“some men go through a forest and see no firewood!”
So why the name you may ask? Well my wife actually came up with it many years ago. What started as a nick-name, turned into t-shirts for me and my buddies and now is the name of this blog.
Over the past 20 years, no matter where we went…out for dinner, kid’s functions, camping, visiting the in-laws…I would find free wood. Not just any wood, but wood to turn into firewood to burn in our wonderful airtight fireplace.
Sometimes it was freshly cut down or almost down or in my opinion should come down and sometimes it was already bucked! Whatever stage it was in, if it was nice wood, I’d leave my name and number…or just load up my truck on the spot. And even though I don’t always have room, if it’s good wood I bring it home and worry about where to stack it later!
I told my wife that a couple of my buddies were just like me, one of them even fills up his little Subaru Forrester every chance he can. This drives his wife nuts!
My wife said were all just a bunch of “Wood Whores” and sometimes she’d even call me a “Wood Snob” as she didn’t understand why I’d leave a huge pile of bucked wood behind. I tried to explain why a certain type of tree was just too shitty to bother with and why I was only interested in harder types of wood with better burn times. She told me all wood burns so free wood should be free wood…I disagree.
You know when you’re wife starts talking about crafts or baking or almost anything else… you just sort of zone out? I’m sure that’s what the wife does when I talk about wood. So I’ve stopped talking about why crappy wood isn’t worth the time and effort involved in collecting and bucking not to mention the waste of stacking space.
I love hiking, camping, fishing and almost anything else in the outdoors. I’m not sure if I’m really “obsessed” with wood and I don’t see every tree as firewood, but I do often wonder how I could get a 65’ Douglas Fir out of a 4’ walking trail when I see one lying on its side….such a waste….
As much as my wife teases me about being a “Wood Whore”, I have never once heard her complain about the fact that she can burn as much wood as her heart desires in the winter months. I probably have enough seasoned wood for three winters…or two real bad ones. It’s nice not having to worry about running out of wood or having a really cold spring.
– Chuck