Yesterday my neighbor came with a small tractor, wood splitter and chainsaw. Together we began bucking up logs we had retrieved up the road last summer just after a devastating fire nearly burnt our little (population 600) town. [The forest service had initially cut scorched trees and stacked them in huge logging decks for the community to use. I was lucky because I got my permits and we went up the road with my friend’s tractor and trailer and got a load of logs. The very next day, the Forest Service decided they were no longer going to give the community access to the wood, and instead decided to sell it for profit.] The little house I rent was built in the 1940’s and only has a wood stove for heat, so the wood I was able to get is a huge blessing after the evacuation last summer and the scare of the fire. The logs sat outside and dried well until yesterday when we started bucking and splitting. I was sad for so many of my neighbors who missed out on the wood (Del Norte County is a rural and economically challenged area.) I cried yesterday after my neighbor and I had been working for a couple hours and he told me to take a break and drink some water as he worked on. This was after he had given me a bowl full of a salmon (he’d caught) rice dish he had made the night before for my supper. (BTW, he’s 61 & I’m 60.) The joy I felt yesterday exceeded the soreness in my muscles- the feeling of being helped and held by others in simply getting the job of living done is priceless. Difficult to comment through the tears of this morning’s reading. I’ll be sitting beside you in spirit on Sunday Adam, cheering you on in your zero pledge.
Now I wish I could attend to hear Dougald speak on Sunday more than ever. I just relinquished my reserved spot at Sunday's talk because I am under the weather, with a barking cough and likely contagious. Hopefully someone else will be able to take my seat. I've been looking forward to hearing him speak.
Yesterday my neighbor came with a small tractor, wood splitter and chainsaw. Together we began bucking up logs we had retrieved up the road last summer just after a devastating fire nearly burnt our little (population 600) town. [The forest service had initially cut scorched trees and stacked them in huge logging decks for the community to use. I was lucky because I got my permits and we went up the road with my friend’s tractor and trailer and got a load of logs. The very next day, the Forest Service decided they were no longer going to give the community access to the wood, and instead decided to sell it for profit.] The little house I rent was built in the 1940’s and only has a wood stove for heat, so the wood I was able to get is a huge blessing after the evacuation last summer and the scare of the fire. The logs sat outside and dried well until yesterday when we started bucking and splitting. I was sad for so many of my neighbors who missed out on the wood (Del Norte County is a rural and economically challenged area.) I cried yesterday after my neighbor and I had been working for a couple hours and he told me to take a break and drink some water as he worked on. This was after he had given me a bowl full of a salmon (he’d caught) rice dish he had made the night before for my supper. (BTW, he’s 61 & I’m 60.) The joy I felt yesterday exceeded the soreness in my muscles- the feeling of being helped and held by others in simply getting the job of living done is priceless. Difficult to comment through the tears of this morning’s reading. I’ll be sitting beside you in spirit on Sunday Adam, cheering you on in your zero pledge.
Welcome Maizey Corn Dog!!!!
Now I wish I could attend to hear Dougald speak on Sunday more than ever. I just relinquished my reserved spot at Sunday's talk because I am under the weather, with a barking cough and likely contagious. Hopefully someone else will be able to take my seat. I've been looking forward to hearing him speak.