Firewood warms twice

There is nothing more comforting than backing up to a woodstove or fireplace with a nice blaze going. Better than a hot water bottle between cold sheets; better than a warm tubby with aqua bath salts; better than hot chocolate...well, maybe if the chocolate is dark Scharffen Berger, with a dollop of REAL whipped cream, sprinkled with Madgascar cinnamon. But even that would taste better, if it were in a mug being held in a hand belonging to the body backed up to the cozy fire source. Yep, that would do it.
I should warn you: this post is by way of an experiment. It has a ton of photos, with little explanation. You know the saying...a picture is worth a thousand words. By the time you get to the end, you will thank me for restraining my usual verbage.
To set the scene(s), while visiting home on the Oregon coast during February, I had the unusual good fortune to have both my camera in hand and my brother cutting wood down at the boat ramp. He hauls in huge logs after storms have floated them down the rivers into the bay - and he doesn't always wait for the storm to blow out. Very nerve racking to watch his little boat behaving like a combination bulldozer and bucking broc, with 8 foot waves breaking overhead. This log wranglilng is a competitive pastime for many who live on Tillamook Bay. The logs are branded and tied off while the woodcutters fetch more logs. A good storm can really clog up the little harbor with tied off logs. As with cow wrangling, there is even log rustling - that's another story.
Mom and I sat out the rain squalls in the van, snapping shots out the windows. When the rain let up a bit, I braved the elements for more closeup shots. Sure brought back a lot of memories. We always had a fireplace, there was always wood to cut, haul, split and stack. Best of all, to burn! Many family outings involved trips up into the nearby Coast Range to cut firewood. Lots of work, but good times, good memories.
Mom still lives in the same house we were all raised in, the fireplace now has a more efficient insert, and it still can warm your buns very nicely!
On with the show.

One of a logger's best tools - a peavey. It's used to move and roll the logs.

This section of log was the last 20 feet of a fifty-footer that he hauled across the bay and pulled up onto the ramp. He estimated he cut at least 5 cords from this grand old log. By the growth rings, it was about 350 years old when it went down, somewhere up in the hills.

Straight grain fir - a joy to split. It lets go with a clean "pop", you can really split a lot of this wood - it's almost addictive as you get into the rythm of the ax and woodgrain.

See, he's warming up, the coat is off now! That wood cutting warmth begins long before the stove.
As the log lightened, it began to swing around and roll over. Out came the big jack, to put it back in place, stablized with some blocks of wood.

A good sharp splitting maul is worth it's weight.

As is a good sharp chain - if it's spitting out sawdust, you're making good time through the wood.

A friend showed up to help split a few rounds. That's really the fun part!

I hope you've enjoyed this woodsplitting adventure. And if you're ever in town, there's always a few rounds to split, haul and stack...if you're real handy at it, you can even come on up to the house and burn a few chunks in the fireplace. It will warm you up where you need it the most, especially if its a nice coast drizzly day!

The hot chocolate is in the cupboard to the left of the stove.