Firewood for Next Winter

Written by Maya Shetty in LIFESTYLE, TIME MANAGEMENT

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The snow had melted, Mother Nature was still playing hide and seek with her blow hot blow cold mood swings. Official Spring has begun a few days ago, the wind was still blowing cold, determined to step out, just to feel the fresh air, I took our pet out for a walk. Two weeks ago towards the end of winter, I had seen some felled trees and wondered who had cut them down amidst this biting cold, yet brushed the thought away in a minutes time as I walked past it….

…..dreaming about Spring flowers soon to blossom.

This evening as I walked our pet in the neighborhood, I came across back yards with firewood piles, talk about being prepared for colder months I thought as I walked past them……

….and here I was contemplating whether to step out coz the temperature’s were still in the 30’s. Then I see these neatly stacked firewood piles, somebody must have been cutting all that wood, while some of us were curled up to our toes in cozy socks !

Being born & raised in a different country, I had no idea about this early Spring custom here. A quick google search , led me to an informative post, from HGTV about this practice in early Spring, …..

“While it may feel strange to prepare for next winter when temperatures are just starting to rise, early spring is the ideal time to stock the woodshed for fall weather that will arrive all too soon.

Why now? It’s possible that on the heels of harsh winter weather, trees on your property may have come down and the need to chop wood is one of unsolicited availability. Clearing the back may be an imperative, but even if you’re sourcing wood elsewhere, getting an early start on preparing firewood for your fireplace or wood-burning stove is essential to ensure you’ll be ready to heat things up when the time comes.

Green (freshly cut) wood retains a lot of moisture. It’ll burn, but it won’t burn well. Inefficient, smoky and likely to release a lot of creosote (tar), green wood is not fireplace-friendly. “Seasoning” is the process of allowing wood to dry over a period of months to reduce the moisture content so it will burn cleanly and efficiently. Seasoning takes time, and filling the woodshed at least six months in advance is strongly advised. “

Now I understand why this need to chop wood and store it away for Winter is part of being prepared for the seasons here.All I can think of is that, I am awed with the fact that somebody was out there was chopping wood in really cold weather. My thoughts ran down memory lane , sunlight was taken for granted in the country I grew up in, I had never seen the four seasons till I came here ,to this land. It was not unusual, that the childhood memory I have of collecting firewood or rather twigs from branches was during my annual visit to my grand mom’s. We kids would just run into the farm pick up any dry twig and come running back to the home where the hot water bath was prepared in a huge copper vessel for the entire family which included all the cousins who were visiting grand mom for the holidays too. I remember sitting by the outdoorsy fire place early in the morning, brushing our teeth amidst cousins, giggling and chatting, while my grand mom patiently loaded the fireplace for the warm water to run our bath. Something about the firewood brought back happy memories, wonder whose grandkids are coming home during the colder months to this home in my neighborhood.