Back in 1984 Bruce Springsteen sung “Can’t start a fire without a spark”. A spark which lacks contact with wood will have no lasting effect. Chopping up firewood has been a passtime for me ever since we got our first wood burning stove. Making kindling using a hand axe or splitting a log with my logging maul, is both good exercise and for some reason an enjoyable hour or so spent making the next batch of wood to stoke up the wood burner on a cold night.
A recent DIY project of mine was to build a Wood Store. The old temporary one made of old rotting pallets needed an upgrade. A couple of minutes searching Youtube gave me a few ideas for building a proper store ready for the tote bag of logs about to arrive on our doorstep just before the cold winter ahead.
Like with most enjoyable experiences there usually has to be some graft beforehand. So any decent fire needs some preparation and phyisical work. Unless of course you cheat and nip down to the local petrol station and buy a bag of logs and kindling, at a exorbitant marked up price.
In this series, I will explore some spiritual topics with metaphors from the wonderful world of kindling, seasoned wood and the woodpile