Photo Credit: world4photos @ Flickr Commons
Introduction
Growing up in Portland, Oregon, I experienced a relatively limited palette of seasons. Basically, there were three. There was the season of wet and cold, followed by wet and warmer, with a brief interlude of hot and dry. You knew that summer had arrived when the sun so baked the concrete, you danced your bare feet across the gritty pavement as fast as you could to the respite cool of the nearest lawn strip, and when sweat from the tanned length of legs unprotected by your shorts made you stick, instantly, to the vinyl backseat of the car. Winter announced its arrival when the chill of the same blue vinyl seats would take your breath away even through the thickness of your coat. You could hear the change of seasons in the sound of the traffic : a hushed hiss and splash or thrumming, spiced occasionally by the fleeting sounds of radios through open windows, and the thwack of rubber tires hitting the cracks.
In contrast, rural Vermont boasts a traditional, calendar-worthy full quartet of seasons, with a bonus fifth thrown in. Mud season: The brief weeks between the end of full-on winter, and budding spring, when the knee-deep, sloppy slurry of unpaved back roads can swallow small cars. Too early for leaves, and dressed in a grey weariness left behind by melted snow, mud season is the only Vermont season without much to love. And yet, it is during mud-season is when maple sap runs and drips, and is boiled down for its own sweet reward.
The Slice
Vermont winter is LONG. It pummels, powders, and freezes until even snow lovers like me despair of the cold and shoveling the drive one. more. time. But relent it does, giving way to mud season, followed by chartreuse springs, firefly summers, and crisp, sweater day falls, times that make it hard to conjure up the slightest memory of winter’s bite…until the wood arrives, like today.
Dan dumped the load in the middle of the drive on the hottest day of the year so far. A day smelling of just- baled hay and the last of the peonies. Herb and I had awoken this morning thinking this was the day we had been waiting for. “We’ll tackle the big yard project”. You see, we inhabit an ancient house. Upkeep of the grounds, until our arrival has been an affair never high on previous absentee owner’s agendas. Each year we spend several days reclaiming the bank and forested hillside from the tangle of wild roses, escaped barberry, impossible vines, and too crowded saplings. But the early morning email announced our change of plans. Wood.
Dan arrived on schedule, and after the obligatory Vermont chat in the road about our kids, the neighbor’s kids, the weather, town doings (or not doings), waving the few cars to come on and drive around, Dan dropped the first load. Two cords. Split. Mixed hardwoods.
A freshly dumped wood pile is overwhelming. It looms nearly shoulder-high and its jumbled outline covers significant real estate. “Gloves?”, Herb asked. “Yep”, I replied. I learned the hard way our first stacking season. Even garden calloused hands are no match for wood stacking without some sort of protection.
It’s hard getting started. My older muscles complain. My older hands tattle my age. It’s more difficult to palm the ends of pieces of a certain size. But soon we find our rhythm. Herb and I pass companionably with each armful, lift, tote, stack. Each piece settled down into a just right spot. The biggest pieces build the end tower. We toss the smallest with the kindling. Smooth birch, rough barked maple. Lift, tote, stack. Early laughter settles into comfortable silence, broken only when one of us pinches a finger, drops a log on our toe. We break for a drink, then soldier on. The sun moves, but it seems the wood pile barely shrinks.
Wiping more sweat off my brow, I think, “A fire? Are you kidding? Who was the idiot who said Wood heats twice. Like it needs to be hotter today!” Lift, tote, stack.
In the rhythm of this work my mind begins to wander. Twenty -two times we have completed this task. I smile at the thought. Herb’s eyes smile back. Memories settle into their just right place, each season, our life…. until our task is finished. Lift, tote, stack….rest.
We eat supper late. I take one last look at the tidy rows of wood lining the breezeway. The thermometer reads 80 degrees, I watch a firefly carry its tiny lantern across the night, and head inside. Herb and I share a bottle of wine and watch a movie, before turning in, to the whir and tick of the fan, a failed attempt to find cool. The house settles and slumbers too, tucked into its hillside of ledge. Winter’s chill will come, but for now remains a distant dream.
lifeatthespeedofanoldvdub 
Your words are beautiful and your description of the seasons is so vivid. I felt like I was right there with you, stacking wood. I’ve never been to Vermont, but have always wanted to visit. Your slice only makes me want to visit sooner.
