Ready for the storm (procuring firewood)

[Debra]

    We are supposed to be getting a major blizzard...My daughter in D.C. says the place is shut down in preparation for the storm.   I always get a chuckle over the big rush to the stores before a winter storm.....but in one way, its also kind of scary to me...I HAD to be out on business for the company I work for...otherwise you wouldn't catch me NEAR the any grocery store...if a winter storm causes such a tizzy in folks, I couldn't imagine what a real crisis would bring...probably a real life Jerry D. Young story!  I was always taught to BE READY...BE PREPARED...I kind of welcome these storms, because it tests our preparedness in our own household.  There are always little things to work on...but I know people who have been caught without heating in the dead of winter for weeks....not a good idea...a STUPID one for that matter...
     In our household and my neighbors, we are always looking ahead for potential situations that might arise...if we see a good deal on something...even if its not something we would use, but the neighbor might need it...then you call them and tell them...there is always something to be done, living like this...so you better be ready for a call...and we received one about lumber...I threw off my apron, put on my boots, grabbed my gloves and my husband, and off we went.
      There was a small break in the weather and my Dad and my husband and myself, decided to take advantage of it.  We went to the local lumber yard and hauled a load of cut board ends.  Usually we buy bundles of slabs...it is very economical to do this.   Each bundle is 20.00....and lots of folks use this for firewood...you still have to cut them into pieces short enough for the burner, but the slabs disappear  fast, so you better get them when they have them!   But this day, what we gathered was the board ends that were already cut.  These are usually burned.  But Dad has them save them in a pile and we go pick them up for the same price.  Takes longer to load the dump truck, but you don't have to cut them.  Now we really don't need the wood for this year...this will be stacked and used for next year...BE READY BE PREPARED!

Rows of bundles of slabs, waiting to be hauled away.


Our pile of cut ends




This old dump truck is not pretty, but it is a lifesaver and very valuable on the farm.




Did you ever get the feeling that someone is watching you...well there was...hahahah! Someone threw a pig carcass on the burn pile!  Disgusting!

Hope all those in the blizzards path are ready!

[smkymtn]

Hope everyone in the path of this beast is doing ok. Good deal on the firewood, I can go and cut wood on one of the bases, that with what I get from my woods. LOL about the dump truck, survival is not a beauty contest, I'd love to have one here. Dumping instead of throwing wood in and out of a pickup would be great.

[Debra]

     Well my daughter and family are AGAIN in the center of the blizzard...but they are doing fine...she is used to the snow...so she knows how to prepare and drive in it...(although everyone is staying off the roads ) in spite of what some folks think, Pa gets a lot of snow...when my husband moved here, he was surprised, he is from Montana, and they just didn't realize how much we do get..
     As for that ugly dump truck......my father has ALWAYS had an UGLY dump truck...he refuses to buy new vehicles...and he could afford one...he just thinks its a waste of money...when I was a kid, I would be embarrassed by his "work" truck as we always called them...Dad would use what ever paint he could scrounge to paint them...and they often would be several colors...they were always LOUD and covered with mud and grease!  And the cabs were always full of tools, rags and more grease!  If  you were having an "unlucky" day and had to ride in the beast, your luck might turn a little if you could find a clean enough rag to place on the seat to sit on, so you wouldn't get grease on your behind...but no matter how cautious you were, you always ended up with grease on you somehow....
     and the "work" truck was exactly what it was named...if you got the privilege to ride in it, you were going to WORK!  Hauling scrap metal, hauling wood or coal, or someone's furniture....going up to the oil leases..tearing down someones old house and reclaiming the lumber, and at one point in time, hauling garbage off the interstate rest stops....either way, a ride meant work! 
     But come along my teenage years, those dump trucks took on a new meaning...a load of scrap meant money for vacation...and my parents took us kids all over the United States...or maybe some extra money for school clothes...going to the oil lease meant the same thing...more money, more fun!  And something else occurred....Dad MADE me learn to drive those beasts...I never did get over the fear of driving them...but my fear of my father was and is greater than driving a dump truck, so I did as I was told.
     But the teenage boys in my area thought that was cool! A girl who could drive a dump truck.. Our farm became a spot to hang out at...sometimes Dad would tell them, son, it's time for you to go home...THEN,  I discovered why the teenage boys kept coming over to my house....I thought it was to see me, ....but no...it was to get closer to Dad and that infernal dump truck!  They LOVED that thing....they got to work with Dad on the oil leases, and get covered in oil, they got to run chain saws and learn how to weld....a boy's dream....of course Dad always paid them well for their work and they would stop a the local Mom and PoP restaurant and get a bite to eat, which in my father's mind is a full course meal,  paid for by Dad of course....
     THEN they would come home and eat supper with my family...I was NOT allowed to go out with a boy unless he ate with us first...let me tell you, I was pretty choosy whom I brought to dinner....the poor fellow would be under the scrutiny of my four brothers and my father...only AFTER he ate with us, would my father decide if I could go out on a date...but it wasn't much of a date, because the poor guy would be so tired from working with my Dad that they could hardly keep awake during the date!  I remember one guy sleeping clear through a movie we went too...!!!  I guess this was my father's idea of birth control! hahahahah!
   Now a days, I would give an  arm and a leg for that truck...and realize how valuable it really is...when my Dad had an electrical problem in his last truck and it caught fire and  burnt up, we ALL felt a profound sadness!  Somehow those dump trucks are symbolic of hard work and fun and prudence all mixed together...the essence of my 74 year old father!

