Firewood Warms You Twice

Oh, how many times I participated in the cutting and stacking of firewood. It seems like every single year that Dad would resurect his favorite 'wood stacking' quote, saying: "It is often said the best thing about firewood is that it warms you twice. Once when you cut and stack it, and once when you burn it!" Needless to say, at that age, I probably would have settled for half the warmth, if I was able to avoid the half that involved the cutting and stacking.

Cutting and stacking wood, however, was damn near our winter religion. An important lesson I learned during these excursions was that a true man takes the hardest task for himself, and leave the other tasks to other people. I remember having a foreign exchange student from Mexico; he had the honor of participating in the cutting and stacking of wood the winter he was with us. He started to complain that Dad had taken the easy job by selecting to work with the chainsaw and hand splitter while George was doing the loading and stacking. Dad taught George an important lesson - one I was obliged to learn by watching rather then through personal experience.

Dad handed George the chainsaw and splitter, and began stacking wood (at a rate quite beyond that of George, I might add) and set George to work. The time it took George to learn his lesson was short - very short. I learned that if you select to challenge a man of such character, you had better be prepared to get extra warm the first round with the firewood. A great man selects the toughest job for himself, and allows those around him to tackle other tasks.