In and Around the Garden

Splitting wood isn’t my idea of a fun weekend, but it had to be done or at least started. So I threw on my lumberjack attire and set my mind to karate chop wood bigger and heavier than a cast iron potbelly stove. Although I tried to help my husband maneuver 3-foot diameter logs in line with the wood splitter, grunting was the only action I had to show for my effort. Joe, of course, was the one who moved the hefty, brown stumps.

Ralphie snoozed on the tractor seat while we worked. He looked up now and then, curious about a slow screech that put a chill up our spines or a loud pop as the hydraulic wedge forced open a log.

We still have a lot more karate chopping to do. We’re not even halfway done. The chronicle of Considering Tree Rights seems endless. There are so many steps involved in cutting down a tree.

1. Facing the loss
2. Grinding the stump or applying stump treatment
3. Giving the tree trimmer your life savings after the job is done (unless you did it yourself)
4. Spreading wood chips (no easy task)
5. Sawing the trunk and limbs into fireplace lengths
6. Splitting
7. Hauling and stacking
8. Waiting for the wood to cure 
9. Then finally, blazing fires to warm your chilly bones during wintry months, BUT NOT BEFORE hauling and stacking wood near the backdoor.

The only benefit to all this hard work is eliminating a monthly four- to six-hundred dollar utility bill during winter, and maybe, just maybe, loosing a pound or two.