Sunsaver, Livining Off-Grid In Suburbia- Happy Taconight America!

[sunsaver]

This day has been a dreary and depressing day, cloudy, with no rain, just high heat and humity, lots of sweat. My legs ached as i drudged around the garden, glaring at weeds that i had neither the stregnth nor conviction to bend over and pull, as mosquitos bit me all over, even sucking blood from the top of my bald head, like tiny kamkazi vampires. Walking was painful, but so was sitting, and at least walking gave a little bit of a breeze, so i just continued on, making my rounds. Got to keep the trails intact.
I came upon the back gardern, and found that the recent rains had caused tremendous new growth in the wild black raspberries. They were clabboring over the tomoto plants and draping themselves all over the brocolli leaves. Vigorous new shoots were trying to root them selves in off-limits parts of the garden. I had unleashed a monster! 'Gotta keep them trellised" i thought, "don't want any pit vipers in here!" For those who don't know, poisonous snakes of all types LOVE to hang out in berry patches, especially over grown ones where they can hide under the foliage, in wait for their next victim to come along. Rats, mice, lizards, birds, all sorts of small prey love berries. Big rattlesnakes and cotton mouths like to eat small prey. Hiding in a berry patches makes an easy living for snakes, the trial lawyers of the animal kingdom.
I remembered the time i had been picking wild black raspberries in a woodland patch near a creek. At one point i stomped my foot down on some low growth and saw a coiled up water moccasin, head reared back and ready to strike, and sitting not more than a foot from my shin. I froze in shear terror. Then i slowly backed away. Why she didn't strike at me i'll never know. I gues she felt safe in that thorny thicket, or maybe she thought i was just a deer. Whatever the case, my berry basket when flying and i probably set the world sprinting record that day for the fastest that any human has ever run.
My recollection was enough to send a shiver down my spine and give me a jolt of motivation. Those big black raspberries are so tasty, but those pit viper snakes are so big and poisonous. I started bending over and lifting the thorny canes, tucking them gently into the wire mesh of the trellis. At least my day was not a complete loss.

 

[Marianne]

Eeek. Whereas snakes might startle me, I'm not as afraid of them as I used to be...but none of the snakes in our neck of the woods are poisonous, either.

I just wanted to throw in that our tankless heater has a max temp of 87F degrees for incoming water. Heated swimming pools are around 82 degrees, so that will give you an idea of how cool the water still needs to be (for OUR tankless, anyway).
I always thought it'd be slick to have a passive solar water setup. Even if it was just plumbed for a couple of areas.

 

[sunsaver]

I was very happy with my tankless, until it broke. I'm very happy with the passive solar water heater because it is total free hot water, and gets pretty darn hot too. You could have an automatic switching valve that would go to the tankless on cloudy days, and solar on sunny days. A temp sensor on the solar water heater would over-ride the tankless furnace whenever solar hot water was available. It wound save a lot of gas in the summer.

 

[Gallina Vecchia]

late night talk shows, vodka, and a wonderful meal of ? Painkillers!

Maybe you need to whip up some Creme D'Mentia for a little restorative "tonic"

 

[sunsaver]

late night talk shows, vodka, and a wonderful meal of ? Painkillers!

Maybe you need to whip up some Creme D'Mentia for a little restorative "tonic"

Hey! I resemble that remark! Man ought to walk? Isn't that in Wisconsin? Maybe i should just move up there. I do walk too much!

 

[Gallina Vecchia]

You bet it is. Catch a ride up with my brother from Mansfield, LA!

 

[sunsaver]

This morning i woke up with a painful heat rash under my arm and one at my belt line. They are making it painful to move around and difficult to enjoy life. My geothermal cooling system isn't operational yet, and even i it were, several days of cloudy weather has drained my solar battery bank pretty low. Living off-grid in suburbia has suddenly become much more difficult than normal.
I'm sitting in the garden, enjoying a cool breeze while listen to the hum of my neighbor's a/c compressor. If only i had more solar panels, i could be in the a/c too. But ive made my stand and there's no going back. Pain. Heat. I'm feeling a little depressed now too, completely lacking in motivation or inspiration. Last night i wrote a long and dramatic true story on word pad and saved it. But after trying to post it three times, i gave up. Some stories are just not meant to be told. It was a depressing story anyway. I want to tell stories that inspire my readers, at least something that they will find mildly entertaining. I'm running out of major events from the last ten years, so i might get back into writing some fiction. I hate writer's block. Some time's just getting started is the hardest part. I could write some non-fiction articles about subjects that i am knowledgeable about, but that sounds more like work.
Guess i better try to do some cleaning and clothes washing. Anything to try and remove this depressed malaise from my mind.

 

[sunsaver]

Well the sun came out just long enough to boost the solar battery bank back up to full charge, and i got my little netbook and cell phone charged up as well. I even managed to get some clothes washed, and broke my washboard in the process. It was a dove tail joint that came loose, but i put some gorilla glue on it, and it seems to be good as new.
I still seem to feel sad and uninspired. I keep searching for a story to write, but there's just nothing there. I need a new project, something to get excited about. It's not like me to be so down. The heat and humidity seem to be a major factor in my lousy mood. It's starting to cool off now. Maybe i'll feel better with some vodka in my gut, and some Mexican food on the grill.

 

[dragonlaurel]

Hope you feel better quick.

At least you ended up getting the sunshine in time to charge the batteries. I think humans run on sunshine too. When it's gray for too long lots of people are tired and moody. Me included. I also need regular doses of trees and dirt too. I get 4-wall-itis if I don't get out in nature enough.

Now I feel like making Mexican too but I don't have some of the stuff I need for it. Oh well. I wish I could grow avocados here but our winters are a bit too cold.

Gorilla glue is almost as good as duct tape.

 

[sunsaver]

Thanks, DL. I think the lack of sun played a big part in it. I do feel a little better now. I have an avocado tree that i'm going to try to grow as a house plant. I cant afford avocados these days, so i hope some day i can grow my own.