Moonrise and Cancer

A cord of wood is 128 cubic feet (3.6 cubic metres). The first time I bought firewood here, a guy showed up in his little pickup with a huge load of wood. He assured me it was a "fat" cord, meaning over the standard. By the time I got it stacked and could take a rough measure, I realized it was, at most, half a cord. Rrrrrg

We have some of that left, but hopes for a real winter prompted me to call another guy and, and today he delivered it. A cord of wood is 128 cubic feet (3.6 cubic metres) or, to a layman like myself, a big-ass pile of wood.

I like splitting wood, and so asked for it un-split. Maybe woulda been better to ask for a little un-split, 'cause we have about 40 "rounds" that weigh at least 50 pounds each.

As I stacked this afternoon, the moon rose over the Swan range as the solstice sun threw bright pink light on the mountain. Didn't grab my camera, but I revel in knowing there will be other moonrises over the snow-covered mountains.

Got an e-mail from a dear friend today with the horrible news that she has leukemia. I don't know what to write, say, pray for, or think. We're not in the same city anymore, and don't see each other every week at church like we did for over a decade. Sometimes a good long hug says what needs said. She's got a large community of support for those hugs and love, and lots of remote support from Bigfork, Montana.