SLOW BUT STEADY

I'm stacking firewood in the backyard today and I must admit my pile is not nearly as neat as the photo above depicts. I just grabbed this picture off the Internet to try to illustrate the task at hand.

We have a huge pile of wood (two cords) that was dumped in the yard when we ordered if from a local wood cutter. Then I've been chopping up a tree given to us by a friend and our next door neighbor recently cut down a small birch tree adjoining our property line that was shading our garden which he gave to us. So the pile has grown even more.

With the snows likely coming our way by the end of November I figured I'd better get to work on stacking it so it can dry out and we won't have it buried in a pile of snow when we need it.

There are lots of methods for stacking wood. I watched an old Mainer on cable TV recently show his method. I don't have a method.....mine is kind of anarchy wood stacking. I did not do puzzles well when I was a kid either.

I am stacking the wood on four pallets that we have to keep it off the ground. My goal is to make each stack as tall as possible without having the wood fall over.

Our wood pile from last fall has held up well. That green wood has now weathered and we have just begun to burn it. A good friend helped me stack that bunch and he was about four times faster than I was. He is a real Mainer who does it without thinking. I have to pick up a piece of wood, give it a good look, and then look around for where it will go. Then I have to move it a time or two, trying for just the right fit, and then step back a few feet to make sure it works. In the meantime the world has turned a few times and my beard has grown full. At the rate I'm going I will have it done by next summer.

I just came in for lunch. All the bending and lifting has worn me out. I needed to catch my breath. I want to eat some more so I can stall a bit, my arms and back are aching.

But I will get back to it soon. I've got to put a dent in that wood pile and just hope the wind does not blow my new stack over.