Thanks to Dan, Jake, Chris, Jon, & Isaac

Thanks to Dan, Jake, Chris, Jon, & Isaac (students from my Elements of Greek class), I now have a 470 pound wood stove sitting on my new hearth. It’s been just inside the basement door where we unloaded it with the bucket loader last spring—but the tractor wouldn’t fit through the front door!

So for Rachel (and Liam, Meghan, and Dave!), since you won’t get home to see it anytime soon, here’s the picture you requested:

We thought afterwards that we really should have gotten a picture of my helpers hauling the stove up the hill to the front door! But we didn’t. Sorry I can’t memorialize your work photographically men! Just picture the ark of the covenant being moved with poles. We carried it much lower on a frame I built to fit snugly between the legs under the stove. My wife fed our moving crew homemade pizza, etc. afterwards.

The theory is that this project will keep us warm this winter for a lot less money than propane. It has kept me warm since last spring cutting wood, so thus far the theory is working! I think I have next year’s supply about finished and it’s stacked to dry. The leaves are just beginning to show a few faint signs of color, so we’ll fire up the stove before too long.