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STAVING OFF THE WINTER COLD

Locally scavenged firewood being rather scarce this year, since winter draws close in its cold white robes and no one has been giving away any hardwood trees (though I have my eye on a few that are scheduled for felling for various reasons), I scored 2 tons of old oak whiskey barrel staves, slightly charred on the inner side and time-silvered on the outer, as per their former use excellently redolent as well of the finest sipping whiskey, a scent to savor, as from a vast snifter, as I handle these nearly 2-yard-long staves for the next 6 months. The prospect of sawing these incense sticks into proper lengths for the stove reminds me of W. C. Fields' rejoinder to the criticism that he would die by drowning in a vat of whiskey: "Death, where is thy sting?" I am stimulated as well by their iron strength in bowed shape, to think of diverse uses for them: water bucket shoulder poles, swing seats, garden fencing, buckwagon shock absorbers-- any suggestions?