Sunday, May 31, 2009

Dad's Woods


I'm not sure why the floor of this forest is covered with this beautiful carpet of ferns when 1/4 mile away my woods is knee deep in briars and jewel weed. In the fall these ferns turn a lovely golden color.

Dad owns 20 acres just 1/4 mile from my place, about 5 of it is this woods of mostly oak trees. It has been a wonderful resource for me as a place to gather firewood and walk our dog. The property wraps around a small country church whose congregation averages 10-12. Each Sunday Mr. Barto walks the mile or so from Gatesburg to pull the rope to ring the bell at 10 before 9 to call in the faithful.

A hard working weekend. Two loads of firewood on Friday evening, gardening Saturday morning, a little tennis then picked up a wood splitter and started in on my big pile. My method has been to bring in about 10-12 loads of wood stacking the big stuff outside the shed and renting a splitter for a day. Margy and I spent most of Sunday working on it but now the shed is full. It takes a while to get this job off my "to do" list so feels nice to have it done. I know people often complain that "they don't make things like they used to" but I can tell you that it's just not true for wood. I'm sure the stuff they're making now is tougher and much heavier than it used to be.

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