I am a woodcutter, lumberjack from way back; should be a song or a poem in there somewhere, huh?

But I am.

My Dad went totally deaf when he was in his forties, being a auto mechanic, that kind of put him on the disabled list. We moved to the farm after that, he grew all of our food and did odd jobs to make a little cash. He drew disability and took care of us kids while Mother became the main breadwinner. One of the jobs he did was lumberjack. He cut trees and hauled the logs to a mill in Paris, Texas that made crates. A lot of my favorite child hood memories are of being out in the woods with him and my brothers, driving in his big trucks, going to the mill. We would leave the house with the Mac truck loaded with logs at three o'clock in the morning, drive to Paris, stop to eat pancakes, and have me back in Allen in time for school. He always blew the big air horn when he dropped me off, just to see me smile.

When Mark and I first married our only source of heat was wood. We did a lot of wood cutting. Sometimes it was not much fun. Like the days when Mark would have ice hanging from his mustache because it was so cold.

The years Levi was fifteen to seventeen he got interested in cutting wood, maybe from our stories, maybe from having been with us when he was small. He bought two new Husquavarna chain saws, one for him and one for me, and we got busy. After we got gas heat in the house, Mark just was not all that interested in woodcutting anymore and the place was in need of a lot of work, clearing underbrush and cleaning fence rows that had been neglected for a long time. Levi and I kicked butt. On top of all the clearing, we spent that two years building walking trails.

When Seth turned 14 he inherited my chain saw.

Now, just about the only time we do that sort of work is this time of year when the weather is so freaking perfect for it. It was clear, sunny,and fifties today. A picture perfect day for being out there.

I'm not sure what it is about it that is so satisfying to me - maybe working hard, side by side with my boys, the weather, the accomplishment of how good it looks when we clear an area, the satisfaction of stacking up wood to be burned ... I don't know. But, I love it.

Today was Zoe's first wood cutting trip, she sat snuggled up in a blanket in her Mama's lap but she will grow up remembering the smell of chainsaw oil and fresh cut wood, cold air, and the sounds of a family working and laughing together.

And, oh yeah, the lumberjack's breakfast that comes afterwards.