Cold and Wet Democracy

Nov. 1 2014

It’s fall.  It’s cold and wet and dark and… I’m inside dressed in a flannel shirt and wool socks with some shed-dried alder burning quietly in the fireplace and in the Puffin’ Billy.  “Fireplace” doesn’t need explanation; maybe a description:  It’s large, built of river rock—those round ones about the size of a large loaf of sourdough. When I built it—well, handed rocks to Thomas Littlebear while he built it—I insisted that the hearth be off the ground a couple of feet so I could sit on it.  The mantle is one ten foot piece of cedar wide enough for Butkus to sleep on if he could get up there.  

“Puffin’ Billy” is another matter.  These stoves have been around since the gold rushes of the late 19^th century.  They’re oval in shape and come in a variety of sizes that will heat anything from a standup tent to a 1000 square foot house.  Miners loved them because they’re made of tin and weigh almost nothing.  They could be strapped on the back of a horse or mule or thrown into a wagon, hardly increasing the load being carried.  Now, they’re popular with back to the landers and survivalists.  I’m neither, but the stove is cheap and so am I.  The stove has some quirks.  If you let the fire get too hot, the sides of the stove will glow bright red, and have been known to ignite a newspaper or book or cloth left too close.  If you get the fire really cooking, the top, a round piece of bent tin sitting on top of the stove, has a tendency to bounce with the result that both cacophony and smoke are released into the room in great qualities.

I love my Puffin’ Billy.

Anyway…

I’ve spent today on the couch reading and napping and watching TV.  Don’t have TV on the boat, and as strange as this seems I never miss it.  Strange I suppose because I am technically in the news business, and should be keeping up with what’s going on in the world.  But I find all I need online when I’m in the office.  If something occurs between Wednesday afternoon and Monday, I assume someone will wander down to the dock or pick up a cell phone, and let me know. 

What I learned today was that the American electoral process is even more screwed than it was two years ago.  The United States of America, the global posterboy for democracy has let it’s process become so twisted that there’s an argument to be made that it is a democracy in default.  Will have more to say about this when I’ve watched more 24 hours cable news.