Day 263 of 365

Still thirsty

Today's adventure involved so many mosquitoes. In fact it feels like the entire planet of that insect population has turned up on my property.

What did I do today?

I drank from the bark of a birch tree. It was perfect and I learned a skill that increased my apocalypse prepping street cred.

Here's how it's done.

Harvest the bark. That's when the mosquitos had their feast. My camera crew looks like a skittle pock commercial with welts all over.

After the harvest I had to scrape away the outer white layer to promote a more flexible piece of material. Birch bark fresh off the tree is very flexible.

I cut my cleaned bark into a circle and double folded it to create the cup. This is why it was very important to keep it thin but also free from cracks and knots. Holes are the enemy on day 263.

I used a piece of birch tree branch to create a pin to hold it all together. It also doubles as a handle.

That was the simple plan.

It came together so wonderfully aside from the tiny hole that created a drip. If I was scooping this from a basin of boiled water it would work well and I could also use it to fill a canteen.

This felt a bit like camping, with the mosquitoes and the wooden cup. I did disassemble the project when I was finished and wrap that patch of bark back on the tree. In a real world environment I wouldn't do that but I like the birch tree in my yard. There is a learning curve and I feel educated in a leaky way.

Day 263 was thirst quenching.

Love & Light