Lumberjack Off

Posted by blainegarrett

April 7, 2008

I had a thought today. I want to spend a few weeks with my folks cutting firewood this summer.

My folks burn firewood as their primary heat with a fuel oil backup. As a kid, I would spend late summer through the first snow cutting wood with my dad. You would be surprised how many trees annually get blown down in storms. My dad heated our home through the brutal Wisconsin winters for over 30 years just on the fallen trees. I have fond memories of my dad with his leg propped up on a tree trunk zipping through it with a blaring chain saw with a cig in his mouth. After school, I would come home and take out any pent up aggression with a splitting maul crushing logs into nice manageable pieces. This later translated to impressing girls by hitting the ring the bell thingy at the fair. Good memories.

Last winter, in all its lengthy brutal badness, my folks ran out of wood midway through winter. With the high cost of oil, they decided to venture into the cold on weekends and try to replenish the wood pile that they spent all summer and fall building up. Imagine my aging parents, sometimes accompanied by my little bro, trudging through the snow amidst the sound of the chain saw buzz dully echoing through the snow covered hills. Part of me thought it was romantic and part of me felt really bad for not being at home to help. My little comfy work at home job, chasing girls, and mingling at art openings seems frivolous knowing that at the same time, my parents are out doing hard labor in the cold. Don’t get my wrong, they enjoy it. It is good bonding time for them, and I’m sure they find it at least a wee bit fun. However, I’m sure there are better things they could be doing to ward off Alzheimer’s.

Anyway, I think I decided that I want to spend some time this summer helping them get ready for next fall. It will give me a chance to hang out with my folks while they still have a lot of piss and vinegar in them. It will also help me get in shape and re-learn some forgotten skills like felling trees and running a chainsaw. I’m thinking that 2 weeks of man handling a splitting maul will help get my upper body strength back up too. And a wee part of me wants to assume the role of my father from my memories of him with his leg propped up on a log sawing through it with a cigarette in his mouth - bad ass in my book.

Holla.