9.12.2006

We got our wood permit in the mail yesterday, so as instructed DH and I went out to the woodlot to take a look and see if we want it. Let me explain - here, in the great frozen northern forests, the DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) does not have enough of a budget to maintain the forests. So, for a nominal fee (usually around $80) the DEP rangers will go out to the state forests and mark out lots. In those lots are trees that need to be harvested so that the forest can be healthy and not overgrown. (Simplified explanation) Citizens can then go and log those marked trees for this reasonable fee and have enough fuel to heat their homes. Good all around. Keeping in mind that wood was between $150 and $200 per cord last year, and keeping the heat at 65 degrees all winter long, we still needed 9 or more cords of wood. Ugh. If one is lucky, one can log one or two cords of wood for that $80.

So, it was really quite delightful to take a ride up along the mountain range to the state forest on this beautiful clear fall morning. The sky was that brilliant blue which almost hurts to look at. The tips of some trees are beginning to change color, the air was fresh and still scented from late blooming things. Flocks of wild turkeys bolting across the road, crow families grazing in new mown hay fields, the scent of horse manure as we passed farms. It had warmed up from 42 degrees to 60 by the time we left the house at 10 AM, but it was still cold enough that I wore a fleece neckwarmer; a wool sweater, acrylic sweater, jean jacket and wool vest; and some lined leather gloves. As we passed out from under the trees here and there, we could feel the warmth of the sun.

Our wood lot was tucked away off a back country road. We turned into the state forest and just past the beginning of the gravel road a small stream passed over the access road. Sparkling and chortling in the sunlight, a little fish here and there swimming along. It'll be fun getting a truck across that if it rains, I thought. We didn't have to walk very far uphill before we saw the bounty. A number of fallen hardwood trees, down long enough to be dried and at least partly seasoned. This will be a good thing - we should be able to burn this wood this winter, instead of having to season (dry) it at least six to eight months. Our wood lot is located in a mostly uphill portion of the forest, it looks to be fairly well drained and mostly dry. And, even more delightful - I did not initially see poison ivy. Yippee!

We took another route back home, deadreckoning through the mountain side and forests, to see if there was a shorter way. I had thought the ride out was pretty - but the ride back home was even prettier - past ponds full of waterlilies and cattails, white geese, mallard ducks and wood ducks. More wild turkey families, grazing horses, beef cows. Blooming cottage gardens, swooping flocks of song birds. Thanking God for this beautiful day, for being alive to enjoy it. Later in the office, when things got unpleasant and stressed, remembering how lucky I am to be alive, to have seen the glorious beauty this morning. When I begin to feel that life sucks, I hold on to images such as these, remembering the smells, the sounds, the feel of sun on my skin.