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Why not go back to the way it was done years ago in the metro ?
A neighbor moved next to our farm in 1950.
As I got older, he told me about the job he used to have in Detroit as an ice man.
He worked for a company that delivered big blocks of ice to Detroit residents for their --ice boxes-- that preserved food in summer.
He said it was hard work lugging those big ice blocks up narrow stairs to 3rd floor apartments.
Find a lake in winter-----harvest ice blocks and bury them in deep sawdust.
Use as needed in summer.
There was a reason they had ice saws and ice tongs years ago.
Today's technology should also have resulted in much better ice boxes to utilize those ice blocks than they had years ago.
I have an old two man cross cut saw in my shop that came from my grandfather, but it was odd...every raker had been snapped off. Then it dawned on me...it was not used to cut wood, but rather to cut ICE in the winter.
Ice was a huge commodity in Maine and New England years ago and was why Boston got its nickname, Bean Town. The ships would haul ice to the Carribean, then turn around and haul mollasses drived from sugar cane, back. Between the beans we grew, and the mollasses we back hauled from the ice ships, well baked beans became popular. Even today in Portland there is a baked bean factory still working.
As for the ice ships...every sailor on the east coast wanted that gig since ice floats and it would be impossible for a ship filled with ice to sink!
The reason for not doing it "the way they used to" would be because in Southern Indiana our winters, while providing for a few serious cold snaps, don't provide for the deep-freezing winters of the North. Our lakes down here seldom freeze over to any real depth, let alone something which would provide for giant blocks of ice.
Not all regions "used to do" things the same way. Two hundred miles North of my location (give or take a hundred) that solution would be perfect. In my area -- no, not so much of a solution.
This is where people kind of miss the point on helping one another out...
Why not try to find and locate a like-minded individual who is a short drive away? In one weekend you could cut all the ice you need on their property and haul it back home to your place. For "trade" they might be able to cut wood, or grow a crop that needs a bit longer growing period?
I would think even with a little travel expenses tossed in, the electrical savings and comraderie generated would be better then having an electric bill paying for chilled or frozen food.
With the magic of the internet now, finding like minded people within driving distances, with water resources and a williness to let you use them, should be easy!
Lake ice only has to be thick enough to support the harvesters and the vehicles. A foot or so should suffice for horse drawn sleds. I was driving around yesterday and saw some guys has parked their SUV next to the ice fishing shack. That is thick ice.
1751Texan asks:
"If global warming realy does happens, what happens if the lake dont freeze over...? whole lotta wet ice"
We have 22 inches of ice on the lake today and the lake is "makin' ice". By the end of the month we will likely have 30 inches of ice. There are many trucks on the iced hauling heavy stuff to islands. These are the items it is just too difficult to move by boat in the summer. As the ice thickens it expands. It booms and cracks. Probably scares the bejeebers out of the fish underneath. ;-) No need to worry about global warming. the leading scientist advocate announced that it was all a big mistake and no data suggests we are experiencing global warming.
No need to worry about global warming. the leading scientist advocate announced that it was all a big mistake and no data suggests we are experiencing global warming.
I'm a foster parent and had the luxury of having every kid of every age lie to me in some degree or another. This global warming issue is no different.
The "scientists" and "Al Gore's" have been caught in so many lies by other scientists and hackers that they now have simply resorted to childish tactics when caught...
Simply put, they change their story and never confess...
"Did we say global warming? I meant to say global change?"
Way back when they first started preaching and screaming about Global Warming and how we were causing the Greenhouse Effect, I was just a kid, in my teens, and even I knew they were on the right track but WAY off the mark.
It doesn't take any kind of genius to observe weather patterns and climatological changes and shifts. I was doing it as a kid simply because as a farmer your day depends on the weather, so I paid attention.
And one thing I noticed is that the world is getting warmer.
FOR NOW.
As I grew up I managed a bit of education and reading. They (that ubiquitous "they", the scientists and politicians who agreed with it) were all still screaming that I needed to turn in my truck for an electric car but couldn't seem to come up with a cost-effective car. The more I listened the more I realized I was supposed to make the sacrifices but nobody of any wealth or position seemed to be getting the same push.
Further, I'd been observing climates all over the world for a while by then and while I believed our climate was changing, growing warmer, it was part of a natural cycle.
Now, more than four decades old and still paying attention, I can assure that Global Warming IS taking place and things are changing; it's just NOT the panicked, politically correct stance that idiots have been espousing since I was a small child.
Further, people cannot seem to grasp, even when it's explained to them in nice, small words, how Global Warming and a series of winter storms can go hand-in-hand over a period of time.
Ice shelves which have not been melted in recorded history aren't melting because of my Toyota, but they're not melting because Global Warming is pure myth, either. Global Warming IS happening, make no mistake; it's just the way of things. I believe we are contributing but we didn't cause this, didn't set it in motion, and the widespread panic they're still trying to push is just as nonsensical now as the next Ice Age they were pushing was back in the mid-70's when we got three HARSH winters in a row.
HAD we best adapt? You betcha!
SHOULD we be looking for greener ways to do things? Absolutely, but for cost effectiveness in the face of a faltering economy combined with escalating world populations and international tensions juxtaposed with dwindling resources.
AM I giving up my Toyota? Not until I can't afford it OR I've got an alternative.
Or, to make it more clear:
"Did I say a bear was behind you and about to kill you? Sorry, I meant a pack of rabid weasels." Something bad is still gonna happen to you and require a solution.
Last edited by Urban Sasquatch; 02-22-2010 at 09:10 AM..
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