Risky Business

The dream is always the same.

I see free firewood on Craigslist, and I imagine what it would be like if I could use a wood stove to heat my house 100%. And then I realize I'd need a truck to effectively carry the free wood. There's always free wood on Craigslist. But it usually needs cutting and or splitting. People get trees taken down, and the services leave them with a bunch of long logs.

So I'd need a chainsaw or else a large number of burly people to help with one of those old-fashioned, two-peopled saws. Even Mother Earth News says to go for the chainsaw option. And an axe. My friend Raymond used to spend a lot of time chopping wood. That's a guy with a gorgeous upper body. They had a wood stove heating their entire 2 story condo.

I'm more of a one-story bungalow person. Two bathrooms would be my splurge.

The wood stove would also work to cook on, too. On the one hand it would be a royal bitch in the summer, especially for canning. On the other hand, I could get used to the firewood smell. Or else it would be really annoying after some time.

I can't imagine doing it alone, though. And how many others are there out there that would do this with me? I was just telling a friend who extremely doesn't understand why this is a dream of mine*, and realized that part of what stops me from taking the plunge is a) not being able to do it alone and b) health insurance, i.e. the lack thereof. I'd maybe try to do it by myself, but not without health insurance.

Sigh.

You wanna know something? Every now and then say, "What the fuck." "What the fuck" gives you freedom. Freedom brings opportunity. Opportunity makes your future.

I wonder if I'll do that ever?

For now my reward is a self-renewing subscription to Mother Earth News.

*His response to my telling him some of this daydream: "Or, you could live in the modern world and do as much good as you can stomach."