Really Stacked

For my morning chores Wednesday, I opened my garage door to do battle with the elements and was greeted by a two feet high snowdrift. I’ve had deeper snowdrifts there, but because I hadn’t had snow drifting at that spot in several years, it was a surprise. Shoveling my way out to my drive, I began the Herculean task of removing the snowplow piled hardened snow. The snow was heavy. The snow drifts just above my drive and the snowplows push it into my driveway. As I began the task of snow removal, I remembered that I would also need to haul firewood inside for the wood burner in my basement.

I don’t like the extra work of waking up during the night to feed the beast, but I do love the constant heat that it puts out. It’s so much more comfortable than the waves of heat and chill from the oil furnace. I keep a supply of wood just outside my garage door to fill it. Fire is never satisfied, it will eat what you give t and still want more.

The thought of how many times I’ve stacked it or will be stacking it ran through my head. The first time I stack it is when a load of wood is delivered and dumped. When I stack that wood, it takes up less room and I’m able to cover it with a tarp. When I retrieve the split logs into the house, I stack a load onto my flatbed wheelbarrow. Pieced together with scrap wood, it has no sides and an old metal wheel. Hoisting the handles, I maneuver it into my basement where it is unloaded and stacked. I park the wheelbarrow at flat wooden palette. This is the first of two racks and two stackings. The first rack allows any frost  that may accumulated or clinging snow to melt and further dry the wood. When I bring in another load, I make room and that pile of wood and is stacked into the large found metal rack closer to the wood burner.

All that is left for me to do is to toss the firewood into the firebox, stacking it so it can burn completely, without build-up of creosote. Creosote leaves a tar-like substance inside the chimney and is highly flammable. So far this year, I have been blessed no chimney fires. The dryer wood and burning the wood it at a higher temperature, I haven’t had to clamber onto the roof to brush out my chimney.