Author: doug

Hangin’ out

guy playing guitar
Mauro, back from over a year in New Zealand, surprised us with some intricate Beatles’ songs on the guitar Santi loaned me. Actually his sister’s, but hey.

guy with dog on floor
His fraternal twin (mellizo) Rodrigo, lounging in front of the wood stove, got something interesting going on with Gita (full name: Doguita), the poorly drawn dog.

guys on couch
Then Santi apparently morphed into the equivalent of human catnip, and had the crazed cat Oscar going wild.

Mauro and Rodrigo had their horoscopes read earlier, our birthday gift to them, by our friend Hazel, who turns out to be an exceptional astrologer.

Then we talked about psychic protection, lucid dreaming, clairvoyance…such a treat to be around young, curious minds.

Warm!

warm

No sooner do I witness heavy frost and order a ton of firewood, than the temperature gets positively balmy outside. Remember, July 27 here is the equivalent of January 27 in the northern hemisphere.

Yes, I did polish our car’s scratched windshield with cleaning wax, as I mentioned earlier, and it worked! Reduced the glare probably 90%. Much safer now.

Finally, a real load of really dry firewood…

stacked firewood

For the first time in several deliveries of firewood, it actually looks the full amount promised.

firewood moisture

And, to my delight, almost all appeared to be under 20% water. The two observations have an important connection.

Strangely (especially for such a humid area), firewood is sold here by weight. So (keeping it simple) if all the wood were 20% water, you pay for 200 kg of water and 800 kg of combustible material. When I did some readings at woodlots a while back after a couple days of rain, some were showing 35% water. “Oh but don’t worry,” they told me, “it’s just because of the rain. It’s been dried, and it will dry out again in a few days.” Meanwhile please pay the same amount for 350 kg of water and only 650 kg of combustible material.

The logic of which either escapes, or doesn’t concern, them the least.