After the Leaves and the Loons

Gone.

The foliage and the loon friends, both feathered and foolish.

But life goes on, this time in the form of a storm.  Wind and rain inundated the area.

Soggy roots followed by high winds.  Sound like a formula?

Top left, the large gate can be seen leaking.
The spillway is showing a good deal of water overflowing,
even though the output of the control gate at lower left is at max.
The water level was supposed to be low so the Dam Masters could work on the leak.
This probably helped the keep the upstream water from getting higher than it did.

A generator is no good unless you have fuel.
It's a good policy to refresh your supply after a year,
but be sure to get fresh gas.
There were many of these windfalls preventing acquisition of fresh fuel.

Tough to see, but the reason this tree is not on the road surface
is that the electrical wires are holding it up.

It was good to see the crews cutting the trees off the wires.
Power will be back on in no time, right?

The usual waterline is well below the rocks submerged on the right.
Wind driven whitecaps populate the lake.
Debris has piled up on the launch dock.

Since there was still some pressure in the system even though the well pump was without voltage, we were able to draw enough water for coffee.  Since we have a gas range that can be lit with a match, we were able to boil water.  Since the water was heated in a teakettle, it could be poured over the grounds just as the powered automatic drip would have done.

As we sipped our coffee, we watched as the launch dock detached from the shore and floated downstream.

Quickly donning outdoor clothing and a life jacket, I hopped into a kayak and paddled off to catch the escaping dock.  Unfortunately, I had to plunge my hand into the cold, cold water to attach a rope to the dock so it could be towed.    Knots are difficult to tie when one's hands are cold-shocked.

As the whitecaps broke over the bow of the kayak, I paddled backward to tow the floating dock back close to home.  Not too close to shore, though, since the assembly got hung up in the shallows more than once.  Towing turned more out toward the channel than toward the destination.  Fortunately, out of the strong current in the main channel, the force of the wind was dominant, and the dock floated almost exactly to its departure point.

Mary and Pete scrounged up some additional rope, throwing the end out to the kayak.  Soon the dock was secured to a tree, vagabond no more.

Don't warm your hands by the fireplace when they are nearly frozen.  Rubbing them in comfortably cooler air is a whole lot less painful. 

This magnificent example of stationary dock architecture
usually sits feet above the water.
Here it is only inches above where it is not touching.

An interesting effect appeared as the high water impinged against the perfectly straight dock.
Where the water, flowing left to right, was impeded by the side panel of the dock,
a "pressure ridge" formed. 
Open eyes often see new things.

All the rain filled the swampy area
behind the satellite flowers.

The wind died the next day.
We had plenty of time to appreciate the view since the power was still out.

Perhaps you can make out the black wheels of Pete's new dock in the center of the image.
They switched places with the metal dock surface,
which made a pretty good airplane wing in the wind,
and is now doing its submarine impression.

The sunset pleases, regardless.

Though we were without power for 3 days, our plight was a mere inconvenience.  In nearby Dolgeville and Middleville, large creeks fed by many tributaries the size of our lake's outlet swelled to flood stage.  Both towns evacuated people sleeping in low-lying dwellings.  Cars and buildings floated away.  

Dolgeville: https://www.uticaod.com/news/20191101/updated-cuomo-assesses-dolgeville-flood-damage-photos-video

Middleville:  https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/flooding/2019/11/02/herkimer-county-communities-struggle-with-floods#

Ever wonder why the well-to-do live up on the hill?

Power to the People

Six years later, another weekend of Cinco De Mayo loonacy at the camp with the construction-minded Loonatics.

Yep.  Cinco de Mayo and still snow remaining in the massive pile
that gets created when the weight of the roof drift
overcomes the friction on the north side of the garage.

Don't ever stand here.

Look at all that debris emerging from the snow.  Forgot all about having to take care of that.  In honor of Cinco de Mayo, and the brave and outgunned Mexicans who repulsed the French, that will be dealt with...mañana.

Pretty much sums it up.

Each of the Loonatics has received a fabulous team logo hat, which also features his camp name, so that death and destruction do not result from ownership confusion.  To be completely truthful, each Loonatic except Chowdahead has received a hat.  He whines incessantly about not having one, even though he did not join the fowl band until after the most recent distribution.  Perhaps patience will be rewarded in the future.  But is waiting with whining really patience?

The two you see adjacent the sign are for Thing 1 and Thing 2.  These are provided to honorary loons during the time they are on-site.  

We often joke, "A bunch of amateurs with power tools and beer in the woods. What could possibly go wrong?"

Now we know.

Don't stand here either.
Windstorms like the one we endured Friday evening
have a habit of knocking trees down,
occasionally with ill effect.

This is not a backwoods religious symbol.
See the ceramic insulator on the left end of the yardarm?
See one on the right?
Gone with the wind.

The windstorm took down the lines and the power went out for the weekend. The damage was not limited to this one little pole. Since we're near the end of a dead end road with very few residents, the power company elected to go to other poles of priority long before patching our pickle.

Since we're not Amish, we rely on electricity to work. And most of us drink beer, but that's just an evil side effect of electricity, as the Amish will tell you. So off went the provisioning party to petition the purveyor of impermanent power. The ride out of the hills was rewarded with a brand new Champion Generator from Tractor Supply.

Just moved the snowshoes to the garage last week.
This generator was the preferred model because it came with a free t-shirt.
Upon seeing the shirt, Mary said, "Let me know when you're going to wear that thing
so I can be elsewhere."

A fine addition to the wardrobe,
which contains much worse.

Though we had to do a bit of juggling to run power to multiple buildings, we powered tools and the fridge, so all was well. Except the for the pump in the well, but who needs a shower, anyway?

Make one of these, and all of your troubles will be over,
especially if you put your fingers in the wrong place.

Remember to flip the main breaker to off so that the double-male contraption above can carry the power from the generator to the panel and the house without trying to power the grid.  Or have the generator all wired in and automatically substituting for the grid so that you hardly even know there is a power outage.  Hah!  Where's the adventure in that?

The answer is that the adventure is in your bank account.  There have been enough of those adventures lately.  So this expensive wired-in, auto-switching, auto-cycling (gotta run every so often, too) solution can wait.  At least 'til some figurative mañana.

Since any generator can only create a limited amount of power, numerous opportunities for creative solutions arise.  One such solution is shown below.

This ancient radial arm saw was placed on casters
so that it could be rolled closer to the generator.
At 2 extension cord distance, there was not enough current to start the saw.
A single cord away, the blade lazily ramped up to cutting speed
in a few seconds.

Yes, of course, we could have moved the generator, but that would have meant putting the fridge on the long cord run, or not powering it at all.  Remember the part about us not being Amish?

And yes, certainly we could have skillfully placed the beer in the remaining snow, but that would have meant walking ALL the way to the back of the garage when thirsty.

And yes, unquestionably, we could have dug snow out of the bank and filled coolers or other containers full of beer, but that sounds like work.

And yes, undoubtedly, we could have purchased ice on during a trip to civilization, but that melts all over the refrigerator and makes a mess (it did).  And there was food in the fridge as well, although a secondary concern.

Both hungry and not Amish.
Also quite brilliant when that headlamp is on.

What else could go wrong?

Really not what you want to see when you're many miles from a garage.
Yeah, the spare did not look much different.

Thankfully, the generator-compressor combination
made the this problem less of an issue.
And since there were other vehicles around,
sloth and lethargy allowed this fix to be done without the generator.

Since misfortune tends to happen in threes, the triad of calamity was completed by the last minute scratch of one of the members.  As a responsible owner of commercial property in far away New Hampsire, Mr. Bud Lightnin' had leased a meeting-place building to a Church Congregation.  The Pastor had prepared a powerful sermon which brought to life the travails of Noah, who with his family and non-human friends, braved the cleansing flood of the earth.

So powerful was this sermon that even before its intended Sunday delivery, a similar cleansing flood inundated the building (via a burst pipe). Our own diligent Bud Lightnin' subdued the longings of his heart and dutifully remained where the citizens live moisture-free or die, cleaning the building after the flood, just as Noah and his family must have done for the ark.

But even with all these tribulations, a good deal was accomplished.

Basement entry door upgraded to a steel exterior door.
Fie upon the rodents and drafts.

Lovely flashing has been applied to the underside of the deck
to divert water elsewhere.
Now the space can be used for storing fireplace wood,
or for spreading out a blanket and singing the Drifter's,
"Under the Board Deck."

"This knotty pine in the garage upstairs room looks really great," said the blind carpenter...

...as he picked up his hammer and saw.

Shortly before all arrived, a matching metal insert was fashioned
to provide a finished look over the fridge.

And the leftover material provided augmented tanning capabilities.

All in all, a confusing and tumultuous but productive weekend.  The power returned just after all the work was completed.  Later, the tale of the triumph of the Loonatics was related to Mary. 

"Oh sure.  You get a generator for your Loons, but not for me during all those times I've suffered through outages."

"All you had to do was pick up a saw!!!"