Well, it’s the 2nd week of March and I’ve burned less than four cords of wood since the season began last October. The cost to me? Oh, a lot of entertainment last summer with chain saw and maul. The thrill of assembling the most Dr. Seussian wood shed in the county. The delight of a crackling fire on a cold morning, or the warm light of coals on a winter’s night.

Oh, and there’s one other cost. You have to clean out the ashes occasionally. For me, it’s less than once a month during the burning season, and I usually remove enough to fill the kindling bucket (about 2 gallons). That is, I’d guess about 5 pounds of ash for every, say, 1200 pounds of wood I burn. (This is a completely scientific ballpark guess.) This winter I found that wood ash functions beautifully as a snowmelt. It sticks readily to ice or compacted snow and won’t bounce all over the place like the snowmelt stuff you get from the hardware store. Ash is dark in color, so it attracts the sunlight and melts ice; and it’s also (what’s the buzzword?) “organic.” No artificial colors or flavors. When the ice is gone you don’t have to worry about some mysterious chemical residue like you get with the stuff from the hardware store. It goes into the ground and maybe eventually ends up in another tree. Pretty cool, huh?

Yesterday after church (and various home teaching visits) I came home and stretched out in my cushy chair. The fire was burning merrily just a few feet away. I leaned way back, put my feet up, and took a snooze while the wind blew outside. That’s the cost of wood heat.

Beats vacuuming out a furnace filter.

I know y’all live in the city and can’t do much about your heating bill. I’m guessing your landlord would frown on your building a campfire in the living room, and what would you do with the smoke? (I know; I used to be a landlord.) But you can vicariously enjoy our heat. And you can do one better: If you really want to, start planning for your own snug aerie in the woods. You don’t have to have all the answers right now; you can just grab a pencil and start planning. It’s a great time to buy land.