Momentum

(Yes, boys and girls, it’s yet another blog post about firewood. Deal with it.)

Once I get rolling on something, provided I enjoy it, I keep going. It’s a pattern with me, both an angel and a demon. It makes me productive, certainly, and helps me finish what I start. The curse is that often I push past my limits and pay a price.

But generally it’s a good thing. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

As Deb and I talked on the phone during her commute early this morning, I was already down by the woodpile again, my new Fiskars splitting axe in hand. Since wrapping up yesterday, I’d been reconsidering the battles I picked, thinking about the large and stubborn-looking wood I decided to save for the gas-powered splitter.

And I wondered — did I sell myself short? Might some of those chunks be well within the capabilities of the axe and me?

There was only one way to find out.

First on the block (literally) today were two big white oak rounds, cut from stumps while I was sprucing up the utility right-of-way. Both had hollow voids in the center, maybe three or four inches across. I hoped they might yield to a purposeful swing.

Butter.

Seriously, they didn’t put up much of a fight. They’d already started to dry and season, and they split readily into tidy, easy-to-stack wedges.

I plowed through the rest of what previously I’d avoided. Some took two smacks before giving way, none more than three. I ended up with just 14 pieces of wood that I still won’t attempt with the axe.

Honestly, about ten of those I’ll probably burn whole in the fire pits. I laid down a couple of cedar runners and stacked the big’n’ugly bits on them to dry.

What I processed this morning amounted to a pretty respectable pile. I added it to the stack on the pallet, bringing it very close to being full.

Damn, that feels good.

Sharp eyes will notice that there’s some cedar in this latest mix. Though burning eastern red cedar produces only half the heat output of oak, and even less compared to the hickory and black locust in our woodpile, it has its place — yes, in our fire pits, but also in the woodstove.

Time to dispel a myth — if you think that burning softwoods in a stove is impossible without risking creosote buildup and chimney fires, tell that to people who’ve burned pine, spruce and fir exclusively for thousands of years, ’cause that’s all they have.

They don’t have fires in their flues. They know what they’re doing. So do we.

Anyway, back to The Mountain. I’m totally thrilled with the shape we’re in, firewood-wise. Originally buying two loads of cordwood from a local seller was a smart move on our part, giving us a base supply we can count on. Now we’re able to supplement it with the virtually unlimited resources around us, and we have the tools we need to do that.

That’s a win.

Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.

#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable

#LetsGoBrandon #FJB

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