I live as you do. I must admit at times I have dreamed of central heating, but it's been 10 years and if I don't get the mix of fir and oak exactly right around 9pm, I'll wake to ice on the inside of my bedroom windows and a house too cold even for ghosts. Like you, I also love it. There's nothing wrong with being chained to the hearth for months on end. And even as i slice my hand open trying to chip the ice out of the chicken's water bowl (it used to heat up but the element burned out) I know that once I retreat inside...the warmth of the house is unlike any other warmth I have ever felt. The toastiest, the coziest, the deepest warm that warms even my cynical, icy heart. Yes there is a God and her name is fire.
I must have the only farmhouse in Maine with no woodstove, and it pains me greatly. Not only because I have no back-up when the power goes out (generators are a pricey investment when every penny goes into the farm!). Not because it costs me an arm and a leg to heat my ginormous house. But because, as a life-long Mainer, firewood is a part of life here. I grew up stacking firewood. I love the smell of it. Love the wood heat and having a wood-burning stove to set a kettle on or warm my hands beside... There’s nothing quite like a wood-fire in the depths of winter. I sure do miss it!
I live as you do. I must admit at times I have dreamed of central heating, but it's been 10 years and if I don't get the mix of fir and oak exactly right around 9pm, I'll wake to ice on the inside of my bedroom windows and a house too cold even for ghosts. Like you, I also love it. There's nothing wrong with being chained to the hearth for months on end. And even as i slice my hand open trying to chip the ice out of the chicken's water bowl (it used to heat up but the element burned out) I know that once I retreat inside...the warmth of the house is unlike any other warmth I have ever felt. The toastiest, the coziest, the deepest warm that warms even my cynical, icy heart. Yes there is a God and her name is fire.
Lovely! And hearing from readers that get it makes me feel less alone in my hearthcrush 🔥
I must have the only farmhouse in Maine with no woodstove, and it pains me greatly. Not only because I have no back-up when the power goes out (generators are a pricey investment when every penny goes into the farm!). Not because it costs me an arm and a leg to heat my ginormous house. But because, as a life-long Mainer, firewood is a part of life here. I grew up stacking firewood. I love the smell of it. Love the wood heat and having a wood-burning stove to set a kettle on or warm my hands beside... There’s nothing quite like a wood-fire in the depths of winter. I sure do miss it!
Well I hope you install one someday!
I love your writing; your voice is so strong in this piece
I so appreciate that Ellie! Thank you for commenting, it means so much.