Need some advice - Buddhist Monk Update

[susnfx]

I wanted to be cautious and think about it first...he might become valuable to me.

I find this a rather strange statement. Valuable to you? You're talking about this person as if he's an endangered species you suddenly found existed on your land and everything should come to a screeching halt... or worse, as if he's some sort of alien being. How do you think he'll be valuable to you?

I'm beginning to find your nicety and now your speaking of him as if you can use him in some way a little over the top, particularly in view of your past multitudinous posts about your disgust with religion.

Susan

[Lorenzo]

Sure, he likes the quiet. You like the quiet. I'd like the quiet, and I've practically got my bags packed just thinking about it. (Darn JOB!)

You're invited for the cabin warming party.

On the other hand, why do you NEED earth movers and front loaders??? Are you planning on destroying half the countryside getting them up there? Chainsawing down half the trees? Terrorizing the wildlife in the process? Exterminating three species of rare newts and the last remaining nesting pair of woodpeckers in the county? Causing sonic vibrations that will so disrupt the waterfowls' brain waves that they'll forget to migrate in the fall and will all freeze to death? Creating bad drainage patterns that will kill off the pond?

The ramifications are really quite remarkable. Not to mention the stench of gasoline fumes. Phew!

I know how you mean. I've felt that same way most of my life, and still do with most of it. I think a became a modified naturalist when I tried sawing my first log in half (lengthwise) for a tabletop!

Shoot, I'd just chum up with the guy. Bring him some good fruit. Invite him over for a vegetarian dinner. Be nice. Express appreciation that he's there adding good vibes to the place. Bambi probably loves him already.

Ask if he likes music. You never know, he might play flute himself. I sincerely doubt if he'll dislike yours. He'll probably think pipes are intensely cool.

And while you're at it, tell him about how happy you are to have been able to buy the land. What a blessing it is for you. Show him where you want to move the cabin. Ask his opinion about it. Mention that you were hoping to get it done by August, but you're not sure . . . it's so much work, but you need to live in it while you build the big house.

Thanks! Good thinking! I will take him some fruit and veggies this summer and a vegitarian meal. I like your ideas.

At the very least, ask him to keep an ear out for screams for help, so that when you cut your arm off with your infernal chainsaw, he can rush over with a tourniquet.

(or with my crosscut saw)

Meditation is catching, by the way.

That's what I meant when I said he might become valuable to me. He might teach me a thing or two about life, like the value of meditation, and he might become a close friend.

[Lorenzo]

I wanted to be cautious and think about it first...he might become valuable to me.

How do you think he'll be valuable to you?

I should have finished the sentence for you..."he might become valuable to me as a close friend."

[Charlene]

I say go ahead and move the cabin now. You might not have the time, money, or energy by this time next year.

People in other parts of the country (or the world) don't understand the inland Washington climate - they think it's mild and rainy all the time, and don't realize we get snow in the mountains (most years) and blazing hot summers. As you said, you only have a few months out of the year when the weather will allow you to work in comfort.

It's YOUR land - assuming you've jumped through all the government's hoops, do whatever you want whenever you want. If this guy wanted the pond that much, HE should have bought the land himself instead of just squatting there.

[Lorenzo]

Thanks Charlene! The property is actually up in the Grande Rhonde Valley of NE Oregon, at the base of the Wallowa Mt. and you're right, There's a limited amount of time to build. It's only at about 3000 ft. el. but still high enough to get the snow.

I'm actually not allowed to have two dwellings on the property (zoning regulations) so I intend to relocate this old cabin up in the woods where no one will ever find it. I'll call it an out-building, or woodshed if anyone asks. So that's why it has to come down before I build the new one.

[Denny]

I'm actually not allowed to have two dwellings on the property (zoning regulations) so I intend to relocate this old cabin up in the woods where no one will ever find it. I'll call it an out-building, or woodshed if anyone asks. So that's why it has to come down before I build the new one.

I thought that's about what I was reading into your posts...

Well, at least you know that stealth is not an option with any likelihood of success before you move the cabin. Perhaps you could offer a timeshare to your neighbor in exchange for her silence!

Denny

[ChrisA]

I know how you mean. I've felt that same way most of my life, and still do with most of it. I think a became a modified naturalist when I tried sawing my first log in half (lengthwise) for a tabletop!

I concur! I've found that in a day of chopping and hand-sawing, I can cut enough firewood
for a weekend. In an afternoon of chainsawing, I can cut enough firewood for a season.

As for lengthwise cutting, you just don't do that with a handsaw, it's not reasonable.
If you need a flat surface, the old way is to use an adze to plane off one side of a log,
the same way you squared logs for cabins.

Of course, an adze is used by straddling your log and swinging down between your
legs. This does, of course, mean you're wasting half of each log in the table scenario.
Also, it's very important not to miss or to catch. In the old days, there were two kind
of adze men... working young ones, and retired one-footed ones...

[Charlene]

I know how you mean. I've felt that same way most of my life, and still do with most of it. I think a became a modified naturalist when I tried sawing my first log in half (lengthwise) for a tabletop!

