The Campfire Trail: February 6 - The Campfire Trail

February 6, 2025

Day 1,224 of the Adventure

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Some of the best parts of backwoods living are the simple tasks that get sprinkled through each day. This single picture represents a number of examples of that. Including the work that's done there along with many of the projects slowly being completed there. It's our firewood processing area. What began as a basic woodshed project has evolved into a kind of retreat. It's a space that certainly represents a level of work, but also a place we can spend time regardless of the weather as we build up our "Cabin Heating" resource for the homestead. It's no fun at all in the summer months, but actually pleasurable in the fall and winter.

I don't know or understand why the mundane task of cutting, splitting and stacking firewood is so satisfying to me. Maybe its a connection, or at least a perceived connection to some of my childhood memories. When I was ten or so, living in Missouri, we had an old "Warm Morning" woodstove in our basement that provided heat to our house. There was no indoor stairway to the basement, so we had to go out into the cold to get there. Out the kitchen door, down the back steps off the breezeway and into the basement door. Once the stove was refreshed with wood in the morning after dying down overnight, sitting in front of it absorbing its warmth was a simple pleasure. Likewise, I remember arriving early in the mornings at my uncle and aunt Ed and Mary's place on many deer hunting trips. They lived along a river bottom in central Iowa and, in many ways, their place retained a 1930's vibe to it. This included the large woodstove in their basement. I suppose it would be better described as a cellar. The old leaky stove always emitted a faint aroma of the wood smoke that should have made its way out the chimney. While not "smokey" their small home always had that comfortable and familiar woodsmoke smell. When mingled with the aroma of a big pot of chili and the never-ending coffee, which also accompanied many a deer hunting trips, the ambiance of their old house became irresistible.

Firewood and woodstoves are a grand memory for me of the past and one I continue to embrace at the Campfire Trail.

Carry On

Adventure Quote: “Fall air had an unforgettable fragrance; as the scent of wood smoke drifted across farmers' fields, when hearths and stoves were fired-up again, crackling softly on those cooler, darker nights.” ― Arlene Stafford-Wilson

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