Wooden You Know It?

After posting the pictures of the tree coming down, I suppose i should let you know that is NOT the end of the story. We use such wood as our major source of heat in the winter, via our wood stove, so the aftermath of the tree falling has to be further processed. Here's how:

This is a gas powered wood splitter we borrowed from my wife's boss. It can split some pretty huge hunks of wood, but you do have to get them onto the thing. It does flip up vertically for the largest chunks (thank god!) Nothing stops this baby, not even solid knots, which make a very loud and satisfying "crack" when they finally give 'way.
Here are the results of about seven hours of steady work by my wife and me:













My wife is an amazing wood stacker, as well. There is an art to this task, getting just the right pieces for the various places in the stack, but the end result is quite attractive. The axe in the picture is just for show---all the splitting was done by the mechanized splitter:











If you're a city dweller, used to using a thermostat to get your warmth in cooler weather, I'm sure none of this will impress you a whole lot. But when you have to depend on the legacy of trees for your heat, it's pretty amazing! And there is something quite spiritual about being so directly connected to how you keep comfortable in cold times. Like growing your own food, it gives one a great appreciation for the little things in life.