To tarp or not to tarp — that is the question. I see it almost every day in forums discussing firewood and wood heat. The debate boils down to whether ’tis nobler to suffer moisture from above (thus preserving complete air circulation), or to protect the stack (partially, at least) from the elements.
Even diehard tarpers cover only the tops of their woodpiles.
For better or worse, I tarp. I’ve also used scraps of sheet metal, fiberglass roofing panels and the like. For the cordwood stacked here on The Mountain, I’ve decided to use (camo) tarps from Harbor Freight — they can be had cheaply enough that it doesn’t give me heartburn when I cut them to fit.
My rationale is that leaving the sides open allows plenty of air and sunlight for seasoning, while still guaranteeing that I can grab relatively dry wood from just under the tarp, even if the rest of the stack is wet.
As of yesterday afternoon, the wood I’d put up near the fire pit this week hadn’t been covered. We had rain comin’ in fast, and I was fresh outta cheap Harbor Freight tarps. That’s when my lifelong habit of saving stuff — keeping perfectly good pieces of broken things — came to the rescue.
Last summer the Ozarkansas wind mangled two E-Z UPs we’d used to shelter our generator. From the wreckage I salvaged bolts, nuts, screws and washers, plus some of the tubular framework and, albeit torn in places, the fabric canopies. The smaller of those canopies measured about six feet square.
Yesterday I pulled it from the shed and cut it in half. One piece was employed to tarp the new hardwood stack, the other to cover the cedar. Weighed-down with small rocks, they filled the bill perfectly.
As a bonus, the fabric’s russet color isn’t bad at all. Yes, that matters to me.
Both Deb and I were raised by parents who grew up during hard times. They taught us about the benefits of salvaging and saving, valuable lessons from The Great Depression that we took to heart. Although there’s a fine line separating smart saving from neurotic hoarding, we try to strike a balance.
It paid off again yesterday. Waste not.
The drive to the laundromat this morning was soggy and foggy. We needed vape juice, however, so we passed Gassville — see what I did there? — and continued on to Mountain Home. On a whim we also dropped by the new (re-branded) Tractor Supply, briefly checked it out, then got back underway.
Not long after we turned in the direction of the laundromat, Deb slapped my arm.
“Stop! Turn in here!”
She was pointing at the big Harps grocery store on the east side of Mountain Home. Neither of us had been there before, but she was quite insistent about going inside.
She wouldn’t tell me why.
Somehow she seemed to know exactly where she was going. I tagged along behind as she marched purposefully toward the back of the store, where she stopped, turned around and grinned.
There, right in front of us, in a grocery store, was an honest-to-‘Merica gun shop.
Deb had heard about it from one of her co-workers. It’s a compact operation, yet the selection of firearms and ammunition was surprisingly broad and deep — everything from deer rifles and shotguns to defensive handguns and AR-15s, plus an array of optics and other accessories.
The store employee who manages the department, a friendly fella about my age, came over to chat with us. Great experience.
Since coming to Ozarkansas we’ve patronized Harps locations in Harrison, Bellefonte, Mountain Home (west) and, of course, Yellville. We’d seen the gun shop inside Thompson’s Ace Hardware in Harrison, just down the road from our campground, and we thought that was pretty damned cool.
But this, unquestionably, was a first. We love it here.
We did, in fact, get around to doing laundry today, starting about 90 minutes later than usual. By that time on a Sunday, church was out and the laundromat was jammed up. We grabbed drive-thru grub and ate it out in the parked truck while waiting for our dirties to be clean and dry.
But it was a good day.
Rolling back up the subdivision road toward a mist-shrouded Hall Mountain, we slowed to allow nine whitetails to cross, all does and yearlings.
We got a little over an inch-and-a-half of rain in 24 hours.
Tomorrow will be dry.
And warmer.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB