"Boris the Butcher"

I rather liked the feeling of hacking apart the partially frozen slab of meat, ribeye to be exact. Something about it felt very primitive and satisfying, much like the feeling of being free to drag my knuckles, grunt and stare devilishly at random objects that first look at me wrong.
I liked the individual packaging of the steaks, wrapping them up one by one, sixteen in all, it was so good, I pondered briefly my future as a butcher and what exactly it took to become one. Is there a school, is there a workshop or apprenticeship? I know that people have a passion for it, some seem a bit off upstairs or even the glorified "Boris" in the movies that is a butcher by day and some sort of mass murderer/hit man at night.  I doubt I have a career as a professional hit man, however I'll certainly entertain the other. In regards to my day, this was my only "must do" task that I had set aside. I went out to gather some sticks and branches for another project that might hopefully keep me occupied for some time... that means more than a week.

I want to share with you all a small portion of my Sunday services. It wasn't the usual, but it was going to have to do for the whereabouts of myself and my limited capabilities of getting into an actual church. I won't preach to anyone about skipping any service to go fishing, I will only share in photography my time with God. So there I was, enjoying the morning on the river, having a great time making drift after drift through the lower section of the river below my cabin and above the rapids...feeling each and every bump of the river bottom as my fly (bead) bounced along and watched my indicator as it periodically went under the surface either by snag or a take from a fish. Rainbows were plenty this particular morning, ranging from the fourteen to eighteen inch range and making it so much better to be out here enjoying this angler's paradise. So when I had my fill of trout, I slowly eased on the gas of my jet boat and cruised up the river to the mouth, and looked over the rises in the water as the remaining salmon come up to see where everyone has gone. Sad to say, they have all died. I change rods and cast out, BOOM! a strike and a beauty she is... BOOM! another and another and finally, on this gorgeous Sunday, while I should have been in church, I was in "church".The time with God was great in peace and quiet, but the singing of a reel was so much sweeter to the ear than any choir or musicians notes at that very moment. The Lord was good to me.

So there she is, just over twenty-four inch and six pounds... it was the last of the day and a great way to go. I thought to myself as I was reeling it in, please don't get off, please just fit in my net... it was a stretch to keep it in but luckily the fight wore it out enough for a few pics and a good release.

My project that hasn't happened for some time... has come to light. A prototype of what I'd like to build in a more sturdy and solid state has passed the tests and works great. Its a forearm workout machine, you grip the lower bar and squeeze it to the top where the palm of your hand is stationary. Copper pipe wasn't my first choice but it brought back tons of memories of Lego building and Lincoln logs, Erector sets and the like. Anyhow, I used it yesterday, and I can tell you it does the trick. I'm a nerd for working out... Speaking of the workout, I'll never do laundry on a Monday again. I could hardly squeeze any of my clothes to wash and rinse, it was quite the show to watch me, (if anyone had been around) of my feeble attempts and faces made to get my laundry done. It was part one of my two step process that day. Part two was while finished with laundry in the sauna, now I could proceed to sweat profusely and then bathe with water that was either too hot or too cold.... I'll have time to perfect it.

That's my bath house, the sauna.

So dinner and movies continue, day after day, I think of something new to try, something new to create and enjoy. I've only had a few things I wouldn't make again. I am also finding that my chips and salsa supply originally thought to be enough is not looking out to be that way. I will have to re-think my consumption and ration with more diligence. So for the evening meal, I had a plate of buttered cous-cous with raisins, just like growing up, and a small portion of calamari. It was delicious with Siriacha sauce*

Tonight is that perfectly red ribeye, pan seared and peppered with more cous-cous and another bottle of vino...