the weather comes out of the west. I'm hoping to have most of the shelter built by the end of the weekend.

I've also learned that the shelter will be a good place to dry things out. I think this will be good for my clothes either when they get wet from the elements, or from washing them. I'm sure that there will be several other benefits that I'll realize as time passes.

I'm not exactly sure as to whether or not you have a good idea of what I am building, but hopefully you will be able to understand it a bit better as I build it. I'll make sure to inform you of the progress that I'm making.

I received an e-mail from my friend Chad back home. He apparently would like to send me some money to purchase a few more supplies that I'm going to need to continue on with my journey. I'm not exactly sure if I want him to do that though. My thought is that it may interfere with the purity of my mission, but on the other hand, it may lengthen the amount of time that I can carry this mission on being that I am often times hungry. Being hungry makes me a bit fatigued and tired as you can imagine. If I do decide to have Chad send the money, I am thinking that I'll have to have it sent to Paul's house. I think after I write this, I'm going to pop past Chad's place to see if he's around anyways.

I'd love to stay and chat, but I have so much to do (and I might as well get at it while I'm still motivated). I still have to pick up the shovel, and hopefully some water as well. I'm getting tired of hauling all of this on my bike, but I guess I have no other choice. I have a backpack that I use to carry my laptop and other items that I need to carry, but I typically end up steering my bike with items attached to my hands at the same time. This seems to work ok, but the last thing that I want to happen is to wipe out and get injured.

So long for now!
Eli

PS - If anyone has a little time, email me at elicanning@yahoo.com . I'd like to hear from someone. It gets a little lonely at times by myself. I don't really care what you send me, I'd just like to hear from someone from time to time.

A Crazy Sweaty Biker

Greetings readers! I've managed to make it through the last couple of days. I'm beginning to realize that living at the camp is going to require a whole new mindset. It was nice to have the rain the other day, but it's now brought out the mosquitos. They're out in droves. I've actually been bitten from head to toe. Now that I'm thinking of it, I really should do a little research to find out if there's a way (besides buying bug spray) to keep the mosquitos away. I had first thought that the obvious answer is to wear clothing over my entire body, but it has been so warm the last few days that I nearly sweat to death. I'm constantly putting clothes on and taking them off in order to protect myself from both the mosquitos and the blistering sun. It certainly is nice being by the water for the fishing, but this is also where the mosquitos breed.

Since the hailstorm the other day, I've put a significant amount of thought into building a better shelter for myself. I spent a good portion of the morning coming up with requirements that I'd need to meet in order to build the best shelter that I can. The following are some of the considerations I had come up with:

First and foremost, the shelter is going to have to be built from the items I have readily available to me. Primarily wood. In order to get the wood I'll need, I'll have to purchase a saw or axe somewhere soon. This would also be helpful with the collection of wood for my fire. In fact, I believe I am going to donate an entire day to collecting firewood rather than collecting it only when I need it. With a saw I would be able to get larger pieces that are going to last longer as well.

The second consideration I have thought of is the location of the shelter. I want to make sure that it is located in an area that provides a certain amount of natural shelter (perhaps under the canopy of the woods). This would also be a good idea because of the shade it would offer. I also need to build it so no one can see it. Although Nate had told me that no one had ever came back there during the time he has spent there, if my "items of survival" are stolen, I'm finished. So, it needs to be camouflaged from people but also protective from wild animals (because I would imagine it would also be a decent place to store my food and belongings). I will also have to figure out a way for it to protect me from the insects as well (it would be nice to be able to get some sleep at night without being eaten to death).

The only drawback to having it inside the forest is the fact that there is a certain level of risk of falling trees during storms which is the primary reason why I'm building it in the first place. Falling trees may end up being the least of my worries though. I do not believe that I am in risk of standing water in the area I have in mind though. This is good.

Anyway, these are my thoughts on this subject. I would like to begin construction soon, so I believe that today's mission will be to find a saw, possibly a shovel, and I need to pick up more food items. Last night I travelled through town and picked up some tomatoes and some peppers from somebody's garden. If you live up on Wilson Street and are missing some tomatoes, I'm very sorry. This is not typical behavior for me, but this is a survival situation. Maybe someday I can pay you back.

Today I will purchase hot dogs (of course, this has been a staple all along), some bread, and some pasta noodles of some sort. I've managed to catch more fish (yes, the giant northern pike I had caught was finished off last night at dinner time). I will be going to Lammers Food Fest for that. I'm also not sure how I am going to carry my groceries, a saw, and a shovel on Paul's bike (which he's probably wondering why I haven't brought it back yet). I may have to make two trips to Menomonie, but I've got the bike trip down to about 20 minutes each way. Huh...That also reminds me that I'm going to have to pick up water soon too. Water is the most difficult item to haul on a bicycle because it slooshes around as I steer my bicycle.

I've been exploring some opportunities as to how to make some income off of my posts here. Apparently there are some opportunities to explore as far as advertising on my blog, but I need to find out the best way to do this (and figure out how I will physically receive the money from it). This would certainly help me along, and I don't believe that it will interfere with my mission to be self-sufficient.

