For me, stacking firewood is like painting the house; it’s not something I look forward to, but at the same time it’s not something I detest either. I’m good at either job, very quick and very neat, so that helps… I don’t need, or use drop cloths and masking tape when I paint, and my firewood stacks always stand nicely plumb and square, never falling over. I know it sounds kind’a silly comparing painting to stacking firewood, but those are two jobs I do really fast and really clean that most (or many) people hate, and therefore tend to do a sloppy, inefficient job of.
It’s kind’a funny really… when I’m stacking firewood I’ll grab two splits out’a the trailer and instantly know how they’ll be orientated and where they’ll be placed on the stack, BEFORE I even turn to look at the stack! It’s like I keep a running map of the current top row in my memory. When I grab splits from the trailer I unconsciously spot two that will be placed close to each other on the stack, which saves time… so I just grab two, turn, plop… grab two, turn, plop… grab two, turn, plop… in a quick rhythm. Usually I’ll have some music blaring from the speakers mounted on the outside of the garage/shop (classic rock or honky-tonk depending on mood) and be singing along as I work.
Yeah, I know… I’m an alien.