LIKE EVERY BEST THING

Spending this weekend largely on firewood; the more I work with it the more I realize that each wood has its own character, its own spirit, and not only as seen in the bark; some is whispered in the heft, and in the sound the chunk gives off when tested with a hard knock.

Some of its personality is vouchsafed in the scent of the fresh facet, and much in the signature of the grain, but most is revealed in the heat and the life of the flame.

A lot like a person. There's the cherry type, the oak type, the pine type, the cedar type and the spruce type, to name a few.

In a short walkaround respite from my labors, spotted an akebi vine full of fruit back in a secret place along the road, but the fruits are all still green; have to wait till they ripen. Hope I can get them before the monkeys do, though that's the monkeys' line of work, so I'm less likely to be on the spot at the right time.

Mukago "air potatoes" are also out now. Picked a few and had them in rice for lunch. Also cut a lot of sizeable bamboo stalks for garden use, before the snow bends them permanently. They're great for beans and frames, but best of all they're free, like every single best thing there is.