12/6-10/21 I went up to Camp Serendipity for five days: Monday through Friday.

I had an MRI test in the morning, so I didn't arrive until 3:30. It rained and snowed a little on the way but fortunately it had stopped before I arrived. The temperature was 25 degrees and there was about four inches of snow on the ground. I brought my gear up in one trip. The cabin was 58 degrees, which is lower than usual. I built a fire in the stove, and it warmed the cabin up nicely. Next, I unpacked my gear and had my dinner.

On Tuesday it was 24 degrees outside when I woke up, and there was about 1/2 inch of new snow. There was a light freezing rain/snow mix that lasted most of the day. I practiced the piano, listened to the radio, and then had my lunch and a nap.

When I got up, I split and stacked a bunch of firewood. Then I decided to do something I had thought about for quite a long time. The snow that slides off the roof piles up in a berm on each side of the building and the berms avalanche down onto my stairs and stoops. That means I spend quite a bit of time shoveling snow off the steps and the stoops. I typically keep the back stoop clear but eventually let the front go and by the end of winter there is a huge amount of snow on the front steps at the bottom. Now I decided to do something about that.

I decided to stand a 4 by 8 sheet of OSB against the newel post at the bottom of each staircase. To keep the OSB from getting soaked, I decided to staple heavy gauge plastic on the outside of the sheet. I had some plastic leftover from the floor of the crawl space, and this would make a good use of it.

When I went to get the OSB out from under the front porch where it was stored, it seemed as if the sheets had doubled in weight since I had last lifted them and carried them around. I could barely pick one up and carry it 30 feet to the other side of the cabin. But I did.

I carried a second sheet the other way and stood it against the Grid G3 column. With the two sheets standing on edge, I cut pieces of plastic and stapled a piece on the outer surface of each sheet of OSB. Then I maneuvered the sheets so that they were standing on edge on the berm of snow leaning against their respective newel posts. Since the plastic wrapped around the bottom edge made a very slippery runner, it made it difficult to keep the sheet from sliding downhill.

I had started at the back of the cabin, and I used some rather thin rope to secure the sheet with the rope tied to the newel post and a baluster higher up the staircase. That kept the sheet from sliding downhill. But I was worried that the rope was a little light.

Moving to the front, I decided to use a much stouter rope and I used the rope with the noose that I use for dragging logs and big firewood rounds out of the woods. I wrapped that around the center of the OSB sheet, tightened the noose, and used the rope to secure it to the newel post. That felt a lot stronger to me and I'm sure it will hold.

On Wednesday it was snowing lightly again in the morning and the wind was still blowing. After practicing the piano, I noticed that the sheet of OSB on the back side had blown over. I saw that the wind had pulled the OSB away from the newel post and it had started to slide down the hill. That skinny little rope was stretched to its limit, but it kept the sheet from sliding away. I needed something a lot stronger.

I got a strap of 16-gauge Simpson steel with holes in it and nailed it to the center of the sheet of OSB. Then I wrapped it up and around the top of the newel post and nailed it there, also with number 10 joist hanger nails. I'm sure that will hold the sheet. I was very pleased with the results, and I expect it will reduce the amount of work this winter keeping the steps and stoops clear.

I listened to the radio, and then had my lunch and a nap. When I got up, I spent the rest of the afternoon reading and relaxing and enjoying the beautiful snowfall outside. The trees were all loaded with snow.

On Thursday it was again 24 degrees and snowing lightly when I got up. After practicing the piano, I went down to the truck to get my electrical toolkit and an emergency battery powered lamp from the truck.

The last time the power failed, I discovered that the battery powered lamp in the cabin was not reliable. It was extremely frustrating that it wouldn't work when I needed it. I decided I was either going to fix it or replace it. We had bought a new lamp to replace it that I had been carrying in the truck and I brought it up to the cabin in case I was going to replace the one that failed.

When I tried them, I was dismayed to discover that neither lamp worked now. The old one was not a surprise, but I was surprised that the new lamp didn't work. I took the 3 D-cell batteries out of the new lamp and tested them with my voltmeter. I discovered that each battery was down to a half a Volt. That evidently was not enough. I thought those were new batteries, and they were relatively new, but somehow, they had gotten discharged without being used.

The 4 D-cell batteries in the old lamp were fully charged at 1.5 volts. But the lamp did not work. I took it apart and examined it and discovered what the problem was. The brush was just a single metal tab that should have been bent up a little to provide spring tension to bear against the slip ring. But the brush was smashed flat and I'm sure that's why it didn't make contact with the slip ring. I simply used my knife blade to get under the brush and bend it up a little. When I reassembled the lamp, it worked perfectly and seemed to be reliable.

Next, I put fresh batteries in the new lamp, and it worked fine also. Now I have a decision to make about where to use those lamps, whether to carry one in the truck, and why those batteries had discharged. Ellen and I talked about it later and decided to wait three months to see if the new batteries I put in the new lamp discharged by themselves or not. Then we'll make a decision about where to use the lamps and whether or not to buy another one.

After having my lunch and a nap, I spent the rest of the afternoon writing.

On Friday morning it was a beautiful 25 degrees with all the trees carrying a full load of snow. It was not snowing or blowing and was absolutely beautiful. After practicing the piano, I called and scheduled an echo cardiogram test. Then I went out and split and stacked a bunch of firewood. I was happy to see that both of my OSB baffles had worked perfectly.

I left for home at 12:50 happy that I had another fun week in the mountains and even got a little work done.