source: http://irelandbyways.com

I will tell you all about our trip there in another post, but what I would like to talk about now is what happened after our trip and how it cleared my mind and gave me some insights and ideas. Of course, I could have come up with it either way, but I think it sped things up a bit and besides, it's nice to share.

How wood changed my mind-set

We arrived home Sunday evening, around 7-ish. We were all tired from the trip and personally I was exhausted having slept an average of 4 hours each night and a 3 hour drive to the place and back again.
Besides that I had run around after my youngest, trying to keep him out of trouble. With high and rusty fire escapes on the side of the building and a lake just in front of the campsite, there was enough to worry about.

I decided to keep dinner simple and because the sun was still hanging around, I wanted to get some fire wood in the house before dark.
A few weeks ago, my ex partner chopped some of it and was supposed to come back for more last week but somehow got pre-occupied. Not long before that, I had tried my own hands on getting the wood into the desirable size, but failed.
An axe was not working. The chainsaw took longer to take a piece of wood off a block than it would taking down a whole tree. But then we discovered that there was a wedge and sledge hammer in the garage and with that, we found the perfect tools.

This Sunday evening, I took the sledge hammer and wedge, found the perfect spot to 'wedge' it and off I went! After a few blows with the hammer, I did split some wood, but I was still resisting and inside cursing my ex for not keeping his word. The wood gave me a really hard time.

But then something I had learned while I was in Japan crossed my mind. The Buddhists there apologize to the vegetables before they cut it and thank it for giving them nourishment.
I looked around and found a good sized slab of tree trunk and placed it before me. At first I felt a bit silly talking to a piece of wood, but soon this changed when I remembered that a tree is a living thing and so was this piece of wood.
I thanked the slab for providing us with oxygen all these years and apologized that his life was ending here. I then thanked it for giving his life for us to be warm. It somehow calmed my mind.

With one good and strong blow with the sledge hammer, the slab split in two!

I couldn't believe it! It might sound really crazy to some, but somehow I felt like it was cooperating.

After I cut into it once more to get to size, I looked around for the next slab. It found me! Almost like it was calling me, I picked up the perfect piece of wood. It took me about 15 minutes or so to cut the right amount for the chilly Irish evening. But when I decided to cut just one more piece, it showed me that it was enough.
The piece that I picked still had a piece of what once was a branch. It made it more difficult and sure enough, I wedged the wedge in so deep that I couldn't get it out. I decided to leave it for the next day to figure out how to 'un-wedge' the thing.

As I gathered the wood and brought it inside, my feeling of annoyance had changed to pure joy! I achieved something that seems simple for some, but for a former city girl could be an impossible task. Not only had I cut the wood, but I enjoyed it! I decided that I didn't need anyone, especially not my ex, to do it for me. Better even: I didn't even want him to do it for me anymore. It's a job I can handle and take pride and joy in doing. What more would a person want?

source: pixabay.com

When I came in, I told my teen daughter and boyfriend about it still with huge enthusiasm. They looked at me and asked what I smoked LOL.

The next day, I went back to work

I found a little hand axe in the garage and decided I could use it to split the wood and get the wedge out. It took me a while as if the thing was punishing me for thinking I needed more the day before.
Some thoughts came to my mind. I had planned to bring the kids to Holland for the summer and visit a few other European countries. However, to pay for this trip, I had to sell everything I had. Most of my cryptocurrency: gone. And worse even: It was mostly sold at a loss. Silently cursing the social worker who got us into this mess in the first place, I envisioned her face in the wood and somehow things went more smoothly. HAH!
As I was sweating and working to get the wedge thing out, something else sprung to mind.
