Free Heat

This is the same wood that is pictured on the Yuba in the header of this page...I originally saw it at the curb last spring and thought I'd take it for two reasons: (1) because it would be a challenge to see if I could carry logs on a bike (no problem, it turned out), (2) because I knew there would be a time in the very near future (now) when I would want this wood to burn before I had my yearly shipment delivered.

I lent my chainsaw to someone last year and I can't remember who. I had the day off and wanted to ready the wood to burn (it's supposed to be in the 40s during the evening this weekend). Anyhow, I cut it by hand with a hand saw and split it with an ax...my workout for the day (it was pretty difficult to cut by hand).

I couldn't help but think how the whole process was human-powered: brought the wood home with my own energy, then split and chopped it by hand...now it will be free heat for the weekend.
And as I was cutting/splitting the wood I also thought how difficult it must have been to live from day-to-day in these parts, say 100 years ago (this would have just been a daily chore, no doubt). I also thought how it felt good to do this by hand...to work hard and have sweat dripping from my brow (literally)...I don't know, maybe it's just my Protestant upbringing.