APPRECIATING TREES

I've mentioned before how much I like to look at trees. I also like to burn them. So today I'd like to honor all the trees that have given their life substance so that I can be warm.

We put in a woodstove last year, part of our ongoing attempt to live self-sufficiently. We've heated other homes with wood heat, but that was when we were young and spry and it was fun to swing a hatchet like Davy Crockett, making kindling of big, tall trees. It's not so fun anymore. In fact, I've become quite the wimp--or the supportive wife, as I like to view it. Now I just holler, "Honey, we need more kindling." And voila, sooner or later, kindling appears in the recycling-bin-turned-woodbox.

We've got some good wood this year. It burns hot, so hot we end up stripping off clothes and basking in the waves of heat coming from the corner of the living room. We angle for the best seat, the one nearest the fire, where we take turns curling up with a book and/or a pillow.

Ah, to be warm! It's a luxury I sincerely appreciate. So here's to trees, those beautiful, generous, life-giving flora. Go hug one today.