The Cavewoman in Me

To add to my garage odyssey, I ordered a cord of wood which got dumped in our driveway on Saturday morning. Our current pile was woefully low, with probably only a few days of fires left. 

We have a fire almost every night of the year. This may seem ironic, seeing that I live in San Francisco and not at The Wall, although we all know what Mark Twain said about summer in SF.

I ordered only oak this load (instead of a mix of oak and almond) and had half of the cord split small for easier starting. I like to split wood but have found that it trashes my wrists to do it too often. We go through a cord about every 8 months. Stacking is surprisingly quick. 

There is something so primally satisfying about having a real fire. The smell, the heat and the sound of the burning wood just speak to my inner cavewoman. It just makes a room cheerier and it makes anything you cook on it taste great. As for the ash, I put some of it in my garden and compost the rest in my city green bin.

Just as a matter of consideration: I have contemplated the environmental impact of burning wood and have come to justify my sins(?) in this way. My fireplace is a rumford and is EPA phase II certified. This means that it burns extra hot, thus minimizing the particulates that it emits. Wood gives off the same amount of carbon whether it is burnt or rots away, so it is really the pollution causing particulates that are the most important consideration. We only burn hardwoods, which burn hotter and cleaner than softwoods like pine. And we heat the entire house with only the fireplace for all but the coldest few days of the year. Ok, so hopefully I'm not going to hell over this. :}