“How much wood could a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?”

My answer? Not nearly enough.

I never thought I would ever be so connected to our wood piles. But, this heating season, I find myself handling and addressing them fondly when I pass by on my way to the side yard. We have never been so dependent on wood as we have been this winter. It makes me think about life in another time, and even now, as others totally heat their homes with wood. 

It's great heat. Nothing like backing up to the wood stove for a good penetrating dose of positive reinforcement. And the lovely warm moisture pot atop floated full with cloves and orange peels. And wood ash tracked all over the house and singed dog hair and creosote chunks rattling around inside the stove pipe.

We are thankful for the warmth our wood provides and hope other's wood heaters are well fed.