Late October of 2010, after takin' some time off because of my daughter's lung issues, I decided to start burning wood for heating the house again... I didn't have a single stick of firewood. I started cutting standing-dead elm on Halloween morning... managed to hook my knee with the saw and make a quick trip to the emergency room... came home and started the saw right back up. That winter was one of the wettest, snowiest we'd had in years; started out with rain and freezing rain in November, sleet and ice storms in December, and by mid January the snow was waist deep in the woodlot... and it didn't stop snowin' until April.
I was out every Saturday morning cuttin' splittin' and haulin' whatever I could get to so I could keep the fire goin' another week; in rain and mud, in sleet and ice, in snow and wind, wading through crotch-deep snow in sub-zero temps... windchills -30°, -35°. I kept the woodlot roads, paths and trails semi-open by drivin' the little tractor through them every other night or so after work (in the dark). I mounted a winch on the front of the tractor so it could pull itself out as needed. It was pretty slow goin' some days, but I managed to get enough in the house to keep the fire goin' every week... never turned on the gas furnace. Rough guess, I burned something in the neighborhood of 8-9 cord in that old smoke dragon... 8-9 cord of "not-so-great" firewood, some wet, some "punky", some wet and "punky".
During the first part of the season I'd come in the house soaking wet and covered in mud... later, soaking wet and covered in frozen mud... and later yet, soaking wet and just frozen. When March rolled around the rain, sleet, ice and mud started all over again... only it was that really "greazy" mud with the frozen ground under it (you have to experience it to understand it). No, the saw didn't "fizzle down" in rain or drizzle... once-in-a-while the fan would suck-in some powdery snow and short the ignition, but it would start right back up.
There isn't any weather that has to keep you from making firewood... it's just a matter of determination. Mud is probably the worst for slowin' down production and creating "extra" work... and likely a bit more walkin' rather than drivin'. When it was really muddy (or when the snow was the deepest) I'd hook all my cables, chains and straps together and winch the logs onto more solid ground, even up onto the road... some days spend half the day just winching and pulling, damn slow goin'. Winch a log 50-75 feet, remove one of the extension cables and winch again, and again, and again... then hook 'em back together and start all over on another log. Nope, nothing has to actually stop you from making firewood... but some things sure can take any enjoyment out'a it.
Believe me... people who live off the land, or live by workin' the land, don't stop because of weather, mud or anything else... the "need" makes it a matter of determination. Those with the determination get the job(s) done, those without the determination... well... move into town.
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