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Friday, January 6, 2012

I'm Tired

Tired. That's what I am. Tired tired tired! After trying to gather firewood from anywhere I could get it for several days, I overworked myself and made myself sick. On the warmest day we'll probably have for the rest of the winter, I stayed inside and did as little as possible. Now I'll have to keep reminding myself not to overdo things.

Some of you may be wondering why I would work so hard to get firewood when I could just go out and buy it. Because it's free the way I do it. This is the way my dad would have done things himself, so I'm going to try it this way at least for one winter. Besides, free is a really good price. Even if I paid for it, I would still have to do quite a bit of work stacking it where I need it and loading it into the stove, so I really wouldn't be saving myself any work.

Actually, if I wanted to pay, I could just pay to have my propane tank filled, but the free wood is still much cheaper, and it heats very very much better around here. And I've actually had quite a bit of help. My dad taught my closest neighbor how to burn wood too, so we work together. My dad helped that guy when he needed it the most, and he was one of a very few people who has tried to return that favor.

But right now I'm tired. I'm not as tired as I was yesterday though. I've had plenty of rest, and I'll have a little more rest this weekend. But then I'll get right back to collecting more firewood. It has to be done for as long as the weather lets me do it. A hundred years ago everyone around here had to do it this way. They didn't have a backup system like I have. My grandparents were still using wood for heat when I was a kid, and I'm still pretty young.

People my age always rightfully think of their parents as tougher than them, and their grandparents tougher still. Not many people today can even imagine some of the things they had to do. But I want to try some of it. I want a little sample. This blog is about nature, and this is as true to nature as it gets.

I'll never be able to fully understand how past generations lived, and I don't think I want to go that far, but I want to know just a little, a little more than most people. My dad could have lived here without any modern conveniences at all. I can't, and I don't want to try, but I want to be able to tell myself truthfully that I would do better than most.

But I'm tired. This is not easy, and I knew it wouldn't be, but I want to have some small idea what it was like. In a way, it's my own way of trying to make my dad proud of me. I think he would be very happy that I'm using his wood stove. But I'm tired. Right now it's a good tired.


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20 comments:

  1. Hi miss your blog, well we do that also on our place picking up woods or branches for cooking, anyway the place is peaceful, hope you visit back

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  2. I gave you credit for trying to gather wood :-) It is hard work, and you have some now. So keep resting until the next time..

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  3. How true! Hope you have a chain saw. Really, really hard all by hand! Nice to hear a bit about how you are living.

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  4. @From wala to okay
    there's nothing like heating with firewood. It's the best if you don't mind the work.
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    @Icy BC
    It takes a lot of wood to heat a place for the winter. I'll be well enough to get back to work tomorrow, so my pile of firewood will get bigger then.
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    @Sharkbytes
    My neighbor has a chainsaw, so we use that for the bigger stuff. I use another power saw for some of the smaller stuff. We use an axe to split the biggest pieces. I'm trying to live a little more wild than most people do, but I may back off from that towards the end of winter as I run out of wood for this year.

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  5. It's OK to be tired. I lived without electricity and a water line for 3 years. It was hard but I did it.
    You can survive and thrive!!!

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  6. I have found some walk on top of the hills areas we need to share.I had an all wood heat place and it is challenging.I would buy a cord or two, I don't even do campfires that much anymore.I see some wood cut up on the trails, but around us a lot of eastern cedar are being cut down, a non nantive species to the Loess Hills.

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  7. My human is such a city wimp, she could never do any of that! If somebody dropped her in the middle of REAL nature, she would be sunk. At least I could catch my own prey if I were in the same situation... although I confess I probably would not be all that good at it.

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  8. We, at our place, never had to bother ourselves to get wood for the fire. We really don't know the pain of such a tiresome adventure, and going through your post today i could understand how tough a job it is to survive winter. I am glad and appreciate that you are doing it all just to keep the trend of your family to get the wood on their own. But also, dont you stress yourself so much if you cant get it this time, i think once in a while you can go try the other way to make it possible.