[Cutter]

I think I like your Dad.  We think alike on the topic of boys and work.  I bet he took a dim view of reaching across the table or wearing a hat inside a building too. 

The "boy days" are ahead of me for my niece, but not that far.  She will turn 10 this year and has already expressed concern over introducing me to her beau when she finds one.  The kid has nothing to fear so long as he shows proper decency. 

BTW, she says my truck is a mess too.  That's alright.  I get a lot of work out of the beast.  It lets me put food on the table that is under the roof it lets me keep over our heads.

[Debra]

  You are absolutely correct about Dad...you came to the table clean...you had to wash your hands and face before sitting down...also a have clean shirt on...the boys had to HAVE a shirt on...no burping, or passing gas at the table...and you ate everything on your plate...whether you liked it or not...and if you didn't, you certainly didn't voice it...and absolutely NO fighting....once my  brother went to kick me under the table and he missed and kicked my mother instead...and Dad jumped up and upended the whole table...now lest you think my father was mean...he wasn't...and I don't think he meant to upend the table....but we kids sure got the message!  Another time, one of my brothers passed gas at the table, and then laughed about it...and my father said, you want to act like an animal, then you take your plate and go eat with them....my brother had to go out with his plate and eat with the dog...I still see him sitting on the doghouse roof, eating his dinner and the dog standing on his hindlegs begging for food...too funny!  My father was and is a funny funny man who jokes and kids ALOT!  and he is a very popular person...but he also means business...he was not an abusive man...but strict and loving all at once...you didn't want to get in trouble...I do believe that one of our major problems with society is the lack of respect for the father.....families don't sit down to dinner anymore...the children have become the mini gods in the family...parents don't have time to sup with their children because they are running to dance lessons and baseball practice and hockey and soccer....When I was a kid, meal times were when we all came together and Dad would tell us about work, and we kids would tell about school...and Mom and Dad would discuss various plans they had...many many things were solved over the dinner table...and we kids learned valuable lessons from our parents during this time...lessons on honesty, and lessons on integrity, hard work and the rewards of it...and loyalty...on the subject of loyalty.....
  Once, one of the older boys came home with a black eye from fighting...and my father was always fair...he would calmly ask what happened, and you would tell him your story...and you didn't lie, because Dad had many connections and if you lied, he would find out and you would be in far worse trouble.  Well my brother told him the story...and although I don't remember exactly what happened,  I remember it being over some girl...and Dad asked my brother if he threw the first punch...(we were NOT allowed to throw the first punch....allowed to defend ourselves, but not throw the first punch) Dad never envolved himself in kids fights, unless WE we the wrong ones...then we were punished in one form or the other...if it was the other guys fault...he just let things be.   Fortunately for my brother, my father thought that my brother was justified in defending himself...but it was obvious that this guy got the best of my brother...and my father asked who else was around...(Dad always asked the details, I believe to check out our stories)  My brother mentioned his best friend Bob was there...and my Dad said, You mean he let you get beat up...  And then Dad said he was a Yellowbelly....and I wanted to laugh, but it wasn't the time to laugh...Dad was being serious...and forever after, Dad referred to this guy as Yellowbelly...and to this day, when I see him, in my mind, I hear Yellowbelly!  hahahahaha!  I know its not nice, but my father is a very loyal person to his family and friends...
  Now  a days, some of these methods would probably land my parents in trouble...and that's the problem with society...there was no abuse in our household...just firmness...and none of us 6 kids ever had and alcohol or drug problem or landed in jail...we all are responsible persons...and we have our parents to thank for that! 
  As for your niece, keep her close, if she views you as a father figure, she is going to need you in her teen years...I heard Charles Dobson once say that if a girl has a strong father figure, she is less likely to get in trouble...and I believe that is very very true....My father was not much of huggy kissy man, but we knew we were loved and we only chose to date those whom we thought our parents would approve of..

[smkymtn]

You two are throwing me into a time warp  . There were a couple of girls growing up that I didn't ask out just cause there dads scared me so much lol.