Came home from work about 2 pm. Winter solstice light was fading already. Sara was out shopping. On the way into the house, I grabbed an armful of firewood from the wood locker. I’ve been wrestling with water in my heating oil fuel since before I left for Liberia. Of course, the coldest weather of the year so far came while I was gone, and Sara was left to keep the woodstove going night and day to keep the house warm and pipes from freezing. I dropped the firewood into it’s bin next to the stove. I opened the damper, and opened the door to see what was in the firebox. I threw in a couple pieces of wood and closed the door. I flipped on the Keurig to get some hot water for hot chocolate. Within 15 minutes, the dry heat from the stove has the living room toasty, and I close the damper a tad. I make my hot chocolate and curl up with my Chrome book on the coach and read an article about John Prine, who I listed to at work today. It’s funny – I love the Keurig because it’s convenient. And can’t much do without a computer. And with these modern conveniences, there’s not much you can do to improve on a wood stove. And only the indoor woodstove. It’s the only heater that makes me feel good. Oil and propane heat provides warmth but with humidity. Electric heat and outdoor woodstoves provide heat but without feeling. Nothing dries wet gear faster than a woodstove. It is fickle. You don’t get the constant heat of oil or electric. But no stove seems to heat a room faster than a roaring woodstove. Knowing we have wood lockers full of dry wood and a stove to keep the house warm gives us a sense of self-reliant comfort, come layofff, sickness, or injury.