I've checked the forecast, and it seems that it is going to be hot for a while. Although I am not extremely excited about this, I guess it could be worse. This has to be the hottest summer ever.

Well, being that I've gotten a late start to my in-town chores, I had better be going. I just wanted to update everyone on what I was doing. By the way, I still haven't received any messages from my folks. I'm beginning to wonder if everything is okay. I did manage to contact a few friends from home to let them know what I am doing. They seemed very encouraging in their messages, but I believe they may be a bit concerned (I guess I would be too if it were the other way around). I have given them the address of this blog so that they can keep updated with my little adventure.

Anyhow, I bid you all a good day. If you happen to see a guy riding a bike with food, a saw, a shovel, and a couple of jugs of water, make sure you honk your horn or wave!

Take care and God Bless.
Eli

Hail to the Chief!

Good Morning! I've just endured one of the most difficult evenings of my life...to be quite honest with you, I'm not quite sure how to feel about it. Yesterday afternoon there were some storms that had rolled through, beginning at around 4pm and ending at about 7pm. They really caught me off guard because of the fact that it had been sunny and beautiful all day. There was a portion of the storm that had rolled through right at 4pm. Now, my experience tells me that the beginning of the storm is typically where all of the wind, hail, tornadoes, things like that are. Boy was I wrong!

So the first part of the storm came to pass. This would be your garden variety midsummer downpour. Then there was nothing for about 45 minutes. I was actually standing near my campfire cooking some canned corn when I heard "crack, crack, crack". I didn't know what it was at first, but soon realized it was beginning to hail. I thought the best place to be (which maybe I was right, I'm not sure) was inside my tent. Hail came down as big as golf balls! I actually took quite a beating (black and blue today as a matter of fact). Then came the winds. They weren't too bad really, maybe 35-45 mph, but they were hard enough to get my mind racing as to what I was going to do in the case of a tornado.

So, I've realized that I am going to have to build some type of shelter if I'm to stay here longer. You see, the difference between me and your typical camper is that the typicall camper checks the forecast before they go out camping. The also can usually take shelter inside of their vehicles if need be (or drive up to the Parkside Motel for that matter). Anyways...today I will devise a plan to build a shelter (possibly a lean-to, I'm not sure). Nonetheless, it's now become priority #1.

I have already been fishing this morning, and I'm happy to report that I caught a really nice Northern Pike. I think it was nearly twice the size of all of the others I had caught. I seriously think that it should be enough fish to last me a few days! I'm very excited and proud of myself.

I had visited a website yesterday that I would highly encourage everyone to visit. It is the website of LeAnn Ralph, who is an author of several books about rural farm life in the wonderful state of Wisconsin. She lives in Colfax WI (this is about 10 miles from where I am I guess). Along with tons of great local information, blogs, etc...her books are also for sale (they are affordable, and worth every penny I'm sure). Here's her web address: http://www.ruralroute2.com . Go there, I'm sure you will not be dissappointed.

Well, I'd best be going. I've got plenty of work to do, but may update again yet today. Until next time!

Eli

Fish and Handcuffs

Wednesday July 19th-Monday July 24th

Hello All! I'm still alive and well on the outskirts of Menomonie. Again, it's been a while since I had written, but I'm beginning to realize that unless I make it a point to go in to town every day to send my info to you, it's more than likely not going to happen. So, I'm really going to try to make that happen because I believe it is a big part of my "journey" thus far.

I've got a few news items to report, and they are actually good news...

First, it had cooled down for a good number of days, but yesterday it warmed back up again. It had finally rained a bit one day as well. It hadn't rained in quite a while. I can tell when I'm riding my bike that the farmers in the area are not going to do very well this year. Their crops are looking extremely poor. The only crops that you see doing well are the ones that are right next to the farmer's house (this is because it is the corn that the farmer is relying on to feed his family with). It's too bad that they've had such a terrible year, especially now that companies are buying corn for E85 fuel (this is the gasoline derived from corn). It had seemed to be a good opportunity for farmers in the Midwest to sell a fair amount of their surplus for profit, but like I say, this year's been so terrible so far that it's not likely to make much of a difference locally (except for the fact that they are building a refinery in a town north of here called "Boyceville").

Here is my second bit of good news. I've learned to catch fish. That's not to say that I've gotten really good at it, but I've caught some now. I've learned to take on a specific strategy. I now fish Northern Pike early in the morning (right at daybreak when the water is perfectly still), and again at nightfall. Why? Because that's when they seem to be most active. If I have time, I can fish for panfish during the day because they seem to like midday quite a bit better than other fish. I also have two other fishing opportunities as well. Apparently the creek that flows through the camp is not a bad trout stream, and I've also been told that the pond holds "bullheads" which can be fished at night. One of these nights I'll have to give that a try!

Nate had left a fillet knife at camp, but I've never filleted a fish before. I did the best I could on the fish I had caught, but I'm sure that it's not even close to doing it proper. Actually, as soon as I'm done writing this I had better do a little research on how to fillet fish. I feel bad to waste any fish, especially being that it has taken me so long to learn to catch them. I think that fish will become a big part of my diet being that I'm running out of money. That's okay though, because fish is very healthy. Maybe being a bum in the middle of the woods is the way to go? Healthy, not wealthy, but wise!

