Certain things have always made me feel rich. A full tank of gas. A full pantry. And a full woodbox. Like a squirrel hoarding acorns, it makes me feel prepared, ready.
I used to cut wood with Grandpa - quakies in Colorado. I can still smell the wood. Oak smells very different but wonderful and burns really well. Good clean-burning, dense wood. High BTUs and all that. On our famously warm and sunny winter days here in So. Cal., like the ones we've enjoyed recently, firewood isn't always needed. But lower temps and an entire WEEK of rain are in our long range forecast (believe it or not! yeah, we'll believe it when we see it!), so it'll soon be time to go out and cut and collect yet again.