A little bit of a long story but for anyone who wants to read here it goes. My wifes father (who passed away 16 years ago when my wife was 14) used to heat their house mostly with wood. He cut all of his wood from their 30 acre lot of land here in Southern Maine. When my wife and I got married her mother carved out a 3 acre lot for us to build on so I have access to the entire family lot which is loaded full of red & white oak, maple, birch, beech, poplar, pine oh and of course deer and all kinds other great wildlife. While I was out hunting in November I walked down an old over grown path that I had never fully explored but had noticed that deer had been going through there back in the summer so I thought I would check it out. Well I didn't find any deer down in there but I did find two stacks of what appeared to be red oak rounds equalling probably a cord. Except for the rounds on the very bottom of the stacks the wood appeared to be very dry and very solid. My mother in-law said that my wifes father had been cutting wood like he always did in the spring of the year he passed away and what I found must be the wood he cut before he got to sick to cut anymore.
Curious to see what shape the wood was in I went out and grabbed a piece then cut and split it today. I cut the round right in the middle to check it out and based on how dry and solid the outside of the wood was I was really suprised when I found some rot in the middle. I split it small since I figured it would be best used almost as kindling in the morning to get the fire cranking. I'm glad I did because I threw a piece in the stove earlier and I barley got it in before it took off.
My idea for the wood is to take my son (who is 4) out every year on his grandpa's birthday to get a piece of wood from the pile and burn it in the stove. We'll call it Grandpa Ray's wood pile. Finding the wood has been a great experience for me since I never knew my wife's father but I always feel connected to him everytime I'm out in the woods where I know he loved to spend so much time.
Here are some pics. Wish I would have brought my phone out in the woods so I could have gotten a pic of the stacks.
Curious to see what shape the wood was in I went out and grabbed a piece then cut and split it today. I cut the round right in the middle to check it out and based on how dry and solid the outside of the wood was I was really suprised when I found some rot in the middle. I split it small since I figured it would be best used almost as kindling in the morning to get the fire cranking. I'm glad I did because I threw a piece in the stove earlier and I barley got it in before it took off.
My idea for the wood is to take my son (who is 4) out every year on his grandpa's birthday to get a piece of wood from the pile and burn it in the stove. We'll call it Grandpa Ray's wood pile. Finding the wood has been a great experience for me since I never knew my wife's father but I always feel connected to him everytime I'm out in the woods where I know he loved to spend so much time.
Here are some pics. Wish I would have brought my phone out in the woods so I could have gotten a pic of the stacks.
