Firewood

I like firewood piles.  People find all kinds of interesting ways to cut them and to stack them.  They are visually appealing with the endless patterns they form, the type of wood that makes them up and the colours that develop.  To the owner of the firewood they represent more than just a lot of hard work.  In addition they represent a sense of independence and security.  Just about everyone in Bella Coola has a wood pile, as most other forms of heat are expensive, but your firewood pile represents something that just won't fail you when you need it.  We all prepare for those inevitable power outages where we might be in the dark and our freezers thaw, but we know our families will be warm and we don't fret too much about when the power will be back - it always comes on eventually, but in the meantime we are warm and dry.  Firewood for most of us is a real connection to a simple, renewable and reliable source of energy.  It's a favourite topic of mine to talk to people about what kind of firewood they like to burn, there are lots of opinions and reasons, but I'll comment on that in another post.   What wood cutter doesn't stand back when they are done their yearly firewood supply and have a great sense of satisfaction with the work accomplished and the security it represents? Grizzly