What a man’s wood pile can tell you about him!
As you would expect, since having a stove installed a lot of Rob’s Christmas presents were centred around it. Obviously we got a fire shovel and log basket, Rob also got a chainsaw as he has taken wood cutting to a very serious level, but a gift we have most enjoyed is a book called The Norwegian Wood activity book. This is really a grown up colouring book, but alongside the great sketches is lots of information of wood cutting, storing and nice little Nordic snippets about life. It is only a fun thing but we have actually used the information in it to better our fire burning experience. On a little side note though I really wanted to share one specific page with you which we found most funny and genuinely caused great discussion about Rob’s woodpile. I urge you to read on (it’s fully quoted text) and make decisions for yourself on how your partner stores wood and what this could be interpreted as.
“In the late 19th century, in the heavily forested area of Maine, women considering a potential husband were advised to consult the following piece of folksy wisdom that revealed a young man’s character based on his woodstack.
Upright and solid pile: Upright and solid man
Low pile: Cautious man, could be shy or weak
Tall pile: Big ambitions, but watch out for sagging or collaspe
Unusual shape: Freethinking, open spirit, but constitution may be weak
Flamboyant pile, widely visible: Extroverted, but possibly a bluffer
A lot of wood: A man of foresight, loyal
Not much wood: Lives from hand to mouth
Logs from big trees: Big appetite for life, but can be extravagant
Pedantic pile: perfectionist; may be introverted
Collasped pile: Weak will, poor judge of priorities
Everything in a pile on the ground: Ignorant, decadent, lazy, drunk, possibly all of these
Old and new wood piled together: Be suspicious – there may be stolen wood added to his own
Unfinished pile: Unstable, lazy, prone to drunkness
Large and small logs piled together: Frugal, kindling sneaked in among the logs suggests a considerate man
Rough, gnarled logs, hard to chop: Persistent and strong willed, or else bowed down by his burdens
No woodpile: No husband! “
(Taken from The Norwegian Wood activity book written by Lars Mytting. MacLehose press 2016.)