When Janet and I first got together and I moved into the cabin her in Calais we heated with a massive wood stove (there are several pictures of my constant morning battles with the stove here on the blog). Eventually, I convinced her to buy a pellet stove (I lost out on my goal of moving her all the way to acquiring an actual furnace) as part of my long-term plan to get a new dishwasher and microwave and now refrigerator. This just shows that she's a lot tougher than me, which is not saying much, obviously. On a day to day basis, heating with the pellets is simply a lot easier, or, to think of it another way, less wear and tear on my rapidly degenerating body. The one great exception to this rule is late summer when the mass of 40 pound bags of wood pellets arrive; then, as the excellent Mike Kelly would opine, shit gets real. I think the first year we bought five tons, and then had to buy more on a bag by bag option at the end of the season - and the second season we bought six tons, and still ended up buying more individual bags late in the season - and so this year we just went ahead and bought seven tons. Each pallet is a ton, comprised of fifty 40 pound bags. The first year I carried in most of them, with some much-appreciated help from Janet, Gary and Ali. The second year I vowed that I would get over my own idiotic self and make a more deliberate effort to get more help carrying them in; there was even talk of a group carry in the pellets chili party. However, it came to nothing, mainly because of my own obstinacy, which is a legitimate desire not to bother other people and my own rage against the dying of the light vanity. And so I carried in all six tons, little by little, with my main goal being to average five bags a day. At that pace I can get them into the basement of the cabin in a little over two months. Now, with my legs this is a real challenge, but I did definitely notice that I was getting stronger (although in no less pain) by the end, with the last few days featuring a half-pallet carried in. It's actually OK that it takes so long to get them in, not simply to prolong my fragile life, but also because we don't actually have enough room in the basement to hold all of them. We end up continuing to carry them on after we've started burning them, thus creating and filling space at the same time. As long as they're in by the time the snow starts I'm happy. Anyway, this year I've decided to get serious about bringing in more folks to help, even if it's just to hire young bucks to carry them for me. Of course, I said that last year . . .
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