April...showers? Bah.
Apr. 4th, 2006 11:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chelidonAfter a gloriously perfect Spring weekend, and following a night of heavy rain, it is now snowing...big wet heavy flakes, falling thickly. They're calling for maybe four inches between now and tomorrow night, and in our fertile little valley, we often get more precipitation than forecast for the surrounding area. I am vexed. The white stuff won't stay long -- despite the daytime temperature dropping from the 50s of the past weekend down to the low 40s today, it's well above freezing, but still, this seems like a somewhat cruel joke, I'm now quite ready for Spring. There is irony here. A month ago I was begging for more snow, for more skiing and winter fun, it was such a wimpy winter. Now I'm cranky about it, and I'll be quite glad when it's all gone. Timing is everything... ;>
Yesterday was a little milestone. My son helped me stack wood for the first time. He may not appreciate the rite of passage, especially as he gets older and according to my evil plans, takes on more and more responsibility around here, including much of the cutting, splitting and stacking work, but I sure welcome it. I had him collect the small stuff and put it into the kindling boxes while I moved and stacked all the split cordwood into the woodshed, but he helped, he did a good job, and only complained a little ;> He's very big for his age, which means, little does he know, he'll be helping out that much sooner... Walking back from the schoolbus, when I first told him what his afternoon was going to look like, he said he didn't understand why he had to do the work, and I explained that he had his part to do as a member of the household, and while we were working, I told him he could be proud now when he sits in the warm house or takes a hot bath that he had a part in making that, and he seemed to really get it. We had a special reward later, I taught him to play one of my old Avalon-Hill cardgames that he'd been dying to get into -- he's getting to be a pretty darn sharp strategist for a 6-year-old.
I can see, now, the advantage of big farm families. And I will admit, while lugging all the wood I had fantasies about big burly people ;> This was the first time I've moved more than an entire cord of wood by myself, by hand, in one straight shot, but I was the only able-bodied adult person home at the time and it was threatening rain, so there ya go. Today, however, after the day's work is done, I note that a cord of dried wood weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of two tons, and I will be glad for a hot tub soak and a glass of my favorite muscle relaxant. There are fringe benefits, too. Before bed last night, my partner noted with some appreciation that approaching 40 I'm in much better shape physically than I was even in my 20s, and it's true -- despite still spending hours daily sitting in my writer's chair, living out in the woods has been the best workout plan I've ever had, just from doing what needs to be done. And I'm glad for it, not so much from a vanity perspective, though I guess that's okay too, but it's just nice to feel healthy, capable, and full of vigor and energy. Sure it is, I'm grateful for whatever kinds of strength I have, and however I got it (despite not always being happy about it at the time), because right now, I need everything I've got.
Yesterday was a little milestone. My son helped me stack wood for the first time. He may not appreciate the rite of passage, especially as he gets older and according to my evil plans, takes on more and more responsibility around here, including much of the cutting, splitting and stacking work, but I sure welcome it. I had him collect the small stuff and put it into the kindling boxes while I moved and stacked all the split cordwood into the woodshed, but he helped, he did a good job, and only complained a little ;> He's very big for his age, which means, little does he know, he'll be helping out that much sooner... Walking back from the schoolbus, when I first told him what his afternoon was going to look like, he said he didn't understand why he had to do the work, and I explained that he had his part to do as a member of the household, and while we were working, I told him he could be proud now when he sits in the warm house or takes a hot bath that he had a part in making that, and he seemed to really get it. We had a special reward later, I taught him to play one of my old Avalon-Hill cardgames that he'd been dying to get into -- he's getting to be a pretty darn sharp strategist for a 6-year-old.
I can see, now, the advantage of big farm families. And I will admit, while lugging all the wood I had fantasies about big burly people ;> This was the first time I've moved more than an entire cord of wood by myself, by hand, in one straight shot, but I was the only able-bodied adult person home at the time and it was threatening rain, so there ya go. Today, however, after the day's work is done, I note that a cord of dried wood weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of two tons, and I will be glad for a hot tub soak and a glass of my favorite muscle relaxant. There are fringe benefits, too. Before bed last night, my partner noted with some appreciation that approaching 40 I'm in much better shape physically than I was even in my 20s, and it's true -- despite still spending hours daily sitting in my writer's chair, living out in the woods has been the best workout plan I've ever had, just from doing what needs to be done. And I'm glad for it, not so much from a vanity perspective, though I guess that's okay too, but it's just nice to feel healthy, capable, and full of vigor and energy. Sure it is, I'm grateful for whatever kinds of strength I have, and however I got it (despite not always being happy about it at the time), because right now, I need everything I've got.
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Date: 2006-04-04 09:04 pm (UTC)I'm enjoying the direct corelation between lugging and toting, and the enjoyment of warmth. It's like being fully present for ritual, planning, putting forth your intent, and then relaxing while the magic takes place. Now, if you have the wherewithal to do that relaxing in a hot tub with whiskey and a dear one or two, so much the better. Sounds good to me... (*grin*)
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Date: 2006-04-05 01:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-05 02:20 pm (UTC)