One impulse from a vernal wood may teach you more of man, of moral evil and of good, Than all the sages can.
- William Wordsworth -
I been looking at my wood with something akin to dismay upon my face. It was hard and way too big; it needed dealing with, but the act of doing so was daunting...and so I'd put it off for some time. It had no choice but to deal with though, my big hard wood couldn't stay like that forever; it needed to come back down in size.
This weekend has been stress-free and relaxed. I've slept in just a little, hiked every day and and even found a chocolate Easter egg in a tree at the park; the remnant of a kids Easter egg hunt. Sucks to be them, finders keepers you little buggers! I've watched Netflix, began the Lost in Space series, which isn't too bad at all - It's not grabbed me as others have, but it's watchable and generally had an enjoyable time.
But speaking of grabbing...My wood.
It's Monday today I'm going to spend the day working around the house. I have a holiday coming up in four days and this is my last chance to get a few things completed. My list is:
- Remove and re-fix a jasmine creeper mesh (my last attempt was a fail)
- Empty my vegetable garden beds and condition the soil ready for the next planting
- Tidy my workshop (It's always tidy, so I mean tidy some more)
- Attend to my massive wood
I've had some chunks of tree that are too big for my firepit. They will burn of course, but they take too long to do so and require far too much heat so they need to be split and cut into manageable firewood. For that, I need a block-splitter which I do not have. [Yes, there actually is a tool I do not have folks.] I don't mean a hand tool here, I mean one of those mechanical block-splitters that make splitting blocks a piece of cake. But I haven't got one.
No, today I'm doing it the hard way...A block-splitting wedge and a sledge hammer. I know, it's going to suck.
Basically, one takes the block-splitting wedge, holds it in place, and smashes down with mighty god-like force upon the back of it with the sledge hammer. The theory is, the wedge splits the block. From there, further splitting can be done with an axe.
Dealing with my big wood today is not going to be easy. It will leave me tired and aching, and despite the fact I'll feel like Thor, I'm probably going to regret the few hours it'll take me. Having said that, I guess I'll also feel a sense of relief and some degree of satisfaction that the big hard wood has been reduced in size through my efforts and attention.
Have you ever been confronted with big hard wood that you had to, or wanted to, deal with? How did you do it and how did you feel when you were done? Feel free to comment below.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised so be humble and kind
Any image(s) in this post are my own