B-I-G chimney...

If you've got a chinmey this big, there must be a fireplace attached that requires Serious Logs. Like the stack below. A quite large Ponderosa pine must have furnished all this heating material. And don't weep for the tree -- it was most likely felled by the bark beetle infestation.

We still have quite a few people in the area who heat with wood stoves or fireplaces; after looking at my gas bill for February, I can understand the reason. It is a lot cheaper to take the chain saw plus the pickup or the 4x4 out into the forest to cut a season's supply. Especially with all the fallen timber that, I'm sure, the Forest Service is glad to be rid of.

Convenience Firewood

Our town is hugged by the Prescott National Forest to the South and the West. So it's no surprise that a lot of people still depend upon wood stoves for their heat. What is surprising is to find firewood as a convenience ... a modern amenity for one's lifestyle. Above, small lots at a convenience store on SR69.

Even more surprising, this display over at Fry's. That's a mighty small package of wood for $4.39. Surely not competitive with gas, even at today's outrageous prices. However, not really my problem: I have a lovely fireplace, but a beautiful ponderosa pine overhangs the chimney. And I am a positive wimp about fires. Therefore, the furnace is my sole source of heat.

However, if I were planning much firewood heating, I'd be talking to this guy or others like him. One taxi driver I see every so often heats with wood; he passed on this curious intelligence -- the $40 is for a load of oak or similar wood...

but if you want juniper, with its wonderful aroma, the price jumps. All of which suprised me a great deal. When we heated with wood down in Wilhoit many years ago, the guy we bought our house from recommended the root boles of scrub oak. Hardwoods such as oak burn cleaner than pine or juniper, which gunk up one's chimney much faster. Ah, well. At least we haven't had any temperature inversions this year; on such days, the sky looks like a control burn is going on in the forest. On the other hand, we never get the amount of wood smoke pollution that regularly occurs up in Flagstaff.

Free Wood for Fires

The past month has been a season of tree trimming; my next door neighbor and myself are no exceptions. What has interested me, however, is that while the tree trimmers haul away the brushy stuff, usable logs are stashed by the roadside. Free to all comers, I presume. They certainly disappear fast.

Like people in other mountain towns, many Prescott folks heat with wood burning stoves; others simply like the warmth of a fireplace. I would guess that the only problem with this found wood is that it seriously lacks seasoning. Especially those leafy trees cut down by APS to protect their lines.

This wood has been drying out for a couple of years on one resident's front porch.

An unfortunate huge old cottonwood that couldn't be kept alive any longer is the source for this load. It may be destined for sale some day in the future.

Not all dropped trees wind up in the stove. I kinda like this use of wood cut-offs for landscaping.