Winter Wealthy

Growing up in a post-Depression family, watching my mother struggle with rationing during WWII, learning to make do and stretch it out had its benefits.  There were lean times later on when the Kids were little.  One meal I'd like to forget was serving cornmeal griddlecakes with homemade "syrup" for dinner because that was all there was in the cupboard and fridge.  Those times, however, have left me with a phobia about empty shelves and nothing in the freezer.  It's not just the distance to the stores that makes me antsy when I open or use the last (or even next-to-last) of anything.  Steve believed all the hype about Y2K (the fear that all computer systems would crash because of the millennium) and stocked us up for a year.

With a dwindling supply of firewood, I'd become very frugal when it came to lighting the wood stove, regardless of the temperature.  Another jacket, a lap robe, heating the "beanbag" would get me through another day.  Then Clay brought up all those rounds from the valley.  Wahoo!  Helper Dude has earned his pay and I am rich, up to my eyeballs in split logs.  He added another cord to the pile yesterday.  There is more under the tarps (note to self:  get another tarp), so I'm pretty well set for this season.

Like money in the bank, these fresh-cut rounds need to age for a year and will be a great start for next winter.  It's like having spending cash and a savings account.  That's what I'd call winter wealthy!