"Before enlightenment chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment chop wood and carry water."  -Zen prov.

"Get a chain saw and a water pump, boy." - Arkansas Grandpa

Link to my Political Philosophy ( Don't Yawn!)

Link to Great Grandmother Jane Agnes Jackson,

Three dote red oaks yielded almost three cords or five ricks of wood.  -JJ                                                                                                                  -Spring, 2013

Next, same place in the Spring of 2014	Ready for winter of 2015-16.

Fire wood for the  winter of  '16-'17. The stack is not so straight and there was less red oak to work with, elm does not split true. That said, the far from perfect cord of wood might also be due to the unpleasant fact that I will turn eighty in 2017.

Ready for winter of 2017-18. The gourds will dry for a few months, then I will attempt to find something to do with them. One plant produced 93 gourds.

The Farm

November 15, 2017. Some of the gourds from above were painted and hung here (what would you do with 93 gourds?). Lightening struck a red oak this spring, so I whacked it up, and stacked the wood to cure for the winter of 2018-19.  An old TV dish was attached to the post and the lid covers seeds, drying for planting next spring. In the background some cows are at the hay; this is the earliest I ever remember having to feed.

This is the same scene at the end of March, 2018. I added oak from one more small tree. Perhaps this is enough to get us through the  winter of 2019. PS: 04/02/19 This was a mild winter, about half of the wood remains for next winter (2020)

Ready for winter 2021. The Tale of a Cat

Ready for winter 2022 and my 84th birthday....I guess. (Le chat est au paradis des chats.)

Fire wood for winter of 2023. Unable and unwilling to fell trees and split wood I must depend on one David Applegate for red oak. The  chain saw, log splitter, and tractor are gone.... "I grow old ... I grow old ... I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled."

No personal images posted in some time. This one was taken at the Tavern in Washington, June, 2022. Right to left: Emily Mistretta (niece), JJ (turning 85 in September), Victoria, Rich Mistretta.