2 • SEPTEMBER 2019
COAST RIVER BUSINESS JOURNAL
EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK
Fall’s the time for old-fashioned home economics
O
ne of my neighbors com-
mented this month that
this might be his last year
gathering and splitting his own
firewood — it’s just getting too
grueling to lift his arms above
his shoulders and bring them
slamming down over and over.
I told him the annual cycle
of sawing, transporting, split-
ting, stacking and burning fire-
wood was as close as my dad
came to having a favorite sport.
(Although now I stop to think
about it, prospecting for miner-
als in the vain hope of striking it
rich might have narrowly edged
out firewood for the top spot.)
Firewood is such an intrinsic
part of rural and small-town life
it doesn’t occur to most of us
that it could be any other way.
How odd it must seem to some-
one who comes here from a city
or different climate to learn of
weekends devoted to harvesting
wood in the surrounding hills. I
MATT
WINTERS
PUBLISHER
& EDITOR
suppose they must be reminded
of English peasants sneaking
into Sherwood Forest to steal
fallen oak branches from the
king.
But for many modern
rural-dwelling Americans,
including lots around here, gath-
ering activities are a fundamen-
tal part of our lifestyle and econ-
omy. Creating your own heating
fuel, while getting fresh air and
exercise, is enormously grati-
fying. As a young man I took
joy in splitting a knotty piece
of pine with a single blow, or
in artfully building a wood-
pile. And I know for my parents
and grandparents, this help was
a welcome little aid in making
ends meet.
We’re at the time of year
when gathering and harvesting
reaches its traditional crescendo.
In home vegetable gardens the
weeds have won at last, but
farmers like those we feature on
this month’s cover are busy rak-
ing in as much money as possi-
ble in the remaining warm and
partly sunny days on the coast.
Home canners are stocking pan-
try shelves with produce to be
enjoyed in the dark, wet months
ahead.
The “hunter” part of the
ancient “hunting-gathering” life-
style also is kicking into life,
with fishermen stocking freez-
ers with salmon and tuna, hunt-
ers soon going into the woods
in pursuit of deer and elk, and
families happily anticipating
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FIREWOOD IS SUCH AN INTRINSIC PART OF
RURAL AND SMALL-TOWN LIFE IT DOESN’T
OCCUR TO MOST OF US THAT IT COULD BE
ANY OTHER WAY. HOW ODD IT MUST SEEM TO
SOMEONE WHO COMES HERE FROM
A CITY OR DIFFERENT CLIMATE TO LEARN OF
WEEKENDS DEVOTED TO HARVESTING WOOD
IN THE SURROUNDING HILLS.
an abundant razor clam sea-
son. (We will have to keep
our fingers crossed that warm
ocean waters don’t generate a
bloom of domoic acid-produc-
ing algae to ruin clam digs.) In
my experience, this summer’s
wild berry crop was disappoint-
ing — too often exposed to just
enough drizzle to spoil them —
but fall’s proliferation of mush-
rooms is just about to begin, at
least for those who know safe
identification techniques.
It is, in some ways, a stretch
to call these activities “busi-
ness,” but for most human exis-
tence these were the economy.
It’s no accident that they are
now grouped under the umbrella
term “home economics.” These
ways in which we individually
act to warm and feed ourselves
contribute to self-sufficiency
and save money to put toward
other needs. We all should seek
out and be proud of the ways we
fend for ourselves.
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