Posts

Jan 10 Gets Tougher

Everybody has their ups and downs, and that’s what makes you tougher. Isaac Hanson   When the going gets tough. The tough want to whimper. All wet and heavy logs. I estimate 880 pounds through even deeper snow. Ya, you know, I have to split them right now. No matter how tired I am, no…


Jan 9 The Brute

I grew up on the edge of a national park in Canada – timberwolves, creeks, snow drifts. I really did have to walk home six miles through the snow, like your grandparents used to complain. Dan Aykroyd Yup, not chainsawing wood yesterday was a mistake. The snow is coming down heavy and has been for…


Jan 8 Fire

Have a dream, chase it down, jump over every single hurdle, and run through fire and ice to get there. Whitney Wolfe Herd My day started at 6 am. Really 6:30 by the time I had finished snoozing the alarm that tells me two hours have passed, and it was time to feed the fire….


Jan 7 Woodpocalypse

There’s something so empowering about knowing I can pick up an axe and split a piece of wood. Rain Dove I went out way too late. I cut one log and my new saw stalled. After 50 pulls, I noticed the chain was frozen solid. The only solution go back inside. Disassemble hang the frozen…


Jan 6 Cut Cut Chop Chop

Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. Abraham Lincoln Or chainsaw. It is 2 PM. I just chopped the rest of the wood I had inside. It was brutal, logs hard as a rock, even the 12-pound maul was bouncing off. I ended…


Jan 5 Need More

HBS The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more. Jonas Salk As always, it’s not enough. I burned my bronchi and throat yesterday in the cold. I have to go out again. I just chopped most of what I had left from yesterday. Something satisfying about chopping inside. No waste, I…


Jan 4 Frozen Indoors

I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself. D. H. Lawrence 2 degrees inside. I put on my insulated overalls and went to work. Cats needed feeding. Got that done first. Doing my scheduling as I fed…


Jan 3 Snow Drift

  To the last, I grapple with thee; From Hell’s heart, I stab at thee; For hate’s sake, I spit my last breath at thee. Herman Melville That was brutal. 45 minutes of digging and cutting. I managed 5 logs, really 3 and some scraps. I would have to make do with other stuff. My…


Jan 2 Big Cat

Hold fast to dreams For when dreams go Life is a barren field Frozen with snow. Langston Hughes Can you dig it? I did, through ice and deep snow. To try to cut enough wood for the night. I need to try to do double if I can. Another big snowstorm coming in tonight. So…


The first day