Back during August of ’24, I cut a lot of firewood. Even before the two hurricanes that hit in September and October, I was still trying to clear the debris from last year, and the back of the property was still flooded. My neighbor helped me cut a large tree limb from a Live Oak that was leaning, and just moving it from the front yard to the back took a lot of doing. At one point, the middle of August, I started early in the morning, and by eleven the temperature rose to close to one hundred. I was splitting wood in the backyard. I wear a heartrate monitor that turns work into points and on a good day I can get 100-150 points but that day I was over 500 points when the device overheated and stopped working. So did I.The next day I moved some smaller stuff, but even without exertion my heartrate when up simply because of the heat. I drank a gallon of water every two hours, and still felt like I was dying of thirst. I ate a lot more than I usually do, and discovered snacking as a lifesaving ritual. I lost ten pounds in one week, and had to shut down for a while. When the final hurricane of this year, hit in October, there was simply no way to keep up with what needed to be done. The flooded part of the property expanded, and with that, more and more trees died, creating more and more work to do. I can stack wood up, and pile up branches, but there’s no safe place to burn anymore on this island. Worse, as if Summer needed any pepper, tick season now lasts from March until the first real cold spell, which is sometime in late December. Ticks are tiny, hard to see, impossible to prevent without a bath in some chemical, and they leave permanent scars as reminders they outlasted the dinosaurs, the comet that killed them, and likely they’ll survive the nuclear holocaust to come. At the time of this writing the water is still high, not seeping into the ground or evaporating, it rained last night, and the forecast is for rain this week. A giant pine has drowned and needs to be dropped before it decides to fall towards the shed or the house or on a dog. The cold isn’t keeping me from work as much as the water is. Yet when I can get out and work in the cold, my heartrate doesn’t go up as high, and I’m not as fatigued when I’m done. No mosquitoes, no ticks, no chiggers, and no stinging insects flying around. The undergrowth is less and not as grabby. Sweat arrives late, and sharpening the axe doesn’t seem to take as long. In my late thirties, I became more of an inside worker than outside. I never liked office work but the heat began to get to me. Now that I can pick and choose how much time I spend in the heat, and how much work I do, I find I enjoy the heat more than the cold. I have no idea why. It doesn’t make sense at all.
Take Care,Mike
(Many apologies to all, I’m not sure what happened when I set this up at 1am ~ Mikeco)
Again I’m very, VERY sorry about this. I have no idea what happened and won’t know until I get on my laptop.
Mike, this happened with Jon a few times, and with Kris, and it’s computer gremlins, that’s all. You have done, and you are doing, a remarkable job with a legacy that many here hold dear.
For my part, I will not accept your apology, but instead offer my thanks.
Finally at my laptop, and found a draft in here that never got around to being published. I blame the spotty wifi while en route back to Port Canaveral, and I blame myself for not having the foresight to follow up on it being published properly
Having spent too many days on a barge in the intercoastal waters or the Florida swamps soaking wet and covered in drilling slurry I hate cold weather. I could deal with heat better than cold. But now that I am an antique I stay inside more in all weather. Cool thing about the fallen trees is eventually nature will take care of them. The ones standing are an issue till they are dropped. Slow and steady anymore. I found that powdered Sulphur tends to keep ticks and red bugs at bay. Down side you smell like rotten eggs. Always a trade off. Take care and enjoy!
Brian, I have not tried sulfur yet but I will.
Maybe you felt thirsty because you needed to take some electrolytes along with the water. I’ve heard that if you drink a lot of water, especially during strenuous activity, you flush out needed electolytes to retain it and you can even get dehydrated. Sports drinks may not be the healthiest option; I used to buy tbe real thing from a pharmacy.
Alena, that’s something to think about. I mix Propel with my water, but I think you’re right about getting the real thing. I’ve worked in the watermelon fields, I’ve worked with asphalt, and I’ve worked on bridges where metal plates held up the steel bars. All of those jobs were seriously hot.
Maybe you were a bit younger then (sorry!). Younger and older folk have a harder time regulating their temperature.
Alena, it’s only with great restraint I do not refer to you as a whippersnapper at this point in our conversation. Keep waking up, you’ll find yourself doing shots of Geritol instead of tequila one day.
I too find I prefer hot over cold weather. I used to be able to deal with either, but as I get a bit longer in the tooth as it were, the heat doesn’t bother me nearly as badly as the cold. I don’t work outside per se, however, I have had a few times where part of my job did entail being out in it. I’ll take Summer over Winter. Even when our summer is 100F. The wind here never stops blowing in the cold months and cuts right through. In the summer at least I can start in the wee hours of the morning and be finished by 1 or 2pm before it gets super hot.
I’ll pass on the rain as well.
Chick, I think it’s because we stay hotter longer than we stay cold. We’ve had a few cold days so far this year but from May to September the was brutal. But the insects, I swear I’m going to buy a flame thrower one year.
Send pictures. Sounds like a lot of work.
I think we all start liking the heat the older we get. Since I am on blood thinners, I am liking warm more than cool–but I still really don’t like humidity. Humidity in the summer makes it hard to breathe and in the winter makes the cold seep to the bone.
You might want to think about hiring someone to cut up the wood–or get more neighbors to help.
Tim, I am looking at investing in a hydraulic wood splitter. I have Live Oaks down and splitting them by hand is harder than anything else I’ve split.