I concur! I've found that in a day of chopping and hand-sawing, I can cut enough firewood
for a weekend. In an afternoon of chainsawing, I can cut enough firewood for a season.

As for lengthwise cutting, you just don't do that with a handsaw, it's not reasonable.
If you need a flat surface, the old way is to use an adze to plane off one side of a log,
the same way you squared logs for cabins.

Of course, an adze is used by straddling your log and swinging down between your
legs. This does, of course, mean you're wasting half of each log in the table scenario.
Also, it's very important not to miss or to catch. In the old days, there were two kind
of adze men... working young ones, and retired one-footed ones...

Sorry guys - I can't help it, but this just gave me a not very pretty mental picture of amateur vascectomies!!!

[Denny]

Sorry guys - I can't help it, but this just gave me a not very pretty mental picture of amateur vascectomies!!!

Picture a longer handle...

[Denny]

Peggy, I agree with your post completely! except...

On the other hand, why do you NEED earth movers and front loaders???

I think that Nano and I were the only ones that said anything about heavy equipment... ...and we were just kidding, mostly.

Assuming that the chain saw was to create a clearing for the cabin, something will be needed to pull stumps and level the site.

Denny

[anniemcu]

On the one hand, it *is* you(r) land... on the other... what is land that a man should own it over the appreciation of of a Buddhist Monk's meditations?

That's why I didn't answer him directly when he asked if it was okay to go to the pond for meditation. I wanted to be cautious and think about it first...he might become valuable to me.

I'm impressed that you are thinking so deeply about it. Around my neck of the woods, they'd have called the sheriff and had him removed.

Thanks, I couldn't really help it though; it is quite unusual to find a Buddhist monk at your pond! Special situations require special considerations.

So true, and a very good example of why I find it more fulfilling to talk to my neighbors *here* (on these boards) than most of the ones in my actual "real world" area. LOL!

[Nanohedron]

I think that Nano and I were the only ones that said anything about heavy equipment... ...and we were just kidding, mostly.

Speak for yourself. Gotta get rid of those pesky trees so's you'll have a lawn fit to impress your neighbors. And that pond: what's the point? Swim in it and you'll probably catch a rash or a candiru worm or something. I say drain it and build a nice, chlorinated pool.

[Lorenzo]

I'm actually not allowed to have two dwellings on the property (zoning regulations) so I intend to relocate this old cabin up in the woods where no one will ever find it. I'll call it an out-building, or woodshed if anyone asks. So that's why it has to come down before I build the new one.

I thought that's about what I was reading into your posts...

That's why I wanted to get it done when no one was around!

What happped is, back in the 80's sometime, the county rezoned everything in the country to 240 ac/dwelling. I can understand, and agree with, that 5 acre lots were getting to be a nuisance...and a problem for not only the county, but everyone else too. For example, roads were getting used more (upkeep), fire hazards were greater, code enforcement required more staffing, and the looks of the countryside was being replaced.

So, today you can drive back though the countryside and everything looks just the same. But, most people thought it was a "takings" even though courts have decided that rezones are not takings. What people want was a practical compromise, like 40 acres, or 80 acres p/dwelling. My 80 did not qualify to even build a house on. The cabin did not qualify for "replacement" because it was not up to building code standards.

So, the previous owner (the person I bought the property from) had gone through a legal process to qualify for a building permit. He had piggy-backed onto someone else's (non-contiguous) 160 acres to add up to the 240 required. State law allows for this kind of process, and the county was forced to comply. That other property owner signed a statement saying he could never build on that 160.

IMO, there's no property around the valley that couldn't exist just fine with one dwelling per 40 acres. The rezone was really a "takings." So, people out in the country often don't do things right to the letter because gov't officials, esp in Oregon, are not always reasonable with their decisions. Sure they can be voted out, and the rules changed back, but that's not really an excuse to go ahead and be unreasonable, according to us country folks. We'd get out-voted by city people who want the countryside to look like part of the wilderness area, whci we are not!

So, nearly everyone out in the country takes the law into their own hands (tiny little laws that don't really matter and can't be enforced) and go ahead and remodel a room without a permit, replace a leaky pipe without a plumbing permit, add one more heat register to a system without a mechanical permit, or move an outbuilding on skids w/o getting a permit.

Too bad, but local gov't was really kind of asking for it. Maybey I'll mention this to the monk and see what he thinks. It should be easy to communicate with him since Buddhists aren't really religious, nor do they believe in God.

[Denny]

I think that Nano and I were the only ones that said anything about heavy equipment... ...and we were just kidding, mostly.

Speak for yourself. Gotta get rid of those pesky trees so's you'll have a lawn fit to impress your neighbors. And that pond: what's the point? Swim in it and you'll probably catch a rash or a candiru worm or something. I say drain it and build a nice, chlorinated pool.

At three thousand feet its probably still drinkable at the input.

...now in Minneapolis...

Denny

[Lorenzo]

Actually, I was the one who mentioned bringing in a bulldozer to make the road, and Peggy offered to help with a shovel instead.