Winter 2018 update

After experience the first beams of light on Winter Solstice sunrise at 7:43am... Sun beaming on the eating nook, and bedroom pillow. A couple hours later it floods the entire house, including back wall in sun.

 I once again appreciate the beauty of the ancients and their passive designs (think adobe, mesa verde, etc) to maximize winter sun intrusion. 

 Winsol heats and cools itself.  But it needs a little help from outside conditions.  I've been there in January when it's 20F outside, sun is shining, all curtains are open and it's 85F inside. 

 WinSol is buttoned down for the winter.  with the holidays, snowfall, cloudy days... it's a challenge to stay at Winsol during winter.  As I always say:  'a solar house without sun really sucks' - and so I tend to be a bluebird kinda guy.
The logging around WinSol has finally started.  It's been a 6+ month wait for this to happen.  i am both sad and happy about this logging.  It will lessen the threat of a wildfire and remove some of the undergrowth fuels, but it will also seriously maim the forest ecology.  The loggers already cut several of the tallest matriarchs down.  This essentially kills the centerpiece of the surrounding forest for at least 500 feet.  Adjacent trees will continue feeding these matriachs even years from now, but slowly their roots will die and rot away as the above-ground, sun-catching tree is gone.

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