Wednesday morning, when I booted up and plodded outside to sweep 3 inches of “isolated snow flurries, no accumulation” off the solar panels, the dense fog and vast rafts of snow floating in Lynn Canal did not suggest the possibility of tapping birch trees. However, later that morning, as the snow petered out and the sun began to burn away the overcast, I realized that there could scarcely be a better day for it.
An inauspicious beginning to the day: snow on the water (Photo: Mark Zeiger).
A few days last week were clear, crisp and dry. Like a large, crazed, and possibly hyperthyroid Easter Bunny, I began stashing piles of firewood rounds at various places around the property. The push for next winter’s firewood has begun.
I enter the season well positioned—better, in fact, than ever before. My diligence last year paid off well. We heated the cabin using an auxiliary firewood pile, overflow from the wood shed’s capacity, up until December, when we finally began using the shed’s supply. We managed this even though we began heating the cabin on colder days in August, and burned in earnest by at least mid-September.
Here at the beginning of April, we still have a good supply of wood. It seems to be enough to see us through the remaining burning season, which may extend till the first of June, but might end much sooner. Continue reading