So what's the word on the street in Menomonie? There's actually a couple of items of interest as of late. First, there's the proposed "smoking ban", but I don't want to write about that...Maybe I would if it seemed to me to be an issue. However, it doesn't appear that way to me, so I'll remain silent on this subject. Another bit of news is that Menards is now flying their corporate jets out of Menomonie's airport. What does that mean for the airport? According to Louis Paffel, airport manager/fixed base operator, he has "...sold more fuel in the month of June than in the history of this airport,". You see, Menards used to fly their corporate bigwigs from the Chippewa Valley Regional Airport, but they were charging Menards a lot of money to park their cars there. That's when Menards decided that they would then fly out of Menomonie. This seems to be a big score for the Menomonie Municiple Airport. Way to go!

Another local interest story involves the current Sheriff of Dunn County, Dennis Smith, and his current campaign for re-election in Dunn County. Recently someone had built a website containing several allegations towards Smith, calling on the public to not vote for him (www.dennissmithforsheriff.com). Hmmm...this site was working earlier, now it doesn't seem to be working. Give it a try, maybe it will work. Anyhow, whoever it is is very upset at Smith, but it's hard telling what kind of person they are. Nonetheless there is an investigation currently underway to find out who the "anonymous web people/person" is. Apparently there is a law that says you are not allowed to sway voters during an election with any kind of information unless you identify yourself, which these folks thus far have not.

This is an interesting situation in the fact that the allegations could be true, however, in order for them to be checked into, the anonymous person would have to identify themselves and provide some level of evidence. This makes sense right? Well, I for one would most likely be a bit intimidated to bring forward evidence against a member of law enforcement due to the fact that if the evidence is not satisfactory, or if there is no action taken, this person might in some way seek some sort of retribution. This is not a big county, and the fact is, the Dunn County Sheriff's Department could very easily make life a living hell for anyone in this community if they so chose.

A recent development was mentioned in the Dunn County News' "Editorial" section in yesterday's paper. The allegations and accusations were all erased from the site, but there was a letter from the site's creator. It says...

We are considering a request byDeputy Kathy Ertz and Deputy Brad Leach to take this web site down. While we don't agree we should, we have considered their request. The facts on the site stand for thmselves.

While we made a mistake in not listing the sponsor of the web site - this was an honest mistake. We were not aware that the law required this and when we were made aware of it we listed the required information.

The fact that many people did not like the content of the web site does not matter. The fact is this country was founded on the principles of free speech.

Very interesting indeed. I'm not sure what this Smith fellow is all about (nor do I care to find out, if you know what I mean) nor do I know what the website creators are like either. Nonetheless, I do have to agree with the website creators on one point, and this has to do with American's freedom of speech. I also agree with the Editor of the Dunn County News that "Just because it's on the web doesn't make it true". There is a lot of information on the web that just simply is not true. Do people get upset about that? I get the feeling that if this incident was occurring somewhere else, it wouldn't be as big of a deal as they've made it. In fact, I'm not even so sure that there truly is any legalities associated with what this person has done. Sure, they may be somewhat fiscally responsible, but I'm not so sure that this would be considered an act of "absolute lawlessness" which the local public has made it out to be. As happens with all things, time will tell what happens.

On to my journey. My plan for this week is to purchase some batteries for my camera, so I'll be able to show you some of the things that I've been talking about. I'd really like to be able to share some of the projects I will be undertaking. I think it would make this blog a bit more interesting. My hope is that other folks will find my story of surviving the Wisconsin wilderness as exciting as I have to this point.

Speaking of projects, I am beginning to get some ideas for a way to keep my food cooler for longer. I believe it may involve digging a hole and insulating it in some way. I just want to be able to store a good amount of food for a fair amount of time. I need to make sure that I can keep the heat locked out. If anyone has any ideas, make sure you write to me to let me know.

Anyway...That's it for now. Enough of my nonsense rambling. I'll talk to ya'all later.

Eli

PS - Oh yeah, landowners...by the way...Your real estate taxes are due on the 31st. I have some good news for you though. If you'd like to learn to live without paying taxes, you can stay tuned to this blog. I will show you how to live the best way...Healthy and Free!

Life in the Wisconsin Desert

Wednesday July 12th - Tuesday July 18th, 2006

So, I know that my last words of my last post were "I plan to write again tomorrow", or something to that affect. Well, here I am, nearly a week later. So much has happened, I promise to do my best to cover all of it. I'm not sure how detailed it will be, but I'll be sure to hit the main points.

Nate and Cassandra are still missing in action. I now assume that they will not be returning. I am sure of two things however. They did not go to the Red Cedar Medical Center in Menomonie, and they did not go to the Dunn County jail. They've been gone quite a while (it's been nearly a week) and I'm on my own now.

Did anyone notice that my profile has changed and it now says that I live in Menomonie? This may actually need some explanation. Since I've been staying here the last two weeks, there's been a major change in my mindset. I've still no word from Mom or Dad, I've been alone for six days, and to by quite honest with you, I rather enjoy it. Why you might ask? Again, I've nobody to answer to. The world is mine. I do what I want to do and when. It's also been quite an adventure thus far.

