{this moment}....firewood 101

I know you’re not ready for me to start talking about how cold our spot of heaven can get in the winter. If you haven’t heard it yet, let me go ahead and say it. Our house is tucked under the shadow of a mountain and for at least four months we get no sun. None. Big deal, you’re thinking. It actually is. There may be green grass in town, 3 quick miles away, and we are buried under 8 feet of snow. It doesn’t melt here. Till the very end.

We heat solely with wood. We have gas heat, but it’s too expensive to think about turning on. We actually blow out the pilot so that we aren’t tempted. We have two wood stoves that burn constantly for about six months. It takes a lot of wood and even more work. We wake up before the kids, put on coats and start the fires. The kids jump out of bed and run with their clothes to the stove and stand near it to dress. They really don’t know any different. Things are cozy after about thirty minutes. We live in a tight knot within a radius of the stoves.

I often cook on the stove if I’m home during the day. Through the course of the day we have to stoke the stove at least hourly. We all do it. There’s lots of hauling and splitting kindling and shuffling of wood from the woodpile to the porch to the inside bin.

It’s lots of work. Really. But it is work that feels right. It’s work that kids ‘get’. They help cut and load and off-load and stack. No one is left out. Sweet Della stands on the trailer bed and flings heavy logs with all her might. They con the neighbors a la Tom Sawyer and yammer and work together.

We live in a world where convenience rules. We’ve evolved to flip switches and turn dials. But I must say, there is a primal pleasure in working for heat. The connection between hard work and warmth fortifies the soul. I really do think it’s how it’s meant to be. We’re supposed to nurse our babies, love our neighbors, and heat with wood. 

Until about mid March, and then let’s just meet in the Bahamas. 

It’s barely snowing right now and I’m not quite ready. I built the first fire. Every doll and blankie and pillow in the house migrated to the hearth. 

Here we go.

{And please think about joining the october challenge!!!}