Wood Cutting....

The last two weekends Eric and I have ventured into the mountains to go wood cutting with his family. Yep, as in falling trees, splitting them and stockpiling wood for the winter. People still do that here in NV in things called wood stoves rather than using natural gas and spending a fortune on utility bills. So my brother upon finding out that I was involved in this was highly amused because growing up in Southern CA, wood cutting is not a normal activity for us. I joked around that I am officially trading in my flatlander status and perhaps I am real mountain girl now.

When the alarm initially goes off on Saturday morning at what is normally a weekday wake up time, the body wants to just continue to sleep. Eric and I both need a little time to get going in the morning (one of us more than the other =-) but once we are driving up the 88 and into Hope Valley, the tiredness is long forgotten and it is so enjoyable just taking in the beauty of the fall colors and the mountains. It's great just to be outside. It is a very gratifying experience to work with your hands and bring home the fruits of your labor and to know that it will benefit your home. There is a big sense of accomplishment in it. And despite the sore muscles that follow in a couple of days, it is a lot of fun. As a family we just had a good time together.

So the first weekend we got a skinnier tree that fell really, really easily right a long the road and then went back to finish loading up a tree that Eric's family had already fell the previous week. The next week we got a thicker spruce that was a lot more work for Brent and Eric to get down-it took 12 wedges! To top it off it got hung up in the adjoining trees but within 10 minutes its own mass made it come crashing down. So both of our families are set for winter!