Day 16

YouTube link: Tree Falls in the Woods

Nov. 21, 2017
Last night was the best sleep I had received since landing on the island. The air mattress was nice and comfy. The air was cool and although it was raining, I remained dry throughout the entire evening. Moving out of the AirBnB was one of the best decisions I have made thus far. It’s not that the room wasn’t nice, it’s just that it had no window. Well, it had a place for a window and a screen in it, but no actual window. So all the moisture came in day after day soaking all the bedding and linens. This would prove not to be an issue where we purchased the lot, as it may only be a difference of 19 streets, but the climate is completely opposite. It rains nearly every single day where I was originally staying and for some reason, there is a belt of high pressure directly above where we bought the land that keeps the rain to the east and west of us. So we indeed lucked out there. But the true highlight of the experience last night was that there were absolutely no insects inside the tent with me. This was such a relief. Finally a location I can control.

Today I was also able to cut down a couple of really large trees that were definitely not safe for my home. The problem with these specific trees is that they grow really tall and are really weak. So any major wind and they will come crashing down. And these specific trees would have definitely landed directly on our home. I feel bad cutting down such large trees like this, but then I remember that they are an invasive species and a threat to everyone around them. Also, it’s not like it took them hundreds of years to get this big. These few trees I cut down were actually only around four years old.

Later in the day, I tried to put up a tarp overhead to make a kind of patio for myself. Mainly so I don’t have to eat in the rain or in my tent. I am trying to avoid ants in there as much as possible. However, this did not seem to work. My only option was to put up branches, that I had cut down earlier,  into buckets filled with rocks and then a black plastic over the top. As you can see, the wind had different say so in the matter. I found everything like this when I came back from my supply run.