The couple that the wood was intended for are amazing people. The man, Ted, recently turned 84. I am pretty sure that he would have cut and split all this wood himself had we not had people volunteer to help. He just seems like that type of man. The kind that realizes that something needs to be done, and does it without hesitation. I had met them when I house sat for my friend over the summer. Ted and his wife Nancy, were so kind and welcoming of my children and I. Until then I had lived in a world where neighbors did not really care about neighbors. It was truly an eye opening experience.
On Saturday May 19, the kids and I woke up bright and early. Everyone was scheduled to be there at 9 so Aeryn and I wanted to make sure we were there early enough to get the cows fed and settled down. With that done we walked down to the horse pasture where we were sure people were going to be meeting. The back of the pasture was lined with stock trailers. There, being tacked up, were two teems of oxen, and three teams of horses. There was also a single horse, and I knew that Jay would also be going to get his own team too. All in all six teams and a single were going out into the woods today. It was an amazing site to see.
Once everything got start it ran so smoothly I do not know how well I can describe it. The horses (and oxen) pulled in the logs to a landing that had been set up to process the wood. There a well equipped, (and well managed) team cut the logs, sorted between kitchen wood and furnace wood, and ran the furnace wood through the splitter before tossing it into the back of a waiting truck. When the trucks were full they were backed to the appropriate area where I was waiting with some children to unload and stack it all. The children were that of a local family that came to help as well as a few 4-H kids from Aeryn's group.
It was such a tiring, amazing day. We managed to bring in 5 chords of wood! Most of it ended up being split and stacked, but there is still a bit left.
I strolled through the cow pasture today. Where they had pulled the logs through. And you would never have known that they had been there had you not seen it for yourself. There were no noisy, smog making machines to tear up the earth that provides the grass for our cows. There was virtually no sign that anything out of the ordinary had happened. Honestly readers, if you ever need log work done around your yard, this is the way to go! Whenever I drive past an area that is being cleared I want to cry for the damage that is being done to our Earth. It also makes me wonder what damage is being done to our society.
It was one of those times that makes me realize that it really does "take a village". Somewhere along the way we have lost our sense of community. We no longer help our neighbors and barely take heed to the fact that they may need a little extra help. When people are in trouble we lock our doors, and hide behind our curtains as we nosily try to find out exactly what is going on. How did our society as a whole get this way?
This is not the way that I want my children raised. I want them to know that it is okay to help those in need. If more people were willing to put in a hard days work to help one another, we would not have the time nor the energy for all of the bickering and squabbling going on.
I would like to thank my friend, Jay for including me in this event. Never will I hesitate when I get invited to another. And I certainly hope that he plans more in the future....
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