This 5 minute video looks at how trail designers (it never occurred to me there was such a thing) and engineers do what they do.
Author Archives: Steve Mays
Hiking trail progress
I’ve fallen into something of a routine. One day of cutting and dragging trees/brush; one day of chipping; and one day of lining the path-to-be with rocks and spreading cedar chips.
The rock work would be quite the chore but for the fact I’m never more than an arm’s reach from a rock. Lots of rocks. Tomorrow is chipping day.
Hiking trail project revived
I started playing with the idea of cutting some walking path through our woods back in May of this year. The project stalled out when I realized how much brush and how many cedar trees would have to be hauled off, one pickup load at a time. The alternative was a whole bunch of brush piles somewhere on our property. Either option was proving exhausting.
The recent addition of a wood chipper has breathed new life into the project. I quickly had enough chips to cover the first path and today I started a second leg, mainly to have some place to put the chips. Now I can cut and chip with abandon.
UPDATE: The photo below was taken a day later, from the other end of the path-in-progress. Difficult to see here but making progress. It’s not unrealistic that I might be able to create a mile of paths, given enough time.
Perfect October Day
Surounded by trees, we don’t get spectacular sunrises and sunsets. We just don’t get much of a horizon. But we do have a tiny vista, looking down our road to the hills just on the other side of the Missouri River. It’s so quiet we can hear approaching vehicles — few and far between if you don’t count neighbors — from far down the hill.
When the sun does shine through the trees in the late afternoon, we get some flattering light. My friend John says this was taken using the Old Man filter. I am much happier than I look. Ditto for Riley.
Rover hardtop back on for winter
Helpful Neighbor and World’s Smartest Guy helped me get the hardtop back on the Rover this morning. Took about two hours with the new storage rack. (Image above animated GIF)
Rotary Dial Cell Phone
The Philosophy of Solipsism
“Solipsism is the philosophical idea that only one’s mind is sure to exist. As an epistemological position, solipsism holds that knowledge of anything outside one’s own mind is unsure; the external world and other minds cannot be known and might not exist outside the mind.” (Wikipedia)
Typical Russian Apartment Tour
“This Russian apartment was built during Soviet times, in about 1981. Within 40 years it has of course been partially refurbished and now represents the collaboration between the interior design of the past years and some new features that were gradually added through the years.”
Not sure I can explain my fascination with this (and similar videos). I need to find some video of “typical” Russian apartments in 2022.
Chipper goes to the woods
Having determined how big a branch the new chipper can (and cannot) chew up, we’re ready to roll the chipper down the hill to start chipping. It took about 45 minutes to cut and stack these cedar trees but it would have taken much longer to drag them up or down the hill. This will be the first real-world test for the chipper.
Praise the Lord!
I’ve been watching the HBO series, Carnivàle. First aired (streamed?) in 2003 so nearly 20 years old but holds up well. The scene above is a great example of what I call the “after thought” shooting. A staple in action movies but not so much back then.
According to Fashion Stylist Rebekah Roy: “It cost $4 million US per episode; it was one of the most expensive shows to produce. There were an estimated 5,000 people costumed in the show’s first season!” The costumes were designed by Chrisi Karvonides-Dushenko.