Twice warmed

Chop your own firewood and it will warm you twice.

– African proverb

Ed and I have worked in our woods all year, cutting down osage orange trees with their arched and tangled web of thorns. I can only describe these invasive trees as living barbed wire, always out with a vengence to snag me -- even through layers of clothes. We drag the thorned branches into a bush pile and then cut the trunks and bigger branches into lengths that fit our fireplace. The bigger logs Ed splits with a maul and axe.  

We have a number of stacks of someday-firewood scattered in our woods. They need a season or two before they will burn hot and clean. 

Keeping a fire going most days in our fireplace takes a lot of wood – more wood than we have scattered around Farm Dover. So, that's where Kenneth comes in. Kenneth has a greenhouse operation that he heats with wood. We pass it on our way to and from Simpsonville and are amazed that his pile of split wood continually grows bigger and bigger, tumbling out almost to the road. 

We stopped by Kenneth's today to see if we could buy some wood from him. I'm guessing Kenneth is well into his 80s and just this year he started using a wood splitter. Always before, he did it by hand/axe. He claims it keeps him young and spry. I believe it. 

He helped us load a rick into the back of our truck. I think he loaded it faster than Ed and me combined. Then we headed back to Farm Dover to restack it out by the garage, before going back for a second load. 

Even though we didn't chop this firewood, it has already warmed us. We had quite a workout just tossing the wood into our truck and then restacking it at home. And tonight, we'll be warmed again as we sit by a crackling and popping fire. Good logs for sure, working double duty.