Once a year, our family has a wood splitting, wood stacking day. Usually some of our church family comes too, and it's a great time of fellowship. The coffee pot is going, and maybe there will be some fresh baked cookies. At the end of the day, backs and arms will be sore, but the woodshed will be full. It's a comforting feeling to know you have plenty of wood to keep you warm through the winter.
It's not much different than the way they did it in the early 1800's. Here's a peek of a wood party at Granny Mackmin's house in "A Home for Phoebe."
"The Wood Party"
It was a nice sunny day on Saturday, with enough nip in the breeze to keep it comfortable. Phoebe sat on the porch steps with her arm around Shadow’s neck and watched the wagons coming. They all greeted Granny and set right to work. The ladies brought pans and plates of food into the kitchen. The men set right to work on the wood.
There was a lot of cheering and jeering of the two teams. There was a rhythm in the swishing of the two-handled broadband saws, the whack of the axes popping apart the chunks of wood, and the clunk of the stove-sized sticks stacked in the shed. All the excitement made Phoebe laugh.
After a couple hours, the ladies brought out the cyder and doughnuts, and the work paused… but not the talking and laughter. Gabe poured a bucket of cold water over his big brother, Joe—who retaliated by chasing him around the barn. The others hooted with glee as Joe returned with Gabe slung over his shoulder.
Some of the men sat on the porch next to Phoebe and teased her about her curls and dimples. They were so loud and rough with each other it frightened her a little. Zeke liked to tease her, but he never made her feel afraid. She was glad when they went back to work sawing, splitting, and stacking the long logs into mosaic walls of wood.
Again they paused, this time for lunch. Long tables were created with planks propped between saw horses. Everyone filled their plates and sat on the grass or porch or wherever they could find a shady spot. By mid-afternoon it was all done. The shed was full, the wood piles had vanished, the wagons and men were gone, and it was quiet again.
Granny ran her hands across the stacked wood. “My, that feels great! It will keep us warm and cook our food this winter. God is good!”
P.S. Done!
3 comments:
Fascinating. So different from our approach to winter here in FL. Sounds like fun!
I remember stacking the wood my dad split when I was a kid. I always hated doing it, but enjoyed the warmth it brought in winter.
Blessings, andrea
PS: I have an urgent prayer request on arise 2 write.
Even though it was a lot of work, it looks like it was a lot of fun, too! And just think of how nice the fire will feel on a snowy Christmas morning. (: (We won't think about snow beyond that! LOL)
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