Wood Smoke

It is the time of year when the days grow cold and the nights even colder. The sun shines less and the dark of night stays longer. Each night it seems there are not enough covers or blankets on the bed. And in the morning, a walk outside startles you awake all the more. The air is crisp and dry. And everywhere you look, you see the trees, naked against the cold, with a carpet of fallen leaves all around. You see squirrels and birds picking through the remnants of summer's feast on the ground.

The air is crisp and dry. And as you breathe in the cold air, you smell that familiar smell of wood smoke. It is the time of year when the smell of wood smoke does not bring alarm, but evokes thoughts of warmth, of security, and of home. It is a smell that during the height of summer could generate fear and concern. But now, it is calm assurance that somewhere, someone is being warmed by burning wood.

All of our neighbors have a fire of some kind going. Some in fireplaces and some in wood stoves. We have a wood stove in a basement den and started using it about a week ago. The warmth of a fire in a cold house is something that just makes you feel good, all the way down to the bone.

I like starting the fire. Splitting some kindling, getting a small fire going at first, and then watching it until it is ready for bigger pieces of wood. And then as you build it up, you decide how much of a fire you want. So you add the wood in the right ways to get just enough warmth, a little warmer, hot, roaring, or "seventh level" as my son puts it, which is nearly painfully hot.

Our wood burning stove has solid doors that close. I wish it had a fire screen and we could leave the doors open while we sit in front of it. There is something peaceful and relaxing about watching the fire. I am not sure what it is, but we sat in front of the open doors last night and watched it for a while. I built it to be just enough warmth at the time. That way I felt comfortable with the doors open. A couple sparks dropped harmlessly onto the brick hearth, but in all, it was tame.

Usually, however, the doors remain closed during use. Each time we open the doors of the stove to check the fire or add wood, a plume of wood smoke comes out into the room. It then gets caught by the fan and drawn into the air conditioning system where we can smell it throughout the house. I like that. A little whiff of wood smoke is simply nice to have. Too much and we are probably in trouble.

So in this season of cold, if you are blessed with a fireplace or wood burning stove, you ought to get a fire going, watch the burning wood with someone you love, and smell the aroma of wood smoke.

Come to think of it, I have to go check the fire right now. It probably needs built up again. Of course, since I like doing that, its not really work. And I will get to smell the wood smoke.



Copyright 2006, Kevin Farley (a.k.a. sixdrift, a.k.a. neuronstatic)