Trekked Up To York Gulch Today

Spent the day up on York Gulch cutting aspen and spruce poles for my winter camping hut. I'm making them 12 feet long using both dead and live trees.

As the window for decent weather steadily closes and each day brings us closer to winter I've decided to make a wood tipi structure instead of a cabin. I can construct a tipi in half the time. And, it will still provide me with a 10x 10 living area. From the center of the tipi to the hole at the top will be 10 foot tall. My poles will all be 12 foot but when you place them at a 70 degree angle you lose 2 feet off the top.

I will then cover the interior wall and floor space with my tarpaulins. For the outer covering I will use spruce boughs. Native American Plains tribes used buffalo hides then later Army issue canvas.

If I have the time I plan on constructing a 5ft tall corral in front of the entrance to the tipi and dig a fire pit there. The corral or fence made of poles will serve to reflect the heat in the fire pit right inside the tipi. It will also serve as a deterrent to varmints to keep them out of the tipi.

My friend, Joe, who owns this old mining claim I'm squatting on gave me his 4 wheel truck today so I could haul up tools and whatnot up to the camp site. He then  drove me back to town.

In other developments: I cooked the second of three Church spaghetti dinners last Thursday and it was a success. We had I think 5 new visitors including Neil and Jonas 20 somethings who are homeless essentially but who are brilliant thinkers and doers. Neil calls me pops which I like very much because I do watch over these young men and befriend them helping with anything and everything.

Joined a book club made up of Idaho Springs ladies who wanted to hear my story about walking here from Illinois. One of the ladies sits on a county committee which decide how money for the homeless is disbursed. She announced that she will discuss with the Sheriff of Clear Creek County the idea of placing me on same committee due to my alleged expertise in this area.

On Wednesday Donna and I attended the Chamber of Commerce mixer held at the Frothy Cup. There I was introduced to the President of the Chamber who also sits on the City Council and owns one of three pot dispensaries in town. Name of Jason Siegal. He also plays the bass in an Old Timey band here in town. They played some great tunes at the mixer.

Thanks again to my sister Marty Zimmerman and her husband Marten for a greatly needed contribution! They are the greatest!

I'm scheduled to volunteer at the Community Thanksgiving Day Dinner being held at the Elks Club. One of my jobs in regard to this dinner is to advertise the event around town.

Attended a meeting with Pastor Robertson and Susan of Clear Creek Neighborhood Church. The issue at hand: What should be the vision of this church and what should be our relationship to the United Church which is a joining together of the Methodist and Presbyterian Churches. Pastor Robertson is the pastor of United Church as well.

Well, the discussion was at times intense as we talked about what the "Gospel" is or rather how it is defined scripturally. I believe our message to the community must be concise and clear. I believe that the Gospel is not limited to the life, death and resurrection of Christ...as central as those are... but that those were means to an end...the end being that God comes down to the newly restored Earth and abides with a newly saved/ restored humankind and that He returns us to a wholly new re-creation of the entire cosmos. That coming back from exile back to the new Garden of Eden completes the Gospel and is well taught in both the Old and New Testaments.

Why I run into opposition to this idea that our destiny is not Heaven but a new Earth is beyond me. Read Isaiah 65 and the last 2 chapters of Revelation.

On Monday November 16 I turn 56 years of age. Donna turned 51 on the 12th. We are going to celebrate both our birthdays on Monday. I bought her a bracelet made of copper and silver which Jonas made. He's a talented jewelry craftsman. I then presented it to her this morning when I arrived at opening time at the Frothy Cup. She loved it! I helped make the house coffees. Her back was hurting badly this morning so I performed some chores for her.

Donna has been such a great help to me. She was the first person I met in Idaho Springs when I arrived January 21, 2014 almost a year ago.

First pic shows York Gulch where I'm building my wood tipi. The next pic is Donna at the Chamber Mixer.

Well...gotta go. Grace and peace to you all!

BR Schoenbein
November 14, 2015- Saturday