Ahh … the smell of Autumn is in the air.
It’s only a couple of weeks away.
A couple of months ago I ordered a chord of
firewood. It came from a family of loggers who harvest wood on their woodlot. They
also have a contract to scavenge logging sites for fallen logs that don’t make
the grade for building houses.
A chord should last the winter in our small
cottage. We have electric baseboard heaters, but a wood fire is so much cheaper
and better. We plan to turn off the heaters and use our wood fire totally this
winter.
The wood was delivered on a July day; early
for winter, but to season wood properly it needs to sit a few months drying in
a woodpile. Upon delivery, I had to walk
the cut wood, piece by piece, up our slope to the open woodshed. There, I
stacked it.
There’s a special way to stack a chord of
firewood. A chord is 4 feet x 4 feet x 8 feet;
it should be stacked in rows with a space
between so the wood can dry successfully. Dry, seasoned, firewood is key to a
good fire.
I’ve been reading a wonderful book about
harvesting, drying and stacking firewood. “Norwegian Wood” was a best seller a
couple of years ago, and it poetically explains the art of managing wood,
almost as a vocation or a meditation.
A best seller about wood? There are lots of
households around the world that heat with wood, and today with electricity
rates being so expensive, some people are looking for alternative ways to heat.
A good book about wood is timely. For centuries man’s main source of heat and
cooked food has been the wood stove or fireplace. Electricity is recent, so is
natural gas. Harvesting, stacking, drying and burning wood is more natural for
which we, in today’s world, give credit.
“Norwegian Wood” is written by a Norwegian
woodsman/author who aptly marketed his book with the name of one of the Beatles’
songs. Why not? He couldn’t have done it legitimately as a Swede, a Dane or a Canadian.
The book is an excellent source of vital
information about firewood, including; the wood (species of trees), tools (axes,
saws, chainsaws etc.), stacking, drying, wood stoves, fireplaces, warmth, cozyness,
including a few, interesting characters.
Most of our new shipment of wood is Coastal
Douglas Fir, a Western, North America species that used to be plentiful on
Vancouver Island. Old growth has now been logged to almost extinction. Perhaps
I should feel sad about them logging such a resource. However, I’m sure it will keep us warm next
winter.
Now, my sharp axe comes into play as I chop
kindling and hack the wood down to a good size for our fireplace. There are great meditative qualities of staring
at a fire in a fireplace with your feet up, relaxing.
QUOTES:
“There is no place more
delightful than one's own fireplace.” - Marcus T. Cicero
“Though you live near a forest, do not waste firewood.” - Chinese Proverb
“Chop your own firewood
and it will warm you twice.” - African Proverb
“Before enlightenment;
chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water.” Zen
Proverb
“Old wood best to burn,
old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read.” - Francis
Bacon
Resources:
