firewood

tools of the trade



katie is ready for some work!


yes folks, it's not all pretty scenery, wild animals and great fishing...... we got bills to pay and firewood is a big part of how we do it. it is a truly sustainable way to work the land as we only cut what falls down over the winter and what we get from brush thinning. over time the harvest of all that wood has actually improved the forest by removing wild fire fuel and opening old meadows that have been filling in over the last century. the first two years were brutal as we tried to get some semblance of control over our land payments by digging into the overwhelming backlog of firewood that had accumulated for generations. we cut trails, dragged logs bucked them to rounds and split them at a pace i hope to never repeat. two cords a day, seven days a week for the better part of a year. rain AND shine. i could bitch about the quad wrecks, back spasms, dislocated shoulder, 500 pound logs to the side of the head and the hot water on the hands to get them open in the morning. i had a couple of very close calls. but what i like to think of most are the 365 days of the year i spent working outdoors. there is nothing so satisfying as hanging up the saw at the end of the day as a shimmering fall sunset takes control of all your spent senses and breathes purpose into your life like nothing else ever could. the smell of a hot chain blade sizzling through a half cured oak log is pure nostalgia. looking over to see my mother and my wife to be both pouring a heavy sweat right along side me all in the name of trying to make this dream a reality gives a feeling that really can't fully be explained.

a @#$% load of firewood



mom tears into the money tree