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𝙷𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚖𝚊𝚗

@shagbark_hick • 51,079 subscribers

Highland Traveller descendant, 12+ years nomadic. Catholic. I write for a living at Hickman's Hinterlands at https://t.co/czRSBad12f

Shorts

It's snowing in the Adirondacks of New York State. October 31st, 2025, first flakes of the year. This was NOT in the forecast! You love to see it!

It's snowing in the Adirondacks of New York State. October 31st, 2025, first flakes of the year. This was NOT in the forecast! You love to see it!

12,298 次观看

Note the way the Amish buggy wheel warbles and waves. Keeping these wheels spinning true is a serious job involving constant maintenance. This is because if the horse pulls even slightly to the right, the wheel jumps into the sand, and must be pulled back over the edge of the road -- which stresses the wheel tremendously, especially with a heavy load. Eventually, they WILL pop off, and accidents do happen. Really makes you appreciate the mechanical precision of modern wheels -- and the invention of the rubber tire!

Note the way the Amish buggy wheel warbles and waves. Keeping these wheels spinning true is a serious job involving constant maintenance. This is because if the horse pulls even slightly to the right, the wheel jumps into the sand, and must be pulled back over the edge of the road -- which stresses the wheel tremendously, especially with a heavy load. Eventually, they WILL pop off, and accidents do happen. Really makes you appreciate the mechanical precision of modern wheels -- and the invention of the rubber tire!

13,906 次观看

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One thing people may not realize on Veterans Day is just how diverse the missions are in the United States military. I mean, I joined the Coast Guard and was promptly assigned to an icebreaker in northern Michigan. Here's a video of my old ship escorting a freighter carrying iron ore. Our job was to keep the St Mary's River channel navigable, so that ships could deliver taconite to the steel mills in Ohio to keep people employed. It was a fascinating job. If one of those ships gets stuck in the ice, the ice sheet can carry the ship to shoal water, where it could hit an obstruction and possibly sink. So we buzzed circles around those ships -- some of them were 1000' long -- to make sure they could get to clear water safely. I remember once a ship was stuck real bad and we got them out -- the cook got onto the fantail of their ship and was waving at us, yelling "thank you!!!" Was a real banner day. It was the best job I ever had. I loved every second of it. I didn't know how good I had it just then, but if I did I would've tried to stay forever. I still miss it badly all the time. I miss the water, miss wearing the uniform. God bless the US Coast Guard and I'll tell ya, if you're looking for a job and are qualified -- consider it. It was the best decision I ever made in my life, hands down.

One thing people may not realize on Veterans Day is just how diverse the missions are in the United States military. I mean, I joined the Coast Guard and was promptly assigned to an icebreaker in northern Michigan. Here's a video of my old ship escorting a freighter carrying iron ore. Our job was to keep the St Mary's River channel navigable, so that ships could deliver taconite to the steel mills in Ohio to keep people employed. It was a fascinating job. If one of those ships gets stuck in the ice, the ice sheet can carry the ship to shoal water, where it could hit an obstruction and possibly sink. So we buzzed circles around those ships -- some of them were 1000' long -- to make sure they could get to clear water safely. I remember once a ship was stuck real bad and we got them out -- the cook got onto the fantail of their ship and was waving at us, yelling "thank you!!!" Was a real banner day. It was the best job I ever had. I loved every second of it. I didn't know how good I had it just then, but if I did I would've tried to stay forever. I still miss it badly all the time. I miss the water, miss wearing the uniform. God bless the US Coast Guard and I'll tell ya, if you're looking for a job and are qualified -- consider it. It was the best decision I ever made in my life, hands down.

