Day 67

I ate some meat jerky, and started a small fire, and pulled out a stone pot I had made quickly, it was still pretty rough, as I had yet to sand down the sides, I had pretty much just scooped out the stone, and thrown it on the sled, and got to work quickly sanding the sides to a smooth mirror finish. It took me an hour of rubbing my pot before I was satisfied, and when I checked the river, I saw that there were no animals at the moment, and brought my pot over, and started cleaning it out. I filled it with river water, and brought it back home, and started to boil the water. I grabbed some meat from my shitty freezer, and threw it in the water, with a small cube of bullion.

While I was waiting for my soup to boil, I got to work carving up a stool to sit on, and a table gotta have the creature comforts, ya'know. I got to work chopping down a tree close to the bank of the river, cutting through it with some difficulty, as it seemed to be wider than the trees up the mountain. But I prevailed and got the log down, landing it next to the shore. I proceeded to carve it into sections about 12 feet long, using my body as a tape measure. I then shaved all the branches down and set them aside for later use. I walked over to the stump, about five to six feet in diameter, and laid out my plans on it, using it as a makeshift table. I started drying out the first log, the taste was different from the logs up the mountain, it was a bolder flavor, like a cherry wood smoked meat, but without the acrid smoke smell. It was honestly pretty tasty.

I finished drying the log and got to carving. It was interesting, scooping the wood out like dirt with my left hand, and bracing with my right, and soon enough I carved out a chunk of wood in the shape of a chair. The detritus I had piled up, to be used as kindling for my fires. I then carved out a table and got to work sanding them down to a usable level. Before bringing them inside and eating my late lunch. As always it was nice to eat at a table, and with a proper chair too, I could lean back, slouch, and laze, all in one spot.

I enjoyed my lunch of meat soup, and cold water, and got back to work. I had cleared out three-quarters of the first log, having hollowed it out, but not cut through the bottom. I got to work carving the rest of the wood out, making, essentially, a giant canoe. I then started rolling the considerably lighter log into the river, finding that it did float and that it looked exactly like a log ride. Then it slipped out of my hand and rushed down the river. I felt my eyes shoot open in surprise, before blinking in surprise, “well... shit.” Lupe started rolling in the ground, and the emoticon above his head showed a laughing face.

I facepalmed, and started walking away, the sun casting long shadows already, and got back to my hut, Lupe following behind, having played around with some sticks I occasionally tossed into the forest. I felt decent enough about what had happened, sure I had wasted a perfectly good log, but, now I knew how good a boat it was, as it didn't seem to even tip in the water at all. I went to bed shortly after, of course meditating then falling asleep.

I woke up bright and early, already knowing what I was going to be doing today. I was going to make a proper canoe, but this time, I was going to secure it to a tree with some thick leather rope. I ate a heavy breakfast and started carving up the second log. First I cut it in half, and already things felt more manageable. I started cutting away more material on the front and back, making it into a traditional canoe shape. I started carving the inside, then got to sanding, and before I knew it, I was out of mana and had to eat lunch.

It was another heavy meal, a full steak, and probably a half-gallon of water. I quickly got back to carving and washing the canoe. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be since my past experience was making planks, I thought this would be as fast. But I was wrong, this required a lot more precision, and sanding the outside and inside. But eventually, after a heavy dinner, I was done, the sun already casting long shadows, and thankfully, it turned out pretty well. I even had several large wooden rings, for rigging the rope and oars. I didn't have much else to do, just make the rope, and attach the boat to the stump, but that could wait for tomorrow. I dragged the boat back home, and placed it next to my sled, and started up my stairs. I laid back, feeling pretty good, I hadn't done much besides make the boat, but it was a damn fine boat... hopefully, and if my rope held true, I could use it to actually go for a swim, using it as a tether. I laid back, and started meditating, before slipping into sleep.