If you couldn't figure out what I'm trying to say in the above paragraph, try this...I'm going to stay in Menomonie for as long as I can survive with what's available to me. Oh yeah, I haven't caught a fish yet (but I had a couple of bites), and I'm down to $42.44. Do you notice that I know the dollar amount right down to the penny? That's kind of funny because when I had gone out to the den my mindset was that it wasn't a big deal to tip the bartender with my change. I wish I had that change back, because I would assume things will get a little rough if I don't conserve every single penny I have.

I took a bike ride the other day to get a bit more familiar with the area. While riding, I came up on an area I had read about in a book written by an Eau Claire man named Chad Lewis. The book was titled something to the effect of "Stories of the Supernatural in Western Wisconsin" or something like that. Anyway, Chad Lewis is a "ghosthunter", and he had written a story about someone who had apparently taken a water sample from a place called the Devil's Punchbowl, and had put the water sample in the back of their car in midsummer. Hours later the water was "cold".

Being that I had read portions of the book, I remembered the name of the place as I was riding past it. I decided to stop in and enjoy the spot for a while (I needed a break anyway...I was hot and tired). The Devil's Punchbowl could best be described as a "natural amphitheater". It starts up on the road, and a path winds down into the punchbowl, which has been formed from rocks over millions of years. If you're ever in Menomonie and want to check it out, it's slightly southwest of Menomonie on The Rustic Road.

I really enjoy taking these bike rides. I'd like to explore some of the surrounding towns eventually. There's so much history here in Dunn County. I'd like to learn as much as I can about it. I guess what I'm doing is a bit like going back in time, being that I'm living a life of self-sufficiency...well, kinda. I've got a long ways to go. My biggest obstacle is to figure out how to not starve to death.

As I had noted during my explanation of the punchbowl, it's been extremely hot out. I know for a fact that it's been over 90 degrees for about a week now. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if there were a couple of days that were over 100. I can't wait for it to end because it seems that the hot weather just zaps my energy, and I'm not able to do the things I am going to have to do in order to live here longer.

It's also been extremely dry. It seems to me that it's only rained twice since I came here with Nate and Cassandra. Both times were extremely brief. It's like we're in a drought. Everything is brown, and I'm extremely concerned about the fires I cook on. I'm not so much worried about starting a fire as I am getting a ticket from the local law enforcement.

I've saved four water jugs that hold a gallon each that I fill about every other day in town. I usually use the laundromat on the corner of Broadway and Hwy 12 to fill them up. This way I don't stand out. It seems to do the trick, although the water is always warm by the time I get back to camp. It keeps me hydrated though.

Well, I think this is going to be about it for today. I'd like to tell you that I'll write again tomorrow, but I do not want to make any promises I can't keep. I'll try to write again soon, how's that?

Eli

Wisconsin Fishing Question

Tuesday July 11th, 2006

Hello everyone. I'm up early this morning because I have a lot to do...actually I can't sleep because I have a lot on my mind. I've made my way to the park with the internet connection (I'm still not sure where this connection is coming from). I must say, what a beautiful morning here in Dunn County!

As I write this, I haven't done two things. First, I haven't seen Nate and Cassandra and I'm beginning to get worried. It's been two days and I haven't heard or seen a thing of them. I spent a good portion of the day in town yesterday, and hadn't seen them. I'm not exactly sure what to do about it at this point. Should I use my time looking for them or should I just assume that they're "big people" and can take care of themselves? To just take off like that may be normal for them, but I wouldn't do that. I will continue to wait for them, but I am not going to go out looking for them. I will however pray that they are okay.

The second thing I haven't done yet is catch a fish. Hell, it took me two hours to get my fishing line straightened out and my bait hooked on the line...I'm not even sure if I'm using the right fishing bait. By the way, in my last post I had asked that if anyone knows anything about fishing, please shoot me a line to let me know what I need to do to catch myself a Northern Pike. I hadn't received any replies as of Wednesday morning, but again, seriously...If you know anything about how to catch a Northern Pike, please let me know. I'd be forever greatful.

I did pick up one tip on fishing this morning though. I hear that the best time to fish is right when the sun is rising, and again when the sun is setting. Has anyone found this to be true? I know that the water is a lot more calm in the morning and in the evening. In fact, it's probably the best time to fish simply because it is absolutely beautiful.

I ran into town today to pick up some more hot dogs and some ice to keep some water, hot dogs, and lunch meat cold. I've now officially made the switch from hot dog buns to wheat bread being that I'll be having sandwiches too.

I've been thinking about how I can keep my food in the shade, and help it to last longer. I'm thinking that it's going to involve digging a hole and insulating it somehow. This would be great because my food would last longer, and so would my ice. I'm going to put more thought into it and probably start construction on it sometime soon (I think it would be smart being that food parishes awefully quick in the 80 to 90 degree weather). Plus, if I catch some fish it would be nice to be able to store the fillets for a couple of days too.

