It stopped snowing long enough for me to haul a good supply of wood into the cabin today without tracking mud everywhere. The forecast for tomorrow into late next week is snow, snow, snow. At least it’s not cold. The low today was a pleasant -2° C (28° F). After splitting wood for a few hours, I actually wished it was much colder. At around -25° C (-13° F) the wood splits with just a tap of the axe. And once you’re moving around, you don’t even notice the cold.
I’m feeling a little melancholy sitting here tonight beside my Blaze King Princess wood stove. Because the new wood stove will be delivered in a few days, tonight is one of the last times I’ll use this one. Sounds silly, but I’ve got a lot of memories associated with it. Before moving to the Yukon, I’d never even used a wood stove.
My neighbor S. is pushing 75 but looks much older. Her back is hunched over and she walks with a limp from a bad hip. All the years she lived in the bush running trap lines and chopping holes in frozen lakes for water has beaten her up pretty good. S. ties a dainty kerchief around her head most of the year but in the winter she goes outside wearing a man’s coat that looks older than she is. Wood stoves are all S. has ever used for heat.
Years ago she took a long canoe trip upriver. S. was two days away from her cabin when she stopped overnight to make camp. Without realizing it, she left her rifle in the boat. A grizzly came into camp and went for her food. Seeing her, it stood on its back legs and swiped at the air with its claws. Without the rifle she had nothing to defend herself with. S. is a small woman, but she charged that grizzly, yelling and screaming at the top of her lungs. The bear backed away, and when she got close enough to grab the rifle she fired a shot in the air and the grizzly took off.
S. is the one who taught me how to use my wood stove properly after I first moved here. I felt honored to have a real Yukoner show me the ropes. Maybe I’ll talk her into helping me light the new stove for the first time. Just for old time’s sake.
