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