𝙷𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚖𝚊𝚗

322,657 次观看 • 7 个月前

We've become close with the Amish around here, and were invited last night to stop by for a buggy ride. If you've assumed that riding in a buggy would be relaxing, think again. It's a rough, wild ride; so loud you can barely keep a conversation. Automobiles whizz within an inch of you now and then, and occasionally the horse veers right, putting the hard buggy wheels into the sand, sending everyone lurching toward the woods. The wheels warble madly, out-of-whack and off-kilter, and sometimes, the horse travels at such a feverish speed on curves that the wheels slide sideways! You do wonder whether you might wind up in the ditch once in a while! But -- on the smaller country roads, it is a heavenly ride. The land passes under us slowly, allowing us to take in every inch of the scenery. As we go by friends, we tarry just long enough to exchange a few words with them if we like. Traffic laws barely apply to us; there are no seatbelts, and we've packed seven people into the buggy without fear of the law. We can feel the breeze, and the changes in the temperature, too. Where automotive travel feels like being hermetically sealed into a kind of expensive, dangerous, rolling living room -- the buggy never lets you feel as if you are anywhere but exactly where you are. Slamming car doors did not punctuate our travel; the line between "stationary" and "rolling" was wonderfully blurry. In all, it was a fine evening, during which we traveled perhaps ten miles. It pays to be friends with the Schwartzentrubers!

We've become close with the Amish around here, and were invited last night to stop by for a buggy ride. If you've assumed that riding in a buggy would be relaxing, think again. It's a rough, wild ride; so loud you can barely keep a conversation. Automobiles whizz within an inch of you now and then, and occasionally the horse veers right, putting the hard buggy wheels into the sand, sending everyone lurching toward the woods. The wheels warble madly, out-of-whack and off-kilter, and sometimes, the horse travels at such a feverish speed on curves that the wheels slide sideways! You do wonder whether you might wind up in the ditch once in a while! But -- on the smaller country roads, it is a heavenly ride. The land passes under us slowly, allowing us to take in every inch of the scenery. As we go by friends, we tarry just long enough to exchange a few words with them if we like. Traffic laws barely apply to us; there are no seatbelts, and we've packed seven people into the buggy without fear of the law. We can feel the breeze, and the changes in the temperature, too. Where automotive travel feels like being hermetically sealed into a kind of expensive, dangerous, rolling living room -- the buggy never lets you feel as if you are anywhere but exactly where you are. Slamming car doors did not punctuate our travel; the line between "stationary" and "rolling" was wonderfully blurry. In all, it was a fine evening, during which we traveled perhaps ten miles. It pays to be friends with the Schwartzentrubers!

𝙷𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚖𝚊𝚗

25,247 次观看 • 9 个月前

In Caluula, Somalia, this ~1300 sq ft bungalow is offered for $48,000, but locals have commented that it could be haggled down to as little as $30k. With Starlink, you could post on X all day about life in Somalia, living very well on X monetization payouts. Great opportunity!

In Caluula, Somalia, this ~1300 sq ft bungalow is offered for $48,000, but locals have commented that it could be haggled down to as little as $30k. With Starlink, you could post on X all day about life in Somalia, living very well on X monetization payouts. Great opportunity!

𝙷𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚖𝚊𝚗

25,149 次观看 • 10 个月前

The palms of Presidio, Texas herald a hero's welcome to any who come to this obscure point on the dry, desolate map of West Texas. La frontera here is only a technicality. I have spoken to numerous people today -- but I haven't spoken a word of English yet. The radio is entirely in Spanish. Now, I'm sitting by a cactus garden as the temperature climbs past 90 degrees. Soon, the mercury will surpass 100f, and with any luck, I'll be eating some comida mexicana that is every bit as hot. I find places like these heavenly. I am not in America, not in Mexico, but in a hallucinatory cultural estuary. I am in a place where a dental filling involves $15 USD and a border crossing, where AR-15's are legal, and Our Lady of Guadalupe is every bit as popular as Hank Williams.

The palms of Presidio, Texas herald a hero's welcome to any who come to this obscure point on the dry, desolate map of West Texas. La frontera here is only a technicality. I have spoken to numerous people today -- but I haven't spoken a word of English yet. The radio is entirely in Spanish. Now, I'm sitting by a cactus garden as the temperature climbs past 90 degrees. Soon, the mercury will surpass 100f, and with any luck, I'll be eating some comida mexicana that is every bit as hot. I find places like these heavenly. I am not in America, not in Mexico, but in a hallucinatory cultural estuary. I am in a place where a dental filling involves $15 USD and a border crossing, where AR-15's are legal, and Our Lady of Guadalupe is every bit as popular as Hank Williams.

𝙷𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚖𝚊𝚗

46,508 次观看 • 2 年前

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