The Markham Fair 2025 starts this week so I thought I would get my wood chopping in now, instead of trying to do it on Thursday, Friday when we will be very active at the fair grounds. I was initially worried that chopping would tire out my hands, hindering my climbing sessions, but the true culprit is the elbow/bicep combo, so provided I only cut for 75-90 minutes at a time, I can get out without any real damage or lasting pain to either body part. I get some additional exercise, a massive chore slowly gets completed over several weeks time, and the dog gets extended walk time to chase rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks and turkeys at his leisure. It’s a win all around.
I did add an eight pound maul to my collection of wood splitting tools, and a matching Fiskars splitting wedge. Both of which work a real treat. Still not going to get through the toughest bits I have encountered, but it offers me options, along with my little sledge hammer I can get out of most jams without too much fuss. The eight pounder really makes me appreciate swinging the six. Makes you feel like you could swing the smaller one for days after a few rounds with the heavier maul. Two pounds doesn’t sound like much, but it adds up after a series of swings that come up over your head at full extension to slam down to knee level on the chopping block. My shoulders are getting the workout of a lifetime these days. Sweating like a pig over here.
The full sun exposure doesn’t help much either, and it’s only 23°C today, but whacking those rounds, over, and over, and over again works up a nasty splash of perspiration. Pours into my eyes, soaks through my hate, soaks into my belt, and leaves my socks drenched. I’m a certified fatty, I sweat so much now. I never used to perspire this badly before. Back sweat, chest sweat, under arms, legs, neck, head, you name it there is a layer of glistening stank on me! It’s kinda nasty.
Gotta give a shout out to my goat skin gloves because my hands are (so far) doing really well after wielding an axe for more than eight hours over the last two weeks with no signs of wear & tear on them. I can feel the pressure points on my thumbs and palms wanting to develope into blisters, but it just hasn’t happened yet. And for that, I am thankful. Climbing isn’t building up any causes yet, because I’m not there enough to do so. But I can feel some of the touch coming back to my fingers, and I’m relearning how to approach new beta’s. That’s a route up the climbing wall. I’m back to sticking with 5.8, and 5.9’s once again. Soon I might be able to try the 5.10’s again. I had high hopes that my summer spent with the grippers would help me with my climbing. I guess my strength didn’t diminish, but my skills faded without use. My forearms and hands are my weak spot with climbing. That, and not being able to raise my legs laterally far enough to make some wider steps possible. Working on it!
Back to Monday! Friday felt like a whole extra Saturday with the PA Day, and the no school, plus evening spent at the Halloween Haunt. Sunday we went back, but for the camp spooky stuff, and had just as much fun. Caught the sun a little too while we were at it, but it was fun enough.
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