Well, I'd better go. I will most likely write again tomorrow. Until then...
Eli

Have you seen Nate and Cassandra?

To pick up where I had left off with yesterday's journal, my plan was to go to
UW-Stout to use the computers. I headed to campus, and Nate and Cassandra went
to a place called "Acoustic Cafe'" for some coffee. As much as I wanted a cup
of coffee, I decided to head in the other direction to use Stout's computers.

As I had figured, I had a difficult time getting in there on a Sunday. I did
find a couple of computers throughout campus, but was not able to find one that
was already logged on with a username and password.

So your probably wondering..."Eli, how did you get on a computer to send your
journal update?". Here's some great news, and it was completely by chance that
I came up on it.

After being denied for a connection at Stout, I headed east a couple of blocks
from campus. I found a really nice parkbench to sit at. At this park there is
a huge bandshell (although I didn't see any posters for upcoming bands). It was
a nice spot to sit down and do some writing. When I turned my laptop on, the
computer gave me a message saying that there was a wireless connection present.
I clicked on that, and to my surprise it didn't need a username or password.
EUREKA! I'm not sure who's connection I was using, but thanks for the ride! It
worked perfectly. This for now will be the place that I'll be sending my
journals from. What a great surprise.

After sitting in the park for a good hour and a half, I went back to meet Nate
and Cassandra. They felt it would be a good idea if we went back to camp for a
while to gather some firewood being that we have been running short and have
been scavenging the ground for sticks and twigs in the middle of the night. I
have to agree that we would probably accomplish more by gathering wood during
the daytime. So that's what we did. In a matter of two hours, we've managed to
collect enough wood to last us for quite some time even though we're not sure
how long we'll be camping.

We then had dinner and proceeded to The Den for another night of beer and BS. I
met a man by the name of Paul. He seems to be a pretty good guy. Part of the
way through the night Nate and Cassandra had disappeared. I was under the
impression that they had just stepped out back for a moment, but after a while I
became somewhat worried.

I went out into the street to where the car was parked, and the car was gone. I
thought that one of two things may have happened. I figured that they had
either ran somewhere quick and would be right back, or one of them may have not
been feeling well and they had simply taken off (although I would find it a bit
strange that they failed to inform me of this).


So, I was stranded at The Den (which, if I might add is not a bad place to be
stranded if you like beer). I managed to sit there the entire night. I ended
up going to Paul's house and crashing on his couch.


Monday July 10th, 2006

As I had stated above, I woke up on Paul's couch this morning. He had to go to work at eight o'clock, so he basically gave me the boot (I know that he likes me, but obviously doesn't trust me enough to let me wear off my hangover at his house until about ten or so). He gave me a bike in which to get back to camp with. I haven't ridden a bike in a long time, but, ah, I guess it's a lot like riding a bike...you never forget how! Paul said that I'd be able to use the bike for as long as I'd like. I think that's great being that I can take some nature rides and get to know the area a little bit better. It only took me about fifteen to twenty minutes to get from Paul's house to the camp. Upon arriving there, I came to the aknowledgement that Nate and Cassandra had not been there the entire night. I wonder where they are (hopefully they haven't been out all night looking for me).

I took a swim in the pond and went into their tent to take a nap for a while. Upon waking, Nate and Cassandra still hadn't shown up. I thought I'd ride into town to look for them. I had hoped that they'd be at the Acoustic, or maybe on Campus, but hadn't seen there car anywhere.

I'm now at the bandshell park, and the internet connection is still up and running. It seems to be permanent, so I'm going to take full advantage of it.

My plan for this afternoon is to go to Wal-Mart on the north end of town. I'd like to buy some fishing equipment if at all possible. I've read through some fishing websites to find out what I need to do being that I have never gone fishing before. My journey over the last week or so has certainly been an educational one. I've learned so many things that I hadn't thought about before coming from the upper-class Madison neighborhood that I was raised in. I've come to this conclusion:

If you think you know everything...you don't. As they say..."There's always room for Jello".

I'm excited to get my fishing gear and head back to camp. I figured that it's probably a good skill to have. I'll fill you in on how my fishing is going.

I guess I'd probably better wrap it up at this point (while I'm stillambitious). I'll be sure to write more soon.

PS - Still no e-mails from Mom and Dad.
PPS - If anyone out there knows anything about how to catch Northern Pike or what baits to use, be sure to drop me reply or an e-mail...I could certainly use some advice.

Til Next time...
Eli

The Lazy Days of Summer

Thursday July 6th, 2006
Ah...The lazy days of summer. I had been to the UW-Stout campus earlier today in order to check e-mail etc in their computer lab. The UW-Stout campus is very nice, and it was also nice to take care of some business. I had sent my mother an e-mail again...it will be interesting to see if shee writes back.

I've really enjoyed camping with Nate and Cassandra the past few days...I probably wouldn't enjoy it as much as I have if the weather wasn't so damned niced. Giving us this type of weather, mother nature is only begging to be taken advantage of. The days have been warm which is typical of Wisconsin summers, and the nights have been somewhat cooler with the temperature hovering around 55 degrees. Due to the fact that we are extremely short on rain, it has actually helped significantly with the humidity which can be a killer in Wisconsin in the summertime.

