Today is the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice of 2023. We had a snow dusting a few nights ago, the kind that used to portend weather to come, though it's possible that this will be the only snow of the year. For a few days we've had temperatures cold enough to justify keeping a wood stove burning continuously. We're well past the awkward days when the house is uncomfortably cool, but it's still too warm outside to run a stove. For a week or so we were in transition phase when I would remove the ashes and lay a fire before bed for ease of early morning lighting. By noon it was no longer needed. Now the continuous fire phase is upon us, but as with snow, it is increasingly uncertain.
“When I stuff the stove with maple, tulip poplar, and cherry, I'm burning 30 year old sunlight. I can fully participate in the cycle by returning their ashes to the fields and nurturing the saplings that are emerging there. That's the type of seasonal living we need more of.”
As a fellow wood burner, I appreciate this beautifully written post. I call my man a "wood scientist" and love watching him move from the woods to the shed to the stove as he makes his decisions. Long live wood stove culture!
“When I stuff the stove with maple, tulip poplar, and cherry, I'm burning 30 year old sunlight. I can fully participate in the cycle by returning their ashes to the fields and nurturing the saplings that are emerging there. That's the type of seasonal living we need more of.”
This is beautiful.
As a fellow wood burner, I appreciate this beautifully written post. I call my man a "wood scientist" and love watching him move from the woods to the shed to the stove as he makes his decisions. Long live wood stove culture!