Rings and Wrinkles

/ rothpoetry
“When you split your own wood, it warms your twice!”

I loved taking the maul and lifting it back over my head, bring it down hard enough to make the wood fly in both directions. I split my own firewood for many years, until one day I ended up with two ruptured discs. We had a fireplace insert wood stove that provide a lot of good heat from that wood. It is true what they say, “When you split your own wood, it warms your twice!” After my back surgery, I got smart and purchased a used wood splitter which saved my back and worked very well.

Cutting through the tree trunks with a chainsaw was exciting to me. I never knew what I would fine inside. Narrow rings and wide rings revealed dry years and wet years. Counting the rings gave me an idea how old the tree might be. Sometimes there were hollow rotten spaces, filled with termites or ants, that showed the tree was not in the best of health. Wood is a great renewable resource, when trees are replanted and managed for the future.

Rings left in a tree

Like wrinkles on our faces

Nature’s History Book

How old do you think this oak tree might have been?!

Photos: Dwight L. Roth

60 thoughts on “Rings and Wrinkles”

  2. Our only heating is one slow combustion wood stove. I know exactly what you mean about being warmed twice. 🙂 So far (15 years) all our wood is from the trees cut down for the house space and fire break, which is still not big enough.

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  6. Sorry for hurting your back from splitting firewood, Dwight. My husband usually doesn’t like to split firewood. He found some fallen trees looked like years old on his walking trail. He rented a machine to cut them and brought them home. The firewood last for a whole winter last year. It might be the last year he burnt firewood because buying it is so expensive here and feels like burning dollar bills.

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  10. Dwight, you have created an engaging story with your story, photograph, and poem.
    Smart purchasing a wood splitter after your injury. Sounds serious. 😟 I have never split wood (shocker), but enjoyed an Osburn stove years ago. Very cozy!

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  11. Dwight, I find your pictures and Haiku very evocative.
    The pictures brought me back to childhood with my father splitting wood for winter. It seemed so easy when he did it whilst trying I found it difficult to hit the right spot and find the strength.
    I wonder why there are so many shakes ( cracks) from centre and out?

    Miriam

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  16. Wonderful! So true! And I think that is a VERY well-seasoned oak tree! Ha! 😉 If it could talk it would have years of stories to share! 🙂
    Eons ago we used to live in a home where the fireplace was our only source of heat. I’m glad we were young then, and the kids were still at home, and working together we were able to cut down trees, cut and stack the wood, etc.
    We are too well-seasoned to do that by ourselves now! HA!!! 😀
    (((HUGS))) 🙂

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    • Ha ha… yes, too many wrings in our tree now! Thank you for sharing this great comment Carolyn. Those days do take us back. This tree was about four feet across at the base and over a hundred years old!

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