After visiting the Stout campus, we cruised over to Lammers Foodfest and purchased some groceries. It was very exciting to have some food besides just hot dogs. Don't get me wrong though, we bought some hot dogs again too. We also purchased a cooler in which we would be able to keep some ice and parishibles. I've got to say that the variety of food and drink that we've had over the last few days has gotten quite mundane. While at Lammers, I also picked up the latest version of The Dunn County News. I really do like this area, so I thought maybe I'd be able to learn a little bit more about it.

We then went back to camp, and enjoyed the rest of the evening by enjoying a good meal and sitting around the fire telling stories. Another great day here in Dunn County.


Friday July 7th, 2006

TGIF! Just kidding...To quote the great Les Claypool of Primus fame...
"The weekends just don't seem to mean as much when you're unemployed".
I think that might be the greatest thing about my time since getting the boot from the landlord. Not only do I not have anything to do, I'm not required to do anything by anybody either. I love it. I don't have anybody hounding me about how I have to do this or I have to do that. I can tell pretty much anybody to kiss my butt, and there's nothing they can do about it, nor will I suffer any consequence on top of that. It truly is a great feeling.

The forecast here hasn't changed, hence we will go nowhere. According to Nate, this land is private land and there is nobody that can kick us off of it. He says that he's camped here for weeks at a time without seeing a single sole. It's pretty cool. I wouldn't mind buying some land around here some day. It's so peaceful and beautiful. There are so many terrains, all being equally represented.

Nate also says that there are plenty of fish in the pond. He says there are northern pike, sunfish, bluegill, and bullheads...there may even be a couple other species as well. He also believes that there are trout in the creek that passes by as well. I've never fished before, but I wouldn't mind trying. I have had fish over a campfire and can tell you, it's one of the greatest delights ever.

Tonight, being that it is the weekend, we will go out to the bars for some drinks right here in good ol Menomonie. I guess there are a couple of bars that have some decently priced beer. In fact, I've become so sick of Bacardi and Coke I could puke (and that's without having any of them before the puke). Anyways...it seems to be a good plan. Besides, I wouldn't mind speaking with some different people (you know how it is...It's hard to see only two people for 5 days straight without talking to anyone else).


Sunday July 9th, 2006

My intentions were to write a bit for yesterday, but I've decided not to do that. I can sum up yesterday's news in the following sentences...

It was hot. I was the most hungover I had ever been in my life. Being that we had food and cold water, I laid around, ate, and slept the entire day (except for the occassional dip in the pond to cool myself off).

It was all worth it though. We had visited a bar in town called The Den. It was great! The people there were very nice and I've made a couple of friends.

As for today, I am highly energized, and my intentions are to go to Stout and put these writings on the web. I also need to charge my laptop...(I should be able to do this at Stout too). It's nice that school's out for the summer (it's not too difficult to find a computer someplace on campus). Now that I think about it, it is Sunday and the campus might not be open. I may have to find a coffee shop or something. I wouldn't mind having a cup of coffee anyway...it's been a long time (and I love my coffee).

Tonight I would like to go back to The Den again. I don't think it will take too much persuasion on my part to get Nate and Cassandra to go with me too.

That's it for now. I'll be writing again soon. In fact, it is my intentions to write a little more frequently, possibly on a range of topics. Being that I do not have too much going on, I feel that this might be a good opportunity for me to philosophize a bit.

Until next time...
Eli

Independence Day

I actually have a lot to write about today (and a lot if it is what I feel to be interesting too!).

To start with I'd like to mention that I am going to be switching formats in my writing soon. Being that I'm not sure when I'll have my next internet connection (or where for that matter) I will be using a date header within my post so it's easier to tell when I did what. Capich?

So here goes:


Monday July 3rd, 2006

Today was the day I have been talking about the whole while. At 9:00am (shortly after my reply to "anonymous" there was a knock at the door. Guess who? Yup. Mr. Randall (my landlord).

Surprisingly he wasn't really that upset (maybe he's used to people doing this). Either way he did make it quite clear that he wanted me out - Effective : Immediately!

My next move was to hit the pawn shop. I stuffed all of my movies into my travel bag and hoofed it nearly 1 mile to the pawn shop. Does anyone know how much money 35 very recent dvd's will get you? I was told that I was getting a good deal, and it amounted to $90. Thats much less than 1/3 of the price I had paid for them. I also traded in about 15 cd's that I didn't necessarily like, and received a whopping $25 for them. After trading this in, I had talked to the pawn shop owner, and he told me his friend would give me a ride if I wanted to give him my tv and dvd player. I took him up on it, and received another $30 for those.

So, I had $145 which was more than I've had at one time in 3 months or better. The only problem is I do not have a place to live. I must say, I will have much less stuff to haul around now that I've gotten rid of a pile of items that I do not need.

Being that I have some money, I decided to ease my pain by starting at The Joint. My plan was to visit several establishments, but I ended up meeting a couple of pretty cool couple. Their names are Nate and Cassandra. Oddly enough, I was telling them the same story as I've reported throughout this blog in the last week or so, and they told me that they didn't have a place to stay either (this appears to be a way of life for them).

