Today we had quite a rare fox encounter. I filmed it while some of the guys freed it, having to cut away the spindle the little guy stuck his nose into.
Happy ending. The fox is uninjured and doing well, running around like usual.
I promised to let you know when I finished writing this Thriller, called, Primal Cut.
After writing this story, a novel of nearly 50,000 words, I realized it really wasn't over. Without giving too much away, let's just say our detectives, Avery and Jenison soon find out our heroine is not dead. Along with the Ghost, Caretaker John Deerfield of the Historic Hotel in Yellowstone, they follow her to Utah where she has taken on a new identity and seasonal job in Zion, but that's in the next book.
Primal Cut , available now for Kindles or Computer download, is the first in a new series called the Seasonal Killer Series.
Up here at Location, in Yellowstone National Park, I'm learning alot of things.
Some key thoughts:
you have to be flexible. Now that we're snowed in and food arrives via snowcoach, how long something is going to last, otherwise known as "shelf life" is critical.
If the lettuce freezes its junk. You can throw it in stock, but, not so great on tacos.
Ok, so fresh fruit and fresh vegetables are at a premium. We don't waste anything. You would think we had starving kids in Africa on Location.
So, we're getting in a lot of back up supplies, like frozen, dried and canned.
The apples? Love them. We peeled them and made apple crisp, by design, from fresh apples. The chef told me they would actually ferment, providing a natural yeast product if left in a warm spot. I didn't hardly believe it, considering how long they've been in storage since harvest.
I remembered apple mash, the trash left over from making apple cider at Bethke's Orchard, discarded into a near by field. It was during the heat of fall, and eventually one day the farmer called, said, Don't Do That Anymore, the cows are getting drunk. Turns out, the mash, apple trash, had fermented into a lovely intoxicating mess.
Well, we here at location have discovered that left in water, the apple trash will ferment. The peelings must be submerged, held down with a lid or plate or else they will mold. Not good for beverages.
In a survival situation, this knowlege could provide fermentation for breads and drinks.
I'm loving it up here at Yellowstone Lake Man Camp.
Up here at Lake Yellowstone we have a lot of snow. Its beautiful. Yesterday we were out of power. Many times the only phone access is via landline, one phone in a dorm, or as I recently was turned on to, Google!
If you have a gmail account, you'll find a little phone icon. Click on that icon, dial up the person you want to talk to, and go for it. Its free, totally wifi supported, and I can talk and hear the person so well, you'd think you were sitting in the same room.
Its come a long way from phone chat I remember years ago. We have good wifi up here when there is power and I have tested this application for business calls as well as personal. Your call history is recorded, so next time you want to call the same number, you pull up the history and click on it.
Thanks Google!
This new video I posted on YouTube is a little shaky at times, sort of like the Blair Witch Project movie. I bring my camera when possible when I'm outside.
This short spontaneous clip is the result of my serious contemplation of the snow cave, snow fort or snow shelter. I've tried making snow shelters by chopping blocks. I usually end up tired, wet and dissatisfied with the results.
By using natural surroundings like dead falls and live pines, a person can create a shelter in minutes and not waste valuable time and calories. The only tools I had was my hands, If I had a knife, a saw or plastic sheeting or a small tarp, the shelter could be improved with spruce boughs and dry seating.
Of course, being in a national park, the forest service frowns on cutting of live vegetation. In a true survival situation I would do what ever was necessary to survive. Today, that wasn't a problem.
Within an hour of playing with this concept, I was back in my room, took a hot shower, turned on my laptop to write.