Tractor Girl

Steve’s snow plow truck at the ready!

What does it take to get our Little House through a New Hampshire winter? A snow plow, lots of sand from the Sandwich Highway Department lot, and a porch loaded with firewood. Typically Todd does the plowing, sand shoveling, and firewood stacking, but not this winter!

As you may know, Todd is AWOL for the school year. (Though technically, he does have “leave,” so I guess that makes him AWL.) He’s doing an interim headship at Riverstone International School, a K-12 independent school in Boise, Idaho, with a robust outdoor education component that suits Todd to a T! The last head moved on to a school in Colorado, and the new head who will be coming from an international school in Switzerland, starting in Boise on July 1, 2019. In the meantime, Todd is captaining the ship and, on the side, making the most of Idaho’s many outdoor offerings. He has been on multiple weekend adventures camping, hiking, and fishing. Where does that leave our Little House in the Big Woods? In my hands. Ack!

Heading to the dump?

So, when Todd left Sandwich in July, he had cut and stacked firewood for the next two winters, but it still needed to be transferred from its drying/storage location at the bend in our driveway up to the porch. Once cold weather sets in, the screens and summer outdoor furniture are stored, and the porch becomes our woodshed.

Steve, who is taking care of plowing, offered to loan me the use of the dump truck to move my wood. I’ve actually driven it before, Beverly Hillbillies-style, loaded with “antiques” from my parents’ basement, enroute to the Sandwich Transfer Station. (Granny, though, was not in a rocking chair on top!) To maneuver the truck into position alongside the porch, though, would require driving along the far side of the house, through a very narrow opening between the house wall and the stone retaining wall that holds back the mountain. Very dramatic. Todd said, “no way!” and thus I became a tractor operator.

Todd gave me lesson via cell phone, and he was remarkably patient listening to and figuring out my descriptions: “the yellow lever thingy next to the whatsamajigger…” Turns out, though, that basic operation of the tractor isn’t that hard, except for backing up with the little cart attached. (Steve was very sweet offering that it’s trickier to back up a small trailer than a big one since it wiggles around more.) 🙂

Diane suggested that we could have a firewood stacking party to get the job done lickety split, but I liked doing it myself and knowing that I could. (I’m also a hermit…) Then again, there was the Amish barn raising in the movie Witness. (Yes, I’ve mentioned this movie before!) Harrison Ford looked dashing in that straw hat. But none of the women got to scramble up the frame and pound in nails then sit down to a feast prepared by someone else. Just sayin’.

It took a lot of little loads over several days to get the wood transferred, but I finished before the first snow (which was very early this year), and having the wood dry and easily accessible is very satisfying. My rows aren’t entirely straight or uniform (okay, understatement), but Todd provided boards to keep the piles from spilling off the porch, so it’s all good.

At this point I should acknowledge that Todd also felled the trees, cut off the branches, sawed the logs to stove length, fed them through the splitter, and stacked them to dry. If I’m going to participate in that part of the firewood process, I’m going to need to become a chainsaw operator. (Todd may need CPR just from the suggestion.) But the cat’s out of the bag. Being outdoors, driving the tractor, and having results from my work that can last for months is satisfying and even fun. Just look! But then again, who’s going to make the feast?