Day 570: Climbing hills

Day 570:

I’m most of the way up what I thought was a big hill only to discover that compared to its neighbor it’s a little hill. Also, the lake I found turned out to be much higher in elevation than I originally thought.

It’s easy to eyeball elevation when you’re comparing a big hill to a flat plain, or a mountain to a big hill. It’s a bit harder to say “is this lake 3 meters above that other lake?”

Also, these lakes don’t seem to have feeder streams or things that empty them out, which is… well… weird. So weird I feel compelled to fix it. But I haven’t figured out how yet. It seems odd to dig a trench for a lake that until now seems to have gotten along just fine without me. On the other hand, water that doesn’t move eventually turns into primordial sludge, which given enough time and evolutionary pressure, turns into predatory lending corporations, so it’s best to get the water moving now.

Day 569: not a lot new to report

Day 569:

Not a lot new to report.

The place I’m mining right now is unusually low on duckens, which is the only thing notable about it.

That’s not a lot to write home about.

I did notice that the moon here moves in phases the same way that the one on Old Earth did.

(The four moons on New Earth all have their own behaviors and I’m not nearly smart enough to describe them, but “tidally locked” wasn’t a part of the descriptions.)

I haven’t had time to track the length of the moon’s phases, for reasons that mostly align with “don’t like to be above ground” and “things try to kill me in the dark” but I might give it a shot at some point.

Day 568: Compost!

Day 568: I think I’ve figured out how to make a compost bin out of the old fence posts and some boards I have “laying around”. (“Laying around” in this case means “things I messed up making the first time and don’t have the heart to throw out.”)

If this works, I can eat the good carrots, and turn the not-so-great carrots back into fertilizer to use to make more carrots. Or wheat. Or grow some trees. But anyway not just throw into the river and make for murky water. Which is kind of nice.

Day 567: Stars

Day 567:

I don’t get  a lot of time to do any sky watching, because things try to kill me when I go outside. That’s a bit of a deterrent.

When I do have the opportunity, I see a brilliantly clear sky and thousands of stars, and a moon.

No signs of space travel though. Not even any shooting stars.

It makes me feel small and alone, and not in the greeting card or meme way.

I might be here until I die.

Day 566: An almost perfect spring day

Day 566:

Being topside this much, it’s hard not to get caught up in how beautiful it is here. The weather’s a perfect spring temperature, the fields are always filled with beloved creatures and the occasional exploding murderous mutant, the sun is out more days than not, the wind blows gently…

There are no frogs.

I would one hundred percent that it was spring every single day here, if it weren’t for the frogs. When it’s spring, the frogs sing incessantly. Other than my domesticated animals making animal noises all day like a toddler’s room gone amok, (and the occasional groan/yell/threat/hiss of a murderous mutant) there are no animal noises here. No crickets, no frogs, no songbirds…

It’s an almost perfect spring day. But not quite.