Snake Skin

Last evening was cool, so i fired up the woodstove. In between the first two logs i pulled out of the woodshed was a snake skin. Which gives the word "woodshed" a whole new meaning now that a snake has shed its skin in it.

I am shedding my summer clothes in favor of long sleeves and corduroy pants and fleece vests.

A change of seasons. A change of skins. From warm bare skin to cool.

Summer changes slowly, quickly to autumn. Wriggle out of warmth into a new day of freshness.

Ash to Ashes

Temperatures are hovering around zero degrees outdoors, but our house is toasty because of the fire in the black cast-iron woodstove. Logs from trees that used to grow outside our kitchen window are blazing inside.

Bill's favorite wood for splitting is ash because it splits clean and easily along the grain. No knotty pine knots. Also, ash burns hot.

The fire turns wood into charcoal and then into ash as carbon and carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide are released into the air.

Ash to ashes.

And we are no different.