The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.
Robert Frost
I knew a big snowstorm was on it’s way. Early, I got dressed, fed the cats and got Gracie ready for a trip to town.
Cat food was in at the post office, I needed groceries, and needed to pay bills.
I knew I would be staying home for a while due to snow. They say 40 cm was coming, but I will let you know.
I made the trip, came home, I always back Gracie into the garage but because of the ice, I decided to nose her in.
I didn’t want a repeat of last time, getting stuck right in front of the garage for two hours while I dug and coerced her out of the snow.
This was different, a freeze-thaw cycle followed by a week of extreme cold had left my driveway a thick sheet of ice.
I wasn’t even sure I was going to make it out.
We made it there and back again. Got cat food, got human food, even a few fun things.
Now I am laying in bed with a very sore back waiting for snow. I had enough wood for tonight. After that, I was sure I would be in trouble.
The rest of the firewood outside, what little was left, was buried under 5 feet of ice and about to be buried even deeper.
I do have a few dead trees, one of them kind of a monument. I witnessed the lightning strike that killed it.
Cutting them, then transporting them in deep snow with an icy crust, would be difficult. None were close to the house.
On another note:
I couldn’t figure out why my solar panels were not producing. Oh ya snow last night.
I chopped the wet and rotten wood and placed the remnants in the hoop hoping they would dry a little.
I restacked the rest of the wood so I would get an idea of how much I had left.
I still had 60 pounds of wet debris, and I had three litter boxes full of wood pellets flavored in cat pee and poop. They would burn over hot coals.
They was even a composting bucket of my poop, that would burn too.
I also remember there is a bag and a box of wood chip debris in the garage. Both are very dry. I should be able to keep the heat on for a week.
Let the snow come down.
It has started the snow is coming down, it is after 5 PM.
I checked the fire, I had loaded it with wet wood debris, rotten bark, dirt, roots, old sawdust and whatever was in the pile.
When I checked it later, it was all aglow bright red. I was so encouraged, I filled the firebox with more. A lot more, maybe too much. I have put a fire out doing that in the past. I just have to wait and see.
Burning debris
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