Fun with Chemo: 3am and a Difference a Week Makes

Yay Steroids!!! Keeping me awake again. I am writing this to show what a difference a week makes. Last week, I was at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge. After lying in bed for a few hours resting and reading, I decided to put my time to some good use. So, I took my computer outside under the gazebo and spent the next 4 hours entering Behavior Reports for work. The weather was perfect. No breeze but cool. And I could hear the lions caroling. It was an awesome night! And the sunrise was beautiful. I was so productive with my time and, might I add, quite proud of myself.

One Week Later...

Yep, another 3:00 am wide awake experience. After lying in bed for a couple of hours relaxing and listening to YouTube videos, I decided to get up and be productive again. At least productive in my opinion. I decided to test fire starters and tinder in my kitchen sink. Yep, you read that right. I played with fire in my kitchen sink.

But first, let me explain. I like primitive camping, whether it is driving a forest road and camping by my RAV4 or backpacking in somewhere. I like watching videos of others backcountry camping, especially in Canada in the winter. Helps me forget the heat that Arkansas brings being in hell's anus at the end of August. One thing I've learned from those Canadian videos is that birch bark is fabulous tinder. But I don't know where to find it in Arkansas. So, I ordered some from Amazon! It came in large squares which means I have plenty. I took half a square and started experimenting.

I wanted to try two of my ferro rod fire starters, my SOL magnesium/ferro rod combo, and my cheap small ferro rod. So, I had two 1/4 squares of birch bark. I used the striker on both rods to rub up some of the birch bark into powder and small bits of bark. I put them in the middle of the square. I used the SOL magnesium/ferro rod and my Morakniv knife and scraped some magnesium onto one pile of birch bark then used the 90-degree spine to strike the ferro rod. Took a few strikes but it finally took a spark. SWEET! Then I used the small ferro rod and it threw some really good sparks. Same result, the birch bark caught rather quickly, but the added magnesium on the other one worked a little better. The tube on the right is my pocket bellows.

I then decided to prepare some larger birch bark pieces to add when the powder takes a spark. I scored the larger pieces of birch bark, broke them, and peeled them. You can kind of see the process above. I decided to use only the SOL magnesium/ferro rod for this.

I used the scraper instead of the Morakniv to scrape up the birch bark then to scrape magnesium in with it. After a few strikes of the ferro rod, the powder lit. I did not have a lot because, well, I was making the fire in my kitchen sink. Outdoors I would have a lot more powder and magnesium. Once it took the spark, I added strips of birch bark to light them. As they lit, I added more, and the fire was burning well enough that I knew I could add small twigs then pencil-sized twigs to get the fire going. I was quite pleased!!!

I processed the rest of the birch bark because I don't like to waste a good thing. I separated the top layers from the bottom layers. Then I put them in these water-resistant plastic containers to carry to my next camping trip. Imagine adding shredded pieces of fat wood to it, and that would make even better tinder.

So, there you have it. Fun with Chemo. Just goes to show you how scary my brain can be at 3:00 am. I think the big difference is this week I may have taken a bit too many meds to try and sleep, so I probably am just a bit high and not sleepy. Why not set a fire in my kitchen sink! (Sad fact is that I have done that with plenty of sleep and not under the influence of any meds, so my brain is plain and simply a scary place.)

If you have a request for my steroid-driven brain at 3:00 am to try, write it in the comments below. I wonder how creative my peeps can be! Caveats: (1) I won't do anything (too) illegal; (2) I won't get nekkid; (3) I probably won't have anyone else to join me because who would be here at 3:00 am? I'm going to be in chemo for 2 years, so we've gotta have fun with this!

It's now 4:30 am. Maybe some of the buttload of meds will kick in and I can sleep a few hours. Back to bed I go! Think I'll listen to music or brown noise. Probably safer. Definitely won't inspire kitchen sink pyrotechnics.