It was 6:40 am and the rain was predicted to start at 7. I knew I’d have a hard time sitting still for my morning meditation. It was between a meditative walk or mindful wood stacking.
I chose the wood and for at least half of that hour, my mind and body flailed and buzzed. But once I was able to come back to myself, to be present, I realized that there were four different kinds of trees that were cut for our fire wood in the cord so far.
I started learning about the trees in our woods a few years ago. I know most of them now, if not by name at least by being able to recognize their bark.
Now I was learning more as I stacked our firewood.
The ash is easy to identify by the squiggly marks left by the borer beetles who kill them. Seeing the mark next to the bark (some pieces have no bark at all) helped me learn what the bark looks like. Ash is also very light. The dry pieces are like lifting cardboard.
I always know the oak because it’s very dense and heavy. I’m not good at distinguishing between the types of oak, but it became easy to recognize the oak bark from the other three types.
The paper birch is the most obvious. I peel the bark off some of the pieces because they are better than even newspaper for starting fires. Under the papery white layers of bark is another thicker layer that is, at times, bright orange.
The fourth type of tree I don’t know the name of. I’m guessing, because it is very heavy, it’s oak or maybe a kind of hickory I’m not familiar with (maybe someone reading this knows…).
Getting to know the trees that are our firewood for the winter, helped focus my mind. It brought me into the moment and allowed me to see what was right in front of me.
The rain only came in a drizzle, so with the pile of wood covered with a tarp, I was able to stack it for the whole hour.
It takes me 2 1/2 hours to stack a cord of wood mindfully, carrying each log into the barn one by one. I don’t believe this is much longer than tossing the logs into the barn then stacking them, the way I used to, although I never timed myself doing it that way.
I always enjoyed stacking wood, but now I look forward to it even more. Not only is it satisfying, it’s easy on my body, and calms my mind.
Wow it’s almost as if the tree wood was grounding you as you observed each log and zeroed in on what it was telling you. A true meditative experience. And so informative for your readers!
That’s a really good way of putting it Peg. I like the thought that they were speaking to me.
Are there any children’s book authors out there…The birch moth seems to be the bare bones of a kids book with Maria (the human)as the heroine.
Ah, you are right, it is a good lesson for kids as well as adults Jackie.