Since I've just acquired a wood-burning stove to heat my home, I'm fascinated by your log pile, and the work you do to keep it stacked. Here, I leave the task of gathering and splitting logs to my son-in-law, and just enjoy the warmth they deliver. Lucky me.
Thanks for giving our collaboration - Lay in on the Line - a mention. It's such a pleasure writing with you!
Thank you, Yasmin. I wasn’t sure if I connected the dots but there is plenty to find within the post to attach to. One day, someone else will need to stack my woodpile!
Love your account of stacking wood. I have room for 3 cords in the garage - no outside woodshed and I don’t keep the stove going nonstop - so I intersperse the shims deliberately to use as kindling for a new fire. Makes for a neat but not the aesthetically managed stack that I would try for if I had the space. Kudos to you, Stacy.
Stacy, I know the feeling of being lost in a sea of numbers, wondering about the meaning of it all. The inequities of wealth distribution make a scarcity mindset seem normal, even though it ought not be. Your diligent piling of wood, attention paid to each piece, is a great counterbalance to the vast number of faceless and nameless people who suffer the consequences of the scarcity mindset of the wealthiest amongst us. I don’t have answers, only more questions, but I really enjoy and appreciate your well-considered essay on woodpiles and other accumulations, many too vast to comprehend! I echo Yasmin’s thanks for mentioning Laying it on the Line!
Julie, I think you nailed this. Most of us count in low numbers because day to day is just that. Small figures that with time accumulate. Yet, in the larger context of the world, the numbers are just bigger and carry a magnitude that is hard to imagine, let alone comprehend.
I do not believe any of us was put onto this earth to just muddle through, to be on the brink of starvation, to worry about the well-being of our children as bombs are traded by tyrants. I do not believe any of us needs to wake up each morning to read the headlines to know what sort of crazy will fill our day. I do believe we can all live simpler and easier (but with a reliance of hard, dedicated work) lives that are more community centered. We are not intended to live as serfs, filling the coffers of others.
Brilliant essay, Stacy! 👏 I could comment on at least 10 delightful elements. I will only focus on
"Stacking wood is a skill—physical and mental. One that begins as an apprenticeship and transitions to journeyman and eventually a master trade."
That 3-stage career ladder model is action-learning at its best. We have lost so much by replacing it with the assembly line pedagogy of lecture, test and repeat. The mind doesn't learn well when the body isn't engaged.
It feels too easy to avoid committing oneself to actual labor (i.e. effort) - the movement that in fact keeps us moving and living a life that has merit. Work that teaches through the practice and keeps a person honest of their intention and values.
I'm riveted by this post, Stacy.
Since I've just acquired a wood-burning stove to heat my home, I'm fascinated by your log pile, and the work you do to keep it stacked. Here, I leave the task of gathering and splitting logs to my son-in-law, and just enjoy the warmth they deliver. Lucky me.
Thanks for giving our collaboration - Lay in on the Line - a mention. It's such a pleasure writing with you!
Thank you, Yasmin. I wasn’t sure if I connected the dots but there is plenty to find within the post to attach to. One day, someone else will need to stack my woodpile!
Love your account of stacking wood. I have room for 3 cords in the garage - no outside woodshed and I don’t keep the stove going nonstop - so I intersperse the shims deliberately to use as kindling for a new fire. Makes for a neat but not the aesthetically managed stack that I would try for if I had the space. Kudos to you, Stacy.
Sometimes I wish I could just leave a big pile of wood and then I wonder if I really want to shovel all winter to find the wood!
Powerful, Stacy. Thank you.
Thank you, Brianne.
Stacy, I know the feeling of being lost in a sea of numbers, wondering about the meaning of it all. The inequities of wealth distribution make a scarcity mindset seem normal, even though it ought not be. Your diligent piling of wood, attention paid to each piece, is a great counterbalance to the vast number of faceless and nameless people who suffer the consequences of the scarcity mindset of the wealthiest amongst us. I don’t have answers, only more questions, but I really enjoy and appreciate your well-considered essay on woodpiles and other accumulations, many too vast to comprehend! I echo Yasmin’s thanks for mentioning Laying it on the Line!
Julie, I think you nailed this. Most of us count in low numbers because day to day is just that. Small figures that with time accumulate. Yet, in the larger context of the world, the numbers are just bigger and carry a magnitude that is hard to imagine, let alone comprehend.
I do not believe any of us was put onto this earth to just muddle through, to be on the brink of starvation, to worry about the well-being of our children as bombs are traded by tyrants. I do not believe any of us needs to wake up each morning to read the headlines to know what sort of crazy will fill our day. I do believe we can all live simpler and easier (but with a reliance of hard, dedicated work) lives that are more community centered. We are not intended to live as serfs, filling the coffers of others.
Mic drop!
What a fantastic essay, Stacy! You did a great job intertwining firewood stacking, numbers, and limited resources. This was fun to read.
Thank you, Sarah. How easy it is to think about the small numbers. How meaningful the large numbers add up to be.
Brilliant essay, Stacy! 👏 I could comment on at least 10 delightful elements. I will only focus on
"Stacking wood is a skill—physical and mental. One that begins as an apprenticeship and transitions to journeyman and eventually a master trade."
That 3-stage career ladder model is action-learning at its best. We have lost so much by replacing it with the assembly line pedagogy of lecture, test and repeat. The mind doesn't learn well when the body isn't engaged.
More comment in my restack.
It feels too easy to avoid committing oneself to actual labor (i.e. effort) - the movement that in fact keeps us moving and living a life that has merit. Work that teaches through the practice and keeps a person honest of their intention and values.
Threading waters is amazing! What a wonderful collaboration.