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  9. I can't imagine how hard it would be to live without all the modern conveniences.
    That does sound like a lot of work, get lots of rest

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  10. I can imagine how hard the work is, though I'll never do this at my place.

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  11. Hello! I understood You...But I want to say that I love village life...

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  12. I don't think thre i anything better than burning wood for heat and cooking. My frind lived in a vey old house when we wer young and I spent many hours there... I remember it being our job to get up in the mornings and restoke the embers and fetch in fresh coke and wood for the stoves....sometimes I don't think the 'civlized' way is necessarily the best way. You can rest in the knowledge that you have done a great job.

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  13. @Jean
    I know then that you understand that we can do something like this if we have to. I've actually lived without any power or other utilities myself many more times than I've ever said. This time at least it is by my own choice.
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    @Out on the prairie
    I'd go ahead and buy wood, but right now it's just as easy to get it the way I'm doing. I also have propane heat as a backup, but I use it as little as possible.
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    @Sparkle
    You'd be surprised at what you or your human could do if you had to. It would be a rough start, but you might find out that you'd do fine.
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    @Elvirah
    Very good advice. I don't do much of the work when it gets too hard. There have been times in the now distant past that I've had no choice, but right now I can still relax when I need to.
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    @Ann
    It's really not always as much work as I sometimes make it out to be. My overwork was my own fault. Sometimes I throw myself into something so much that I forget to rest, then making myself sick. That's what happened this time.
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    @Rainfield
    It's not something I'd recommend for anyone else to do. It also would help a lot to live in a place where it doesn't get very cold.
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    @Amin
    I love village life too most of the time, but sometimes life outside of the village is an experience that is good to have.
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    @allotments4you
    I've done the things that you've described too. The wood does really give off the best heat. I can't cook on this stove because it's outside. The heat is pumped in through a pipe. It makes it so there is never smoke in the house, but I have to go outside to fill the stove.

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  14. Ah I did it one winter for the same reasons and now look back on it with fond memories.

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  15. the picture of fireplace always bring family bonding in my memory, glad you have all the energy to gather woods and enjoy warmth the natural way. hope you feel rested.

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  16. I always wonder how our ancestors lived the way they did also. Especially being country folks. On one side anyway. Outhouses. No running water or electric. Sounds almost like I lived sometimes as a kid..LOL It's okay to do all that if you don't have any physical problems. Just be careful Ratty and don't over do yourself. We don't want you ending up in the hospital. Take care.

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  17. Just don't push it, Ratty. I get that you want the challenge, but you have to be kind to that 'ole body of yours--it's been through a lot. You don't want to regress! You have the rest of your life to get free firewood. :)

    Can you tell I'm a mom by that comment? :)

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  18. @Country Mouse Studio
    I'm just glad that this time I can do it by choice, and not necessity. I'm hoping I'll have a third heat source in another month so I won't have to it all winter.
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    @betchai
    Actually I don't quite have enough energy to do it, so I'll be slowing down just a little bit after this coming week. I'm glad I've done the work though.
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    @Amin
    You have a wonderful week too!
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    @Ginnymo
    I've lived like that at times when I was a kid too, but it was all available then. When I was very young, they still had to use outhouses at many places around here. That's the first thing that I'm glad has changed. I don't want anything bad happening either. I'll be slowing down just a bit after this week.
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    @Lin
    I'll be slowing down from all of the firewood work this week if I can help it. I still have a few more things and some cleanup work to do, but I'm hoping after that it'll get easier. I don't want to regress either, and I've been feeling it a little.

    It did sound a little like the things my mom keeps telling me, but I appreciate it. Moms are usually right.

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  19. I also know what it's like being tired from rustling up firewood. But it's a very good tired!

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  20. @montucky
    You're right, it is a very good tired. I've overdone it a few times though. I did it again today anticipating the coming colder weather.

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