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Your words are beautiful.
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As someone who has only ever lived on the East Coast (i.e., if you consider Central PA the East Coast), I don’t have different environments to write about. This is just a lovely slice, Julie. It gives me a better sense of where you’re from.
Beth Moore, one of the other TWT co-authors, is from Vermont and wrote about the spring being muddy season. I can’t imagine what that would be like to live through.
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Congratulations on your first slice, Julie! Your descriptions made me feel as if I were there with you, lifting, toting, and stacking. And the image of the firefly, carrying “its tiny lantern across the night” is perfect!
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Welcome to this slicing community. My muscles ached as I read your slice. Our wood pile is waiting to be split and stacked, but the temps need to cool down before we tackle that job. I could smell the wood in the fireplace and contempt those cold winter nights beside a warm inviting fire. Thanks for sharing.
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Your words created a vision,but also brought back a memory of wood stacking. Not a fun job, but so necessary when you heat by wood. We no longer use wood to heat, but the joke is when we drive by a nice stack we say, “Sure wish that pile was in my backyard.” Then we laugh, grateful it is not in our yard, anymore. You have engaged all the senses with your writing. Welcome to slicing and I look forward to more.
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So good to see you here, Julie! And your piece is beautiful. I love the concept of a fifth season in Vermont, as that is SO true! Your images and descriptions have created an incredible sense of place and purpose. Welcome, and I can’t wait to keep reading your writing.
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Thanks Melanie. I bet you are gathering wonderful images from your vacation to put to use later. I feel lucky to have the opportunity to see where they pop up.
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So many words to love in this slice! These words – “I watch a firefly carry its tiny lantern across the night, and head inside,” make me long for the firefly summers I grew up with in Oklahoma.
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Ramona, so exciting they have them in Oklahoma too. My sons both spent a summer working at a camp in Oklahoma. I had only seen the prairie part, but this area was forested and hilly…beautiful! There were no fireflies where I grew up. They are still magical to me!
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I love the contrast of the two settings! I also see fireflies! Nice slice!
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I have had the opposite elite. I grew up in Canada, where seasons were similar to Vermont, and now live in Portland, where I love the weather. I love to look at snow,I jet don’t love living in it. I sure love the rain, though!
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Adrienne, so funny. I grew up on stories my Eastern Canadian grandmother told of growing up southern Quebec. She emigrated west, and now I am again in the east. Rain here more often falls in thunderstorm torrents. I miss falling to sleep with the sound of gentle rain on the roof.
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Loved your story We also live in the country and my husband and son cut all of our wood for warm winter fires. Your writing is vivid and my favorite line is ” I watch a firefly carry its tiny lantern across the night, and head inside.” We always say they remind us of Christmas lights on the tree. Welcome to slicing.
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I loved your winter writing. Sadly, as beautiful as it is, it’s too long and too hard. But I have never had to deal with a woodpile. What a wonderful first slice to celebrate with a repost!
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This is a slice to read, re-read and just tuck away to read again. These lines were especially lovely:
In the rhythm of this work my mind begins to wander. Twenty -two times we have completed this task. I smile at the thought. Herb’s eyes smile back. Memories settle into their just right place, each season, our life…. until our task is finished. Lift, tote, stack….rest.
Finding just the right place, and knowing it is just right, is a gift.
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I loved your words about Portland, “hearing the change of seasons through the traffic”, & then that heavenly Vermont description, even the winters sound lovely, especially conjuring up a fire. I recently moved from a home with a wood burning fireplace to one without any, & miss it more than I thought I would. Your loving descriptions, despite the hard work, made me see each part. Welcome to the slicing, Hope you’ll be here next week!
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Wow what a wonderful read.What a treat! You take me through your wonderful seasons, good and not so good. I’m totally taken in by you and Herb, “Lift, tote, stack….rest.” Much like those seasons you pass through. I feel your tired muscles, warmed by that bottle of wine. I see the fireflies nearby watching over your finished work. Rest now! You are ready.
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