Whenever I go for a visit with Mom and Dad, Dad always has a job for us to do. With cooler weather settling in, getting more firewood ready is one of those jobs on his to-do list.
Today, it was six cords of oak that needed splitting, hauling, and stacking.
Six Cords of Oak
Oak is good firewood, but there’s plenty of work involved in getting it ready to burn. Six cords makes for a pretty good pile and will last for quite a while.
We worked our way through the pile, splitting the wood, loading it in the back of the Gator and on the little trailer, and finally getting it stacked under the lean-to behind the garage. One piece at a time, the stack of ready-to-burn firewood grew.
The wood splitter handled the splitting really well, it’s a 22 ton splitter after all. We did have one little hiccup with it when the splitter ran out of gas and after we filled the tank back up the engine didn’t want to stay running. After a little fiddling/adjusting of the throttle, we got the splitter back up and running.
It’s not fancy work, and there’s nothing complicated about it. We just kept at it until the job was done.
Working Alongside Dad
The part that made today special was being out there with Dad.
He’s 87 now, and I know better than to take days like this for granted. There was a time when working together on a job like this probably wouldn’t have seemed like anything worth writing about. It was just another day getting things done.
I’m glad we can still spend time together doing something useful. Working alongside my dad brings back memories of all the other jobs, projects, and everyday things we’ve done together over the years.
Sometimes, just being out by the woodpile together and getting a job done is enough.
A Job Worth Doing
By the time we got the six cords of wood split and stacked, we knew we had put in some work. But we also had something to show for it.
That wood will be there when the weather turns cold, ready to put some heat into the house.
When I look back on today, I won’t just remember the firewood.
I’ll remember spending time working with my dad.
At 87, he’s earned the right to take things a little easier, and I’m thankful we still get to share a day like this.
A day of hard work, a pile of oak, and a little time with Dad is about as real as life gets.
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