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Firewood

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It’s that time of year. Time to scope the outside of the house. Find a flat area to build a stand. Time to poke around, asking for whispered tips on whose is best-seasoned — I’ve heard folks are secretive about sources around here.

It’s time to think about firewood.

When we moved from Florida to Minnesota, I made a wish board for everything I wanted to find in a home. On the board, I wrote things like walking distance to the kids’ school, safe neighborhood, a place for a garden, and the thing I wanted most? A fireplace. The house we found had all of those things.

I loved our fireplace. Each fall we bought half a cord of wood. We stacked it under an eave, on a red brick patio, up against the house next to the kitchen door. The eave mostly protected it from getting buried by snow, and in winter I’d build fires in the afternoon when the kids came home from school. We’d drink hot cocoa and listen to wood pop, and we’d pull the bean bag next to the hearth and we’d read books and play Sorry!

I can’t wait to do that again. When we first moved to Virginia, we lived in a townhouse without a fireplace. In fall and winter, on my walks and runs through the hills, I’d smell chimney smoke in the cold air. I’d watch white puffs rise from the valley. I could smell the wood burning, and I imagined rocking chairs, blanket wrapped laps, quiet broken only by snapping, popping, and the soft turning of a novel’s pages. I ached for a fireplace every time I smelled chimney smoke. When it came time to buy a house, due to timing, pricing, and the small size of our town, our options were very limited. I feared we would not find a house with a fireplace.

But we did. And last night, as we worked on our September budget, I was thrilled to add in:

  • Fireplace stand
  • Fireplace tools
  • Firewood

I can’t wait for our first fire.

Photo credit: Ben Dwyer of scruffian.com. Full image available here.

8 thoughts on “Firewood”

  1. I’m with you, Andrea. We’ll have to reclean the woodpile corner after summer winds, but we’ll be ready. When we first bought this house, our first together, twelve years ago, the things that sold us were the polished wooden floors, the windows, and the fireplace. It works great in this 1924-built house. And each fall we have the chimney sweep, who’s a fireman, come look at it, caulk what needs caulking, last year he replaced the vent on the top of the chimney, but then it’s ready and we order wood.

    I’ve heard that eventually, wood/chimney smoke may be outlawed because of pollution and that’s possible, and we’ll comply. But this winter, we’ll enjoy the evenings around the fire, just watching flames and listening to music.

    Liked by 3 people

  2. Sounds lovely, especially living through the dog days of our Oklahoma summer. Everything is dry, brittle and boring brown. Looking forward to the change in seasons! Thank you for sharing your lovely picture of fall:) blessings, denise

    Liked by 1 person

  5. This post made me look forward to fall! It doesn’t show up till much later where I live, but around September I start to pretend it’s fall anyway 🙂 Great post, thanks for sharing!

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  6. Woodside is the best smell. We moved from a house with an open fire (coal) and a wood burning stove to our present modern no- fire home so I understand how much you must have missed the burning flame thing, Andrea. I loved this atmospheric autumn post. We’re planning another move soon and I’m hoping for fireplace. Autumn is my favourite time of year and after a very poor summer in Scotland, I can’t wait for the new season. Thanks for conjuring up such lovely autumnal thoughts.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Back in MN, not far from where you used to live, Husby and I are ready for those crisp days and crackling fires. When we were shopping for houses a fireplace was not a must-have, but now that I have one I can’t imagine winters without one. Great post. I want autumn and winter now!

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Hi Andrea,
    Beautiful post…For someone who lives in the the western part of India, it is quite hard to imagine winters when we’d crave for a fireplace. The temperatures where I live fluctuate between 45 degrees in the summers and about 2 degrees in the winters. However, when I read books and the author writes about the fireplace, it does give rise to a warmth in my mind and belly, a warmth I cannot possibly describe in words. Your post did something similar. I love your description of your experience in Virginia when you didn’t have a fireplace of your own but you’d smell the smoke and yearn for one. Congratulations on your new house and hope it brings you lots of joy. 🙂

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