For the past 30+ years I have largely heated my home with wood taken from my own wood lot. My cutting season begins in late September, when the weather is cool enough to discourage mosquitoes and encourage heavy work. It ends when snow makes footing uncertain and driving difficult on the hills and narrow lanes among the trees. It is not unusual to have an occasional hiatus in late November until ground conditions have improved. Very occasionally I can work into January. With winter portending an early arrival, I may have already hauled my last load of 2014. One of the unanticipated pleasures of this work is the various aromas of the sawn wood. Many of us are familiar with the smells of burning wood, particularly those used to smoke foods, but the odor of saw dust can differ significantly from the odor of the combusting fuel. The closer winter approaches, the cleaner the olfactory palette offered by rural stands of trees. The ponds are frozen over, the rot of the leaf carpet is halted by the cold, and fields are emptied. There is no olfactive competition. It is at this point of the year that the smell of the wood itself is most noticeable. Because of the emerald ash borer, I have sawn a great quantity of ash wood this year. The smell of ash dust suggests old books. Hickory reminds me of horse dander. Elm puts me in mind of moldy gym towels. Maple smells like clean dog fur. Walnut has the same odor as the hulls of the nut, only even more intense. Sassafras has that distinctive root beer aroma. I can smell the silica in oak wood and there is usually a whiff of wet rot in its fibers. Black oak is the most likely to stink and white oak the least. Basswood is largely odorless when cut, but when burned, has a clean, woody, incense-like smoke that is first cousin to sandalwood. Conversely, tulipwood smells soapy when cut, but produces unpleasant smoke. Cottonwood smells swampy when cut and that intensifies in the stove. When the wood is in, there is a visceral satisfaction in knowing that, even when winter and the fuel companies are doing their worst, I can keep Leilani, and all others under my roof, warm and dry.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 23:37:53 +0000
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