Like everyone has said, enjoy it as much as you can now. I cut and split with my dad and another old timer for many years when I was younger and got laid off every winter. Every day was 2 pickup loads cut, split and stacked, and to the local tavern for lunch and a beer or 3 by noon. At the time, I looked at it as work, now looking back it was some dang good quality time with a couple great guys that are no longer with us.
It was actually a good system, Dad dropping the trees, Gene dragging them out on his old 70 John Deere, and me bucking and brushing. Once they had enough cut for the day, they'd start loading and splitting the smaller stuff, then by the time I was done bucking, I could lift the big stuff onto the splitter! More often than not, I cut alone now, and sure miss the conversation and stories told.
Dad always said he didn't want to die laying in a hospital bed. He got his wish. He had a heart attack and died while feeding his pigs, on the farm he spent his whole life on, and was 78 when he died. I only hope to be as lucky. He's been gone 8 years now, and I still think about him all the time.
