The Pineapple to Katie's smoke.
Like David's Rain on fallen leaves and my own waves on the beach, there is nothing quite as comforting as the fresh smell of woodsmoke and the heat that radiates from the stove on a brisk winter day. A pot of chili or soup simmering on the woodstove only adds to that comfortable feeling of home and it makes all the work involved in loads like this well worth the sweat. And yes, the truck is older than I am.
I can smell the wood from here. :)
ReplyDeleteNice wood. The best wood isn't just there in the morning. Fire really is the link between living like an animal and a civilized being.
ReplyDeleteWe have brought home 14 loads like this. Oak, Maple, Birch and Beech all from trees that were dying or dead that I cut down last winter. The heat is nice. The smell is nicer and looking at the supply with a bit of paranoia as the stacks grew this fall - will I have enough?- was heartening. Since it is my only source of heat, the saddest thing in life is to watch the piles slowly be used. My paranoia has me going to the woods every weekend if I can to replenish the whole that the week's burning created. I honestly enjoy cutting wood...although with the amount that I have cut over the years I should probably hate it. It is an opportunity to be in the woods and see the deer and the wild turkey. It is an opportunity (If I get off my lazy ass) to work my horses a bit skidding logs out of the woods to the edge of the field. It is an opportunity to fiddle with that old 1954 International that runs like a sewing machine. It is an opportunity to fuss with my log splitter that I am constantly modifying (a self built hydraulic log lift table because I am not as young as I used to be). It is an opportunity to not think about other things that are not as pleasant.
DeleteI am often jealous of you my friend. This is one of those times.
Deletei hear that mcfly..
DeleteI'm jealous too, GT. You speak with the appreciation of it of someone who has lived in the city for a while, and knows the difference
ReplyDeleteOne of my favourite things about winter: flames dancing in the fireplace and sending out that warm glow. Nothing warms you up quite like that!
ReplyDeleteOr, like today, I have the left over ham bone from Christmas dinner simmering on the woodstove for a nice batch of pea soup.
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