That's Hayden. He's 16. One of my sons. He built this coal forge with help from my neighbor and family. He sought out a mentor in our community and learned how to forge steel and weld. He's never been to school. Homeschooled, if you want to call it schooling at all. I don't fully understand the process. Because I spent 14 years in some sort of schooling or another. I just read about homeschooling in my mid twenties. It made sense. And I like to try things that make sense to me. So we did. I understand it's not for everybody. I am glad schools do exist. I am also thankful we have the freedom not to send our kids if we don't want to. 5.17.26 #homeschooling #proofofdad

We look to ease our pain, and this keeps civilization moving along. Fear is the architect here. Fear keeps us working near the ark. ~ Rumi GM🔥 It's ten to eight. Sunday. The fire in the photo about burned down. No one awake yet. I've been up since 4:30. That's when I get up to go to work. To deliver mail. I waited an hour and a half to start my morning routine. A cold shower, then 40 minutes of meditation. I didn't have to be anywhere on time. So I pet the cat that purs next to my head in bed. Scratch my wife's arm. Tell her I love her. She doesn't hear me most of the time. I go in and hug my 16 year old son in bed when he's sound asleep. It keeps the worry at bay. It gets me out of myself. Relationship. Touch. A way to be home again. I know I need to be tough, stoic disciplined .I do that too. That was the past 6 days.. There's that voice in back of my head telling me I have "free" time. I should be doing this, that, and every other god damn thing. Dis ease is what it is. Sometimes I think smoking weed would fix it. Drinking worked until the next morning. Then the worry would hit harder. I really could see it when I started meditating. The worry started up again when I started working full time for the Post office. That was officially 3 years ago. But as a part timer I was going full time back in 2020 already. I have spent my whole life trying to understand this worry. Because there's something inside of me that tells me it's not supposed to be there. Always concerned about a future collapse of this or that. A coworker and I got all dystopian about the data centers and AI yesterday morning. We're both middle aged men. Our kids mostly old enough to be looking at life beyond mom and Dad. Another coworker, a young woman of 24 listening in says, "I want to have kids, but with all the AI stuff happening now I don't know." The only thing I could tell her after a bit of silence was I was dead set against having kids until I was 34. Then I wasn't. And it was one of the best things I ever did. Maybe the best. That's what's on my mind right now. I look forward to being outside working around our place and helping out with our native plant nursery. I hope you have a great day. #gm #coffeechain Morning Fire 217 5.17.26

GM🔥 I took this picture at 6AM. Six twenty now. This is morning fire 216. Don't need one today. It's supposed to hit 80 degrees this afternoon. After today, though, a cool off predicted. Cloudy. Rainy. Maybe severe storms. So we'll keep the house warm. I always think of chainsaws when severe weather is predicted. Trees falling on fences, in the yard, and other places where they're not supposed to fall. 15 minutes til I leave for the mail trail. This is day 6 of 6. It feels like a big exhale. Weight coming off my shoulders. I get two days off. A better breather than one. That's it for now. I hope you have a great weekend. 5.16.26 #gm #coffeechain

GM🔥 Off to the mail trail. It's Friday. One more day, then two days off. I hope you have a great day! Morning Fire 215 5.15.26 #gm #coffeechain

GM🔥 In front of Morning Fire 214. Leave to start the Ford in a few minutes. It'll blow blue smoke out the exhaust when it starts. Then it lets up. Been doing that since we owned it. Bought it during Covid. It's from southern Wisconsin. We got it home in the early hours of the morning. I ran it out of gas about a mile from the house. Close to the Mackey crick as a matter of fact. I went to work the next day. Annie came down with Covid. I called her to come in and help me. I didn't know the route that well. I was a sub at the time. Under great protest she came in and helped me anyway. Off to the mail trail. 5.14.26 #gm #coffeechain

#philosophy #religion

“People have beautiful things to say about you, but you must die first.” — Fyodor Dostoevsky #quotes #philosophy

GM🔥 6:19 AM. Took the fire picture at 6:02. Right around 6 AM lately is when I usually do. Today is day 3 of 6 on the mail trail. I wrote in my journal that I miss being home. I also like being in the world of work making money while I still can. Our native plant nursery, now in its 4th season, is supposed to eventually bridge that gap. I remember living with my grandparents. It got to the point where my grandma couldn't go out and work anymore. This was back in the 90's. She was somewhere in her mid to late fifties. She always talked about how she wished she could go back to work at the nursing home. That was 30 some years ago, and she's still going at home. Off to the world of work. I hope you have a great day! Morning Fire 213 5.13.26 #gm #coffeechain

6 :02 AM. Good morning 🔥 Morning Fire 212 5.12.26 #gm #coffeechain

6 AM. GM🔥 Morning Fire 211 Back to the mail trail today. Six days of delivery this week. Office is short on carriers. Looking for a job? There's work in the Post Office if you want it. I hope you have a great day! 5.11.26 #gm #coffeechain

"China knows." ~ Lawrence Lepard #bitcoin #money #gold #China

GM🔥 Morning Fire 210 5.10.26 #gm #coffeechain

William Burroughs once wrote: “What does the money machine eat? It eats youth, spontaneity, life, beauty, and, above all, it eats creativity. It eats quality and shits quantity." II wonder if it would be more accurate if Burroughs would've said: "What does the FIAT money machine eat?" A bitcoiner would understand the angle I am coming from better than most. #bitcoin #asknostr

From the mail trail: "The sun is up, the sky is blue / It's beautiful, and so are you." The Beatles. Lyrics from Dear Prudence (1968) 5.9.26 #Wisconsin #mailtrail #countryliving

GM🔥 from the front of Morning Fire 209. 5.9.26 #gm #coffeechain

6 AM. Good morning from the front of morning fire 208. Not many of these left. It's 28 out there now. Supposed to get up in the 60's today. Today is the opening day of Bean Brook Nursery. This is our 4th season. It's hard to believe. Time is short. I have other things to do before leaving for the mail trail. Like reading some Rumi or something that reminds me of the mystery. I hope you have a great day! 5.8.26 #gm #coffeechain

GM🔥 Morning Fire 207 5.7.26 #gm #coffeechaim

GM🔥 Morning Fire 206 5.6.26 #gm #coffeechain

"One thing that's better than learning a new skill is seeing your child learn a new skill that you yourself will never be capable of." ~ Vijay Boyapati #quotes #parenting #proofofdad

GM🔥 Back to the mail trail today. Not much to say. Besides have a good day. Morning Fire 205 5.5.26 #gm #coffeechain