Being that I was as interested to hear their take on life as they were to hear mine, the three of us ended up closing up The Joint at 2:30 am, walked to their car which was parked in a nearby alley, and proceeded to talk until we all fallen asleep.


Tuesday July 4th (Independence Day) 2006

This Independence Day, unlike any other in my life, I had woken up in the back seat of a car with two people that I do not know. They were both sleeping soundly, and I sat there for at least twenty minutes trying to figure out how I had gotten there, and what these people's names were. After the twenty minutes, I had it all figured out, and somehow found it best to just go back to sleep.

About an hour later, I was awoken by the sounds of their voices...
"Eli!" "Eli!" "What are you going to do man?"

I told them I had nowhere to go, and the only thing that I needed to do was to pick up my travel bag and the couple unnattended belongings I had sitting in the hallway of my apartment. They then went on to tell me that their plan was to go camping in Menomonie WI which is about 30 miles west of Eau Claire. They asked if I would like to go with...I couldn't help but say yes. We stopped at my apartment and picked up the rest of my belongings. Within 15 minutes, we were on the road to Menomonie.

I had never really spent any time in Menomonie. I know where it is located, and I know that I had passed through it briefly maybe once or twice, but ultimitely, I really know nothing about the place.

Within a half hour or so, we pulled off of 94 and proceeded to drive down the main drag of Menomonie. It is much smaller than Eau Claire, and much much smaller than Madison. We drove past the UW-Stout campus and stopped a grocery store where Nate ran in and grabbed some bottled water, hot dogs, buns, two bottles of Bacardi, and two 2-liter bottles of Coke. I kicked them both five bucks apeice. They were very grateful as was I to be spending some time with a couple of nice people.

We then went about five minutes out of town. We ended up pulling down a long and winding dirt path (I'm not sure if this would be considered a driveway or a road, but I'm positive we were a good mile and a half off of the main road). This led to a clearing with a firepit, a creek, a small pond, and a thick forest on both sides. Apparently this land is Nate's deceased Uncle's property, and it has sat vacant for longer than the three of our's existence here on earth. Nate and Cassandra have a tent which only took them about ten minutes to set up. We then poured ourselves some drinks and collected a nice pile of firewood from the surrounding forest.

Later in the afternoon, Nate had suggested that we cruise into town and attend Menomonie's FreedomFest activities. We went to what is known as Wakanda Park on the north side of the city. If you've never been there, I'd highly suggest it...It's a really cool park. They have a water park, frisbee golf, baseball fields, and a "game park" just to mention a few of the attractions. I was wondering why we weren't camping there, but apparently it is a city park and they do not allow this.

At the park they had two stages, both with bands. Although I didn't really care for the type of music they were playing, I enjoyed it nonetheless. There were what seemed to be thousands of people about...mostly families enjoying the 4th of July celebration and various activities. Our main activity was sitting at the picnic table having some drinks (which by the way we were not supposed to bring in and did anyway) and enjoying the music. We later moved down to the lower stage along the lakeside which followed with a fireworks display. All in all FreedomFest was a pretty good time.

I had taken some pictures which I intend to post on here as soon as I can figure out how to do it using the public computer that I am now using. I have pictures of the crowd, the fireworks, and a neat tractor-train type vehicle that hauls kids around. The kids seemed like they were having a great time with it.

After the fireworks, we went back to camp and lit a fire which we had sat around talking until the wee hours (2 or 3am?) and cooked some hot dogs. I'm usually not much of a hot dog fan, but being that I do not have much money and that I was extremely hungry after the day's events, they hit the spot perfectly.

I really like hanging out with Nate and Cassandra. They're really nice people. Although I've only known them for a few days, it seems that I've known them for years.


Wednesday July 5th, 2006

I woke up this morning (after sleeping in the car for the second night in a row) and enjoyed a couple more hot dogs on the fire that was still burning from last night. We then took the car into town. I'm glad that I'm with Nate and Cassandra because otherwise I would not know where to go here.

We went back to the park that we were at the other day and spent most of the day wandering around. I love the summertime, especially now. I have nowhere that I am required to be. It's a nice feeling to be free as a bird (except for the money end...I may have to look for a job when I get back to Eau Claire).

After spending most of the day at the park, we were very tired out. We went back to camp and I went for a swim in the pond. I would have swam at lake menomin, but it's very green and polluted (you can nearly walk on it). It was a good opportunity for me to bath being that I haven't done that since my last shower at the apartment. At first the water was freezing, but I got used to it after a couple of minutes. Once I put my head under my body adjusted.

I do have to say that it was quite chilly when I got out because I was wet and the sun was going down. Thankfully Nate and Cassandra had a good sized fire burning when I got out. We enjoyed a few drinks and more talking and went to sleep.

It is actually now Thursday morning, but I'm going to wait until tomorrow to tell you what I did today (if that makes sense to you). Well, that's it for now. Whoever is reading this, I hope that all is well. If you have a few moments, be sure to drop me a line. Until next time...

Eli

The Third One's the Charm!

Well well. This is officially three days in a row that I've managed to post. I'm not sure that I've been this consistant with anything in my entire life. Anyways...If you're looking at this, I'd hope that you are enjoying the details of my mundane lifestyle.

Oh yeah, by the way, I had spent a couple of hours trying to figure out how I could get my blog to work in reverse (going old post to new post). The coding I had found was in Spanish, and I haven't taken the time to translate it to English. The button for this is at the top of the blog, and it should say something like "Orden posts:Ascendente". You can click on this to change the order of my posts, so if you'd like to read it in reverse of what it appears now, feel free to click on that. Oh yeah, if you'd like to know how to do it with your blog too, feel free to drop me an e-mail (I've got the coding and will gladly give it to you).

Remember how I had said that I was going to organize my belongings in case I had to get out of the apartment quickly? Well, that's what I did last night. After getting everything together and organized, I was completely wiped out. I Fell asleep in the chair, and didn't wake up until it was nearly noon. I'm glad I took the time to get it all together though.

After picking up a sandwich at Erbert and Gerbert's, I am now officially broke. I have a box of macaroni and cheese, but no milk to use in it. Hopefully tommorow I will find a place to go to get rid of my movies and my cd's. This way I'll at least have some money until I find out if I'll be going back to Madison or not. I have a friend that goes home occassionally, but I'm not sure where he is. I stopped past his apartment a couple of times, but he wasn't there.

I get the feeling that tommorow will be my day of reckoning. I get the feeling that the landlord is going to come calling, and I'm not going to have a place to stay. Heck, three years of living in this town and I don't have a single friend I can rely on either. I'm doing my best not to be depressed about this, but I'm feeling anxiety being that I'm getting closer and closer to being put out on the street.

Anyway...tomorrow is another day, and today has been a long, tiring, and stressful day. Again, I hope to speak with you again tommorow.

Eli

I'm Back...

Well, here I am. I'm still in my apartment, I'm still connected to the internet, and the world is still turning. I had just woke up a couple of hours ago. It was a rough night, but hey, nothing that a few cups of coffee won't heal. Besides, I'm going to need some ambition if I am going to get any of my stuff together.

I haven't the slightest idea as to what I am going to do when I am kicked out of this apartment. Actually, maybe I should explain a bit about how I have arrived at this position...

So, I didn't do so well in school this year. In fact, I hadn't passed a single class this semester. I'm just sick of going to class, I'm sick of the pressure from Mom and Dad, and I'm sick of people dictating the way I should think and act. In fact, I hate business management. It makes me ill to think that I would get paid to do this for one moment, let alone the rest of my "life".

My parents had gotten my grades on Monday. They were not pleased. Being that this was my last chance that good ol UWEC was going to give me to straighten up my act, I've now been officially given the boot. I had a conversation with my mother shortly after they had received my grades. In fact, I beleive she had called me every ten minutes until I had answered the phone (quite reluctantly I must say). She said that her and my father do not want to speak with me. No money, no friends, no parents, and no phone (she had this shut off by Tuesday afternoon). I will soon have no internet and no apartment. I have no idea what the hell I'm going to do.

I had an excellent time last night though. I see that I had written that I had seventeen dollars left to my name. You're not going to believe this, but I actually had three dollars left when I woke up this morning...and I even played the jukebox a few times!

Ah, anyways...if anyone's out there, don't be shy to drop me a line. I've figured out how to include my e-mail on the right-hand side of this blog. Being the technical idiot that I am, I'm quite amazed at how easily I've picked up blogging...not that it's that hard or anything, but I'm pretty damned proud of myself.

Well, I'd better get packing before my coffee wears off.

To whoever may be reading this,
Have a wonderful evening (and try to stay cool, it's a little sticky here in E.C.).

Eli

Hello! I'm glad you stopped by!

Well...so this is what it's like to "blog". I'm not so sure what I've missed out on over the years. Thought I'd set one up and write some, but I'm not sure why.

Actually, why am I doing this? I won't even have internet access after tonight. I'm not even sure that I'll be living in this apartment after tonight. You know how it goes..."No Money No Apartment!" I have no clue what I'm going to do, but I'm hoping to be able to stay here until Monday.

If there's anyone reading this...which I'm sure there probably isn't...I have a question for you. Will the power company shut the power off over the weekend? Maybe I can get by until after the 4th of July. That would be cool as long as the landlord doesn't show up before then. I'm not even sure that I'll have time to even clean the place up before I leave. To be honest with you, I'm not so sure that I really give a crap about that anyway (that's about the least of my worries at this point). I'll be lucky if everything doesn't come crashing down at midnight (like the power going off and my landlord breaking the door down to whoop my ass!).

Well, I've got seventeen bucks left. Maybe I can catch some cheap beers at The Joint. I've nothing better to do. Maybe the fresh air on the way there will lighten my situation a bit. It seems that a guy thinks his best when he's walking at a steady pace, taking in some of the finest, freshest 02 that nature has to offer.

If I never write again, chances are I've been evicted, kidnapped, or forgetten my login password (don't you hate that?).

With hopes of returning to blog again!

Eli