timberwalkers
Observations on nature, photography, personal finance and more from someone who likes to walk in the woods.
Tuesday, July 22, 2025
Why I Didn't Do Rooftop Solar, and What I Did Instead
Sunday, December 15, 2024
Wednesday, August 24, 2022
A Modest Accomplishment
I recently received the following text message from our bank: "Checking withdrawal posted for $876.10". This was the final payment on our home and land loan, and we are for all intents and purposes debt-free. Now in our mid-fifties and after thirty years of marriage, we are the proud owners free and clear of our home and land, three old cars, an old travel trailer and three kayaks. We've also managed to build an emergency savings account and invest a bit for retirement. Here I'll reflect on how we accomplished that.
Tuesday, January 11, 2022
How to Build a Cooler out of Foam Board
[You can also watch the video tutorial posted on my YouTube channel and/or view this photo album]
I would love to have one of the modern high-performance coolers, such as the rotomolded style, but we don’t actually need one badly enough to justify spending the money. But I wondered if I could build something comparable out of foam board for a fraction of the cost.
So I built a small prototype, process described below, and here’s what I learned. I could NOT build a comparable cooler at a fraction of the cost. Nonetheless, I had a ton of fun and while the example I built would not stand up to the “Yeti” style coolers, it is quite functional and looks pretty great, IMHO.
Friday, December 25, 2020
The Story of Deer Number Nine (A Note To My Beloved)
[Near the bottom of this post is a picture of a harvested deer]
This deer hunting season, my ninth, was a season of hard won lessons. And in the end, the biggest lesson is to do things differently next year.
To be honest, there was much I did not enjoy about the season. There were warm days in October when gnats and mosquitos were a frequent nuisance. There were long hours sitting in makeshift stands that lack creature comforts, leaving me stiff and sore. There was the usual disappointment of failed hunts. In many cases I saw zero deer through hours on the stand. Perhaps even worse were the various occasions when a deer spied me before I even had a chance to aim, and scurried off or stayed out of range.Saturday, July 11, 2020
Kayak Gear Checklist
Sunday, May 3, 2020
A Comprehensive Overview of Prepping Using a Sensible Strategy
But how, you ask, can someone be a prepper without an underground bunker?
The answer, my friends, is simple. After thorough application of my powers of prophecy, I remain wholly unconvinced that a bunker-worthy apocalyptic event is eminent.
Full disclosure: Although they haven't been officially tested recently, my powers of prophecy are likely rated in the "poor" to "fair" range.
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You doubt my credentials?
What more proof do you need?
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