Grandma Link’s house didn’t have central heat. She had two oil stoves, and two wood stoves. Ed Geers delivered the oil, so that was no problem. But someone had to cut the firewood. And that someone was us.
That pile was for one winter. Most of the time Grandma had at least a small fire in the kitchen stove. On really cold days she’d light a fire in the old basement stove too, to keep the pipes from freezing. So she burned a lot of wood.
Fortunately, she had plenty available. She lived on about an acre of land, and at least half of it was woods. Still, someone had to fell trees, cut them up, split the bigger logs, and move it all close to the house where it would be handy for her.
So at Christmas my aunt and uncle would come down from Chicago with their two kids, and my folks and my older brothers and I would head out to West Point. For a couple days we would all pitch in to cut enough wood for the year. My older brothers, Dad, and Uncle Buck would cut down dead trees, cut them up, and split the logs. Chuck, Kris, and I were in charge of hauling the firewood up to the house and building the pile.
It took two or three days of hard work, but we didn’t mind. We knew we were keeping Grandma warm for another winter.
Sherrey
Family togetherness, so important.
Jackie Cataldo
To add on to this story …. when Frannie was a teenager ( Grandpa had had the stroke), Grandma and Frannie (she was the biggest daughter living at home) would go out into the orchard at night with a “crossbow” saw (is that what they call it?) and cut up wood. Grandma didn’t want the neighbors seeing two women having to cut wood.
Walt
Wow, I had forgotten that story. It was probably a bow saw. I remember an old wooden bow saw in Grandma’s garage. It looked like a capital H with a saw blade across the bottom between the two uprights. Saws like that would be pretty easy for them to use.