When I was a teenager my folks bought 80 acres in north central Minnesoda,

heavily wooded with a few acres open. Sandy soil, perfect for growing pine

trees, not so good for farming. It had an old house that had been added on

with several rooms and porches. No electricity, no running water, primitive

by today’s standards but it was reasonably cheap. My folks cleaned it up,

bought some livestock and we were going to be farmers. It was early enough

in the spring that we had time for a garden. When winter came we had a

barrel stove in the living room that kept that room warm and a wood burning

cook stove so the kitchen was hot in the summer and comfortable in the

winter, as long as the fire was going.

 

The farming part didn’t work out so well, my Dad had to get a job to buy

feed for the cows and finally decided to sell the cattle and just work for

wages. My brother and I grew up and left but they stayed on the farm, the

REA had brought power and my Dad put an electric pump on the well. They

still burned wood but finally had to change out to a fuel oil stove in

their later years.

 

The years pass for us all and it was time to me to decide how I’d spend my

retirement. I wanted to return to my earlier life style but with a little

more comfort. My wife and I had gotten accustomed to

a more modern way of living but still wanted to keep some of our earlier

traditions. She was from a small village in the south of Viet Nam, I had

never stopped being a bumpkin. In addition we were sort of independent in

our thinking, both thrifty (cheap) and willing to work. We found the

property we liked and started nailing boards together. Actually a little

more complicated but still…

 

Building the house, upstairs

 

I wanted a wood furnace that would heat the whole house. I also wanted a

propane back up, for those times when we might be gone for a while. The

missus wanted a big, modern kitchen. We both got our wishes. Now I had to

provide the wood for the winter and garden produce for her to can or freeze

for the off season. I bought a tiller and a chainsaw and went to work. I

had no idea how much wood we’d need so I cut, split and stacked what I

thought was enough.

 

 

As it turned out I had cut plenty for the first year and that gave me sort

of an idea of how much we would need. The first few years I stored the wood

outside with a tarp over it in the winter, that worked out fairly well but

I always had an excess, money in the bank sort of thing. I decided I needed

a wood shed to store the wood, keep it dry and not worry about having too

much.

 

Fall 2005

 

I contracted with some Amish guys that built metal buildings. I went with a

30 X 40 structure, big enough for wood and to store some equipment inside.

Every Spring I would cut, haul, split and store my wood in the shed. I

found that I always cut too much and over the years the woodshed was full.

Then I was back to storing the excess outside and burning that first but

with a shed full of wood, enough for several years.

 

 

As the years passed I realized that unless I stopped cutting I never would

get to the wood in the shed and some other person would be enjoying my

work. In the fall of 2019 I broke into my wood savings account. That wood

was super dry and we used that for ’19 and ’20.

 

 

It was great, not having to cut wood any more and living off the stored

stuff. During the years of inflation I’d convinced myself that I had

accumulated interest and I was saving even more money. Then the fateful day

in March 2021 all my plans suddenly changed. We turned the switch and the

propane furnace started and we didn’t need to worry about being cold. We

coasted through the winter of 2021 and only stopped to cry when the truck

came and filled up the tank.

 

 

We still had a shed full of wood. I was thinking maybe if I hauled small

loads I could sort of get back to burning wood, as long as the snow and

cold weather isn’t too severe. Now with December upon us we still haven’t

used the gas, I’ve been able to keep the wood box full and start the fire

every morning. It feels good to keep the tradition alive. One day soon

we’ll have to switch back to the gas and Cheapskate (or Prepper) Fourscore

will cry again.

 

We really don’t live off the grid, we need the electric to keep everything

humming, even the fan on the wood furnace. It’s a game of pretend but it

works for us.