Winter Blessings: Fireplace Blaze

On a cold foggy morning, it gives me great satisfaction to build a roaring fire in the wood stove and with a cup of hot coffee gaze for a very long time at the bouncing flames.  It probably takes me less than 5 minutes to build a fire but I remember the morning it took me two days to actually start one. It began when I was in a hurry to get the house warm before leaving for an appointment.

A blazing fire and curing wood: winter blessings

Opening the glass door to scoop out the ashes I heard a light tapping on the cold stove pipe. My first thought was a squirrel had come through the perforated fire arrestor. Great. I closed the door, told the squirrel to get its tail back up the pipe and went to my appointment.  Late afternoon, I returned to a chilly house and thumped on the pipe. It thumped back.

 OK. Too late to take the pipe apart. Next morning, I sprinted downstairs, thumped on the pipe--no sound.  Thumped again. Quiet. Whew! So I opened the door ready to scoop and gazing at me from the middle of a layer of ashes stood a bird the size of a small robin--fluffed out and covered in a light dusting of gray ashes.  A bird loose in the house is a saga I don't want to experience so I closed the door.

That is when I called on the Wild Life Angel and imagined a circle of light around the little creature. With cotton gloves, I gingerly picked up the bird, took it outside and set it down in a protected spot where I could see it from the window. A few minutes of stillness then the bird took a couple of steps and flew to a pine tree. I still thump the stove pipe before I start a fire.

Back to the a roaring fire.  It may take a couple of minutes to build one but trust me--it takes all year to gather the dry seasoned wood. "Dry" as in not rain soaked and "seasoned" as in standing or downed dead tree.

Having been through several droughts and a major forest fire, I have a good supply of standing, leaning, hung-up-in-trees and downed wood. Occasionally, one falls across the driveway and is too heavy for me to move or too thick to cut with my pruning saw. And then there are the trees or heavy branches that fall on water lines which is a bummer--especially when guests are here.

Clearing Heavy Silver Madrone in Driveway

So I call HELP! Yes, I have a chainsaw. No, I don't know how to use it. It is dangerous to learn to use a chainsaw. Even though HELP is usually 25 miles away he comes anyway and cuts biscuits just the right size so my wood shed is replenished.  Heating a house and two cabins consumes a lot of time to cut, split, haul, dry and stack before winter hits.  I get a little anxious as the shed empties out by Spring but thanks to helping hands, I usually start the next winter with plenty of split wood.

It doesn't take much to make me feel secure these days.  Having willing and able friends who share their time and expertise--with good humor--are my Woodland Angels.

Days Later:  Live Heavy Madrone in Driveway