small victory

 There is a thing and it brings me a small victory but it is very small.

Since I have lived and loved a wood stove, it is a scramble to find fuel to feed it. Luckily, my landlord has given me a ton of wood. I’ve never had to pay for it. 

My father always had a wood stove and I depended on it for warmth on many a cold upstate NY or Vermont night and day. It’s also a bit comforting as it is a throwback to an older time. I know it is not for everyone…but,

I love it…so my main job is finding kindling.

I love to go into the woods and collect kindling…there is a certain zen to it for me. Perhaps it takes me back to my ancestors, the cave women who were gatherers. I can buy small sticks for kindling at the supermarket, bois d’alluminez or something like that. I do buy those too but, the top " get “ is something called a “cagnette” in French.  I didn’t know about it till about a year and a half in. My landlord dropped a bunch off at my gate and I thought….hummmm…never thought of that.

The problem is that they are big and have to be smashed to tear apart. ( Rune hates the noise) They are very thin wood and burn up perfectly. I asked him where he gets them and he told me the local supermarket. That’s all I needed to know. 

The game was on! Everyday I am hunting them down when I am driving around…and I have perfected what I need.

They have the cagnaettes that are smaller and fit right into the stove. I am on the hunt for those.

Today I left the supermarket and drove below to where they are discarded and as usual, some man already beat me to it! He was filling up the back of his pick up. I think the etiquette should be that you wait for the person there first to take what they want. The man today seemed to invite me to rifle through them like he was.  I told him, in French, I am looking for the small ones….

He was a bit stunned ( I often see this happen when someone hears me speak), pardon? And I repeated that I am looking for the small ones…ok, he got it. He started helping me, giving me the smaller ones…I told him it was Magnifique! No shrinking violet am I. He had a big smile, a bit stunned, hearing my American accent partaking in the same activity that a local would.

YES! I am almost one of them.

I also have another source, not as exciting, no searching the forest floor and no competing for cagnaettes…The supermarket has cardboard wine boxes that work well too and I always take 2 of those.

I also think that this is the result of coming from depression era parents which I definitely had.

But still, you have to love the small victories and hope for the big ones.

like these but very thin wood