August 4 (Thursday) 8:15 am
The opening of the school year has been pushed back from next Wednesday (August 10) to the following
Monday. I spend as much of my day as I can under a tree preparing myself for school. For the past four
weeks I have been living exclusively outdoors. The cabin is no more than a storage building, with no
amenities -- no electricity or running water. The building is too hot -- even at night -- and if there is a
breeze, it is stopped by the walls of the building, so I sleep outside at night. This has been my living
arrangement since July 7.
But there are perks: During the first week I killed a copperhead snake. There are mosquitoes, but I've
seen bigger. There is a stray cat who visits at night, and my cats, whom I have recently turned loose, keep
my awake through the night with sounds of running and fighting and screaming. I do not enjoy knowing that
the "visitor" is being so ill-treated. I do hope that all the cats eventually settle down and allow the newbie
to hang around unmolested.
Also I usually sit up until well past dark, gazing intently into the sky overhead. Nearly every night I see one
or two meteorites. One night I saw two meteorites come in at the same time from about 90 degrees apart. It
was awesome! The moon is waxing again, as it did when I first arrived. To the uninitiated, the moon
revolves around the earth in the same direction that the earth rotates on its axis, but only at about 1/28th
the rate. That is why the moon requires about a month to revolve around the earth. Also, by moving in the
same direction as the earth's rotation, the moon appears to move away from the sun in the sky, so that each
night the moon gets higher in the sky as it waxes: it's a great sight!
Sunsets and sunrises on Willow Oak II are awesome sights as well. There are a few very large trees in the
immediate vicinity of my cabin, but outside of that, the land stretches out, and the tree lines in any direction
are quite a distance away -- giving a fuller view of the sky, and allowing for enhanced sunset and sunrise
viewing!
August 5 (Friday) 7:49 am
The temperatures have been beyond reasonable, and I cannot recall ever seeing so many triple digit temps
before. Wednesday the temperature hit at least 106 (F) where I live, and others saw even higher temps.
Twenty-eight days I have lived in this sweltering heat, but things will get better.
Teachers report to school on Monday as scheduled. We shall have inservice meetings on Monday and
Tuesday, and continue through Thursday. We are getting Friday off. Students report to school the
following Monday.
August 7 (Sunday) 7:01 am
30 days and counting with no electricity or water. No big deal, except that yesterday was not a good day.
For some reason I felt extremely lethargic, and really became concerned about my well-being. The temp
only reached 103 (F), but I felt bombed out. Anyway, I made it through and enjoyed another evening under
the stars.
The moon was at its first quarter last night: it was about 35 degrees above the southern horizon, nearly
exactly half way through its circuit across the sky at sunset. I gazed into the dark night sky last night and
remembered my friend Mike, whom I knew in the 70's when I was a high school sophomore. Mike and is
father were amateur astronomers, and they had built themselves a six-inch reflecting telescope. I would
visit Mike, and on summer nights much like last night, he and I would lay out under the stars and Mike
would teach me about the heavens. Mike showed me Jupiter's moons and Saturn's rings. Mike showed me
that looking at the moon with the naked eye for long periods of time can be as damaging as looking at the
sun. We watched man-made satellites fly overhead: "Now watch and see that the sun's light as it reflects
off the satellite will go away as soon as the earth's horizon intervenes;" and sure enough, half way across
the sky the satellite would disappear.
Mike pointed to several objects in the sky and explained to me what they were. One of the stars in the
handle of the big dipper was in fact a group of stars -- a star system, if you would. In those days it was
thought that there were two -- a binary system of stars where the stars rotate around each other as a
dancing couple. Nowadays, astronomers know that there are in fact about seven or eight -- two groups of
clustering stars, all rotating around each other, each group rotating around the other -- all in what looks to
the naked eye on earth to be a single star!
A few years ago I tracked Mike down via the internet. It had been 40 years since we last saw each other.
Mike had had some severe health issues and did not remember me. He could barely remember anything
from those days. As I lay on my back last night, gazing into the sky I remembered my friend Mike, and
thought about how sad it is that we must lose our friends, and that we must all grow old and feeble. I was
thankful that I could still remember, even if Mike couldn't.
Willie jumped onto my lap as I lay back. Willie and Grace came to me at about the same time. Grace was
nursing a litter of puppies, and Willie had found his youthfull vigor. One very prominent feature about
Willie in those days was his, ..., well, his "member." If you knew Willie you would agree that he is aptly
named. He definitely is a "Willie," but Willie has a nick-name. Due to the fact that Willie had such a large
member, I just naturally couldn't resist calling him "Little Peter." When Willie first came to me he was not
neutered, of course, and he was very anxious to find use of that very large member that he had. Grace,
who had not yet been spayed, was in the house, so Willie proceeded to ply his trade on her. Now Grace is
much taller and bigger than Willie, so no matter how hard he tried, Willie just could not seem to get the
deed done.
Willie, Little Peter, has since been neutered, and Grace has since been spayed. Willie's member is no
longer so protruding, and even though Grace has been "fixed," Willie still finds her fascinating, and often
tries to display his fascination to her. Alas, Grace hasn't gotten any smaller, and Willie has gotten any
bigger, so "Little Peter" still just can't quite get the deed done.
August 22 (Monday) 11:44 am
One week of school down; McDonald's wi-fi down; and finally I have an opportunity to update my journal.
The week of school went really well. I admit to being pumped for the school year: Three biologies; one
geometry; and two "financial" math courses.
I had my three-month doctor appointment today: blood pressure good; checkup good. The doc told me that
he has seen an above-average number of heat-related cases this summer. Considering the conditions in
which I live, I've done quite well. Nearly 50 days without electricity or water. I wonder how many people in
this country could have done that? Our area set a record this summer for the number of triple-digit days.