Firestarter

I got this wood over a month ago from Emily's farm, but nevertheless haven't had a fire since last year. Next cold snap--maybe tomorrow night!--I'll see if I can get a fire going without the help of the biker guy next door (who's been known to start a fire for us at 2 a.m. in a pinch).

My woodpile-covering--surprise!--has been pretty slack. I put the wood on a tarp to keep it off the wet leaf-humus layer under the magnolia tree, but it doesn't stretch all the way around the top of the pile.

Then, in my usual haphazard fashion, I got this piece of heavy-duty black plastic free from the local feed-and-seed--the guy who gave it to me actually said, "If it don't have four legs I don't know nothin' 'bout it"--but that keeps blowing off in rainstorms. So basically I'm hoping that the wood was already pre-dried enough to withstand the various soakings it's accumulated.

Otherwise, back to the biker. He seems to know what's what when it comes to fires.