Mike Barkley

I think it would Justin. Anything to keep the roots out of waterlogged soil will help them.

One thing not mentioned above is to buy fuel at the coolest time of day rather than the hottest. Since liquids contract a little as temps cool you get more for the same price.

This is not so much a "you can't do that" as some "you'll never get a fire started" & "you're going to die" tales. It happened on the Boris Adventure. Daughter & I named it that in honor of the bear we had to chase out of camp at dawn one morning. That's a story for another time but let's just say I could have touched it several different times & it was within an inch of stepping on her head at one point. Never seen her wake up & get motivated so fast before!!!

We had been backpacking for 5 or 6 days in the Smoky Mountains. Staying at backwoods campsites. On our last night we stayed at a horse camp on the river that had other people. It had been raining for days, especially that day. Everything we had was wet or at least damp. After we got into camp I collected firewood for about an hour. I wanted a good fire or it would have been a miserable cold night. Some lady saw me & said "you'll never get a fire started".

Little did she know. I had a little dry tinder in a waterproof container, a tea candle, & some soggy paper trash. I started a small fire with the tinder & candle then proceeded to dry out small sticks. Gradually increasing the size of the fire & drying larger & larger sticks. Then some small logs. About an hour later we had a roaring fire while everyone else was huddled in their tents without any heat. Never underestimate a cold pyro who knows what he's doing.

Another time I took an out of town friend on a raft trip. Down the same river that flooded so bad & killed all the bible school girls a couple years ago. It was flooded that particular day but I knew that part of the river extremely well & had a really good raft. Not the crappy tourist raft that most people around there used. We set off & headed for the opposite bank just to make sure we had everything under control. The homeowner there came running down yelling "you're going to die". Hold my beer & watch this. We shoved off & enjoyed a very fast but safe & uneventful trip down the river.

One pic shows us attempting to dry some gear during a lunch break on the Boris Adventure. Good times.

The last time I flew commercial was 2018 or 2019. I had 2 quarts of honey to give to family. TSA would not let me take it aboard & there wasn't time to check the bag. I told the lady to at least take it home for herself. She said she was not allowed & it would be thrown away. That was high quality honey my bees worked hard to produce. That was the moment I decided that would be my last flight. The thrill was gone.

Except for one flight as a baby my flying adventures began in the military jumping out of perfectly good airplanes & helicopters. I have about 1000 more takeoffs than landings. That was great adrenaline. After that my work involved traveling constantly. I would typically be in 2 or 3 different cities each week & return home on the weekend. I had so many frequent flyer miles on several different major airlines. I gave most of them to friends & family. Sometimes as tips to waiters & waitresses at restaurants. I traveled so much that for weekends & vacations I just wanted to stay home. Sometimes I would take a date to a fancy restaurant in another city or a friend to climb a mountain somewhere. Mostly though I just wanted to be at home.

Somewhere in the middle of all those years of travel I decided to become a pilot. Gave me something to do (study) at night other than watch tv while sitting in a hotel room. So on weekends I flew private airplanes. Then 9-11 took a lot of the fun & enjoyment out of that. I could move through my airport easily enough without the TSA hassles but constantly receiving letters from the FAA about current intercept procedures by the military was ... I don't know the right word ... disturbing? Annoying? Pissed me off? And TSA for commercial flights can KMA.

Statistically flying is far far far safer than traveling by car but when bad things happen it often involves many people or rich famous people so it is sensational & makes the news.

I love to fly & might fly small planes again once in a while. I will never ever fly commercial again. The thrill is gone.

From the looks of that picture I think Christopher is right.

If things get rough it can always be used for drying wet socks. Stuff one into an edge to hold it vertical & drape the others across the top. Problem solved:)

If you raise it & add the top rack do the projections fit through the rack? If so, I think it might be to stabilize the rack for heavy loads.

Yes, cedar is best avoided too. Maybe collect fallen oak branches after big storms???

I would use almost any other wood for hugelkultur before mesquite. It does indeed break down very slowly plus it is allelopathic. Which means it inhibits the growth of other plants. Use the mesquite for smoking a brisket & other BBQ!!!

If rookies don't work with bees they will never progress further. Practice makes perfect. Maybe next time have your son constantly spray smoke while you work with the bees???