Fire from Chainsaw to Stove

“A fire in the woodstove on a cold clear day, on a rain drenched storming night or on a frosty snow day is a mighty comfort to the body and to the soul.”

c e hollis

Trees––how I love them! I grew up in my daddy’s world. He was a forester and tree farmer. I knew the sound of a chain saw as well a preacher’s kid children knows the sound of steeple bells, choir practicing, and piano playing.

It seemed almost like dad was always cutting down trees somewhere or else walking through stands of trees marking those to be cut down by loggers.

Dad loved trees and I’ll wager that he planted many more than he cut down. He planted hardwoods on his tree farm and Douglas firs in straight lines on the family Christmas tree farm.

Now Dad is gone on to his heavenly home and we have a farm. When we bought the farm he visited and helped us decide which trees needed to be felled. He knew how to manage trees. He helped us plant trees as well and to save some sickly ones. I have him to thank for saving the redbud tree outside my bedroom window. He knew about trees.

We have planted and grown a pecan orchard. Dad was as excited as a child when we did and came several times to see the trees as they grew, as they were pruned, grafted, and tended. He was able to eat pecans from the trees and loved a can of good pecan pralines I’d send him at Christmas.

From our land we have firewood for our woodstove. Trees we bulldozed this summer lay waiting for men with chainsaws to come cut them into moveable logs. We carried these to the front of the farm and cut and split them. Wood, wood, wood enough to heat our home all winter besides the homes of all the folks whom we sold or gave wood to.

There are stacks waiting along the garden fence for cold days in December, January, February, and March. We don’t fear the cold.

Wood stacked on the porch is dry and seasoned and ready to be carried inside a couple times a day. The fire stays burning all night and day and the warmth that comes from a woodstove is like no other fire. The smell and the heat is unmatched by natural gas heat, electric heat, or propane or oil heat.

We love having a woodstove that takes large cuts of wood. It is a wonderful comfort to sit in the evening and watch the fire burn. It is a relaxing winter comfort to the soul. To sit and hear the crackle and occasional pop of the wood burning is one of the best down-home experiences.

Sure, a fire is messy with ashes and tree bark inside but it is worth it. There is nothing like it a fireside inside. We like to eat a meal by the fire on a cold day and we read and visit around it. At bedtime we pile in the wood and damper down the flame. The air travels through the house and keeps us warm all night.

Thank You, Lord God, for the beauty and the strength of wood. Thank You for providing wood to heat our home and our hearts. Thank You for the blessing of our woodstove. Oh yes and Goodnight.

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