SHOULDER YOKE

— So you put this on your shoulders, but, well, to start with you choose a piece of aspen that is a bit wider than your shoulders, and then you cut it out with an axe or a chisel. You choose a piece that's going to rest well on your shoulders, so that it leans like this here. Aspen lasts a long time. And as it's often damp when you can carry water… If you get caught in the rain it turns black and that's it. They're made from aspen posts, the fence there, the fence posts, and from juniper stakes, basically juniper, and willow switches to connect them. The old folks say that these fences have been here for fifty years. I've seen many people that have water carriers here. You know, buckets, right on your shoulders, you carry them at your shoulders. This one's more convenient than those, by the way. With them you walk and the water splashes everywhere. But here you can hold onto them with the steel wire, or some people make small chains, or use nylon cords. Whatever you have available.