Have you notice what is old is new again? People are searching for green answers to energy consumption. Folks are rediscovering solar, passive solar, and wood and wind energy. I find it utterly unbelievable that people who rolled their eyes at the way Grandma did things find themselves on a road of rediscovery.

Take wood for example. Ben and I grew up burning wood. One because it’s a great heat and two it saves money. It’s doubtful our old farmhouse would have ever been remotely warm if we would have heated with propane. Some scoffed and looked down their noses, but at sports practice it was the farm kids hard from throwing grain sacks, hay and wood around that didn’t take much conditioning.

There are draw backs to burning wood. My dad, the cowboy, thought he would kill two birds with one stone to hook up his new, very green team of work horses to the wagon and cut some wood. The horses would get their training and we would get our wood. It was an enjoyable idea at first, with the crisp air and the snow on the ground and all. Like a Norman Rockwell painting I suppose. We arrived at the dead tree place and after a few snow balls and our pecking order established again, my brothers decided they would stand on the ground and throw wood to me and I would place it in the high-walled wagon. Perfect. Perfect until Dad cussed, spit, and cranked up the old McCullough chainsaw… the “broke to death” horses spooked, took off running–lines dragging (in other words no brakes) leaving me to get a plan and fast. My plan came a little too late when the horses chose to cut through a couple of trees (not big enough for the wagon to pass through).  After going over some roots sticking up and hitting the trees, our wood cutting adventure was cut short. The flip in the air was fun, but the fun ended with my head slamming into the wagon and sliding down the wood walls in a dull heap at the bottom like some kind of silly cold cartoon. The last thing I heard was “Whoa, you sons-a-somethings!”, the crack of the tongue breaking and horses heading to the house at a high rate of speed. Nothing like a long walk back to the barn (picking up pieces of harness) to think about what we might do different next time.

Hey, I have an idea, maybe we shouldn’t cut wood anymore…

I vowed then I wouldn’t burn wood ever again. That  idea lasted all the way to Washington DC (where I met Ben) and back to the Midwest where we would set up our first home. Come to find out, winters are long and cold in Kansas, and if you live in an aging sometimes drafty house on a single income propane can be pricey. “Maybe burning wood wouldn’t be so bad,” I thought while I turned the thermostat down to 55 for the night. Now, a few years later and some killer biceps I say… wood is good. I can split and stack with the best of them, so can the kids.

Is the turn in the economy causing you to look for alternative energy?

Simply,

Sis