Firewood In

[Ribcracker]

I wrote this essay this past fall:
Summer ran past in the blink of an eye. Wasn't I paying attention?
  Sometimes I feel like I'm on a brake-less train gaining speed down a steep grade and I dread what's at the bottom of this hill. I wish there was a way to slow summers down.
  But here we are again. So we get the firewood in, chimneys swept, storm windows up and settle in for another long winter. Our property borders a vast woodland so fuel is readily available.
  We cut, split, and store wood year round and try to stay at least a season ahead in our supply. Typically, we go through about a dozen face cords during the winter.
  The downstairs fireplace has an efficient insert that completely heats the basement so that's where we spend most of our time during the cold, dark hours. The heat rolls along the ceiling until it finds the stairwell and billows on up. The thermostat is at the top of the stairs where it feels the heat and prevents the furnace from kicking on. We keep the thermostat set at 50 degrees because there are things we'd rather spend our money on than fuel oil. Even so, after we've gone to bed and the embers have gone dim, the furnace will kick on two or three times during the night.
  We use an electric blanket on the bed and take space heaters into the bathroom for showers or to have at our feet during meals. Our electric bill goes up about 50 bucks a month during winter but that's nothing compared to what the fuel oil would cost.
  The emerald ash borer has decimated our ash trees so an ample supply of fuel is assured for the next several years. It helps in that I don't have to go so deeply into the woods to harvest.
  It broke my heart to see the ashes fail but that's natural selection at work. Once the ashes are all dead, I suppose the borer will die, too. And then maybe the ashes can make a comeback. More likely though, some other tree species will succeed in their place. So it goes.

Being a native of Michigan, I've learned to welcome winter like an old friend. But like most visitors it eventually wears its welcome out. A short stay would be fine but...five months?
  Alas, we slouch along, well past the days of looking out in wonder at freshly fallen snow. Skiing? Sledding? Been there, done that. The thrill is gone. Sure, by Christmas the days start getting longer, but who needs longer days like this?
  Now the urge is to hunker down, pull the afghan to the chin and dream of places warm.
  Ah, but spring will come. It's an immutable law of nature. Slowly there will be more green than white, more blue than gray, more energy than lethargy. We'll be renewed! And maybe this year we'll savor it even more, with a joy that those poor folks stuck in warm climates just can't appreciate.

[thecfarm]

Well written.

[ckhenshaw4]

Very nice.  Thank you for sharing !