Cabin Dispatch: Who doesn't love the dump?

Oh the dump! How I love the dump. It’s the mark of a true Mainer is how much you love the dump. And well, we don’t really call it the “dump” anymore; it has a nice euphemistic name called “Transfer Station”. How lovely. As in “I am transferring my crap to the dump.” But it’s so much more than a hole in the ground where everyone drops their dirty diapers and cat litter. Turn to the right, and that’s where you can drop off everything that is recyclable: glass, plastic, paper. Give the nice man a few dollars and they’ll let you drop off 3 cubic yards of lawn clipping and leaves. Head west-ish and there’s the wood pile (“No pressure treated wood in the wood pile” the marquee exclaims.) Head around the building and there’s old windows, toilets, and a “take or leave” pile all for free! We’re nothing but resourceful up here. And all for the low price of $5 a year. What? $5??? (In California, my sewer and trash bill is at least $26… per MONTH.) Politics aside, all Mainers can agree on one thing, we love the dump. (though some of us haven’t grasped the concept of bottle deposit yet! Nickels! Everywhere beside the road!)

Yard waste goes here...

Old windows go here...

Paper recycling all packed up and ready to go.

Stop pressuring the wood!

On the soapbox again...banging my head against the wall...

Look, deny it or call it whatever you want, politicians, but this climate change “thing” isn’t going away on it’s own. It always astounds me why even if you think climate change is a bunch of hooey, why you wouldn’t just err on the side of caution for some issues. Yes, I get that money is a huge factor on why politicians support petroleum, natural gas and coal subsidies, and yes I know that “that money” is actually a shit-ton of money, but sooner or later all of these politicians who deny will be directly affected by climate change. Maybe their summer home will wash away during flooding from the next hurricane. Maybe their nephew will contract West Nile Virus on a camping trip. Maybe their daughter’s wedding day will be ruined by thick smoke from wildfires. Like it or not, our dependence on fossil fuels is what is not-so slowly destroying our environment. How can people not see the connection between these extreme weather events (record breaking heat and drought, catastrophic wild fires and tornadoes, bigger and wetter hurricanes, etc…) and our actions?

Water water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink

So I’ve been holed up at the lake cabin for the last few weeks, and while it was raining for the first 10 days I was here, my plumbing has been hit or miss. After 2 visits from the plumber (and 1 by the well guy) I finally had something flowing out of all my taps…2 days later, it’s back to a trickle. The moral of the story here is, I need my water simplified here... Sure, I can count on 2 hands my water fixtures (kitchen sink, dishwasher, washing machine, bathroom sink, tub/shower, toilet, baseboard forced hot water heaters) but when something goes wrong, I have no idea how to fix it other than calling Jon the plumber over and handing over a check. My 7th grade industrial arts education did not adequately prepare me for this.

I’m proud that I was able to live for 2 weeks without running water (to answer the inevitable questions: bottled water for drinking/cooking, laundry at the Laundromat, shower at the gym, flush the toilet with buckets of lake water). But the best way to simplify is to be able to handle things yourself without having to call in the cavalry. It’s also a (very small scale) reminder that millions of people don’t have access to clean and safe drinking water and how important it is to keep water supplies clean and free of pollutants.

SIMPLIFIED DISPATCHES FROM THE CABIN: Day 20

There's a lot of litter here in Maine. I mean A LOT. It can never understand the rationale behind, “I'm done with this, I'm just going to throw it out the window.” And how can you not understand the bottle deposit rules? You buy your tall boy at the gas station, they charge you an extra 5 cents and when you're done, you throw that in the woods? That's like throwing a nickel in the garbage.

So I decided to try and up my Maine karma (and crotchety-old-lady-in-training status) another quart by giving a little purpose to my morning walks and doing a little litter removal. I needed just the right tool, because while I may be simplified, I may be minimalized, I sure as hell ain't touching the McDonald's cup you used as a spittoon, mister. Enter, THE GOPHER™. You know those deelies that old ladies use to get cereal off the top shelf at the grocery store? (Endorsed by the late-great Billy Mays himself!) Perfect for picking up 75 empty cigarette boxes without having to resort to the old “nail on a stick trick”. I'm just wondering how many bags of trash I have to pick up to undo the guilt that I had to go to Wal*Mart to get it!

**Note, “The Gopher” is no longer available, but “The Reacher” (it "Reaches So You Dont [sic] Have To") is…and they're exactly the same product. I smell drama here…

SIMPLIFIED DISPATCHES FROM THE CABIN: Day 2

So after a few days of beautiful fall weather, a little rain must fall. Temps are still around 45º so I'm not running back to California quite yet. (Not that it matters, the weather report says 60º and raining back there, which I'm sure feels like 45º to Angelenos.) The cabin is cozy, especially after I rigged up a sheet to cut off the kitchen from the living area. The difference is drastic-curtain up, the kitchen is a good 15º colder when the heat is on in the living area. Thankfully I figured this out on day 2 and not day 25. Suns supposed to be back out tomorrow, but I notice that temps are supposed to go below freezing tonight! Ah October in New England. I have missed you so.

WATER WATER EVERYWHERE
So I'm not gonna lie, the water here smells like rotten eggs. There, I said it. I was left a note saying it's “Safe for drinking, cooking and bathing…but here's 25 gallons of bottled water just in case that's your preference.” I'm going for the drinking and cooking with bottled and hoping if I smell of sulfur everyone here is too polite to mention it. Bummer that in the land that provides water to the eastern seaboard, I can't even filter to drink what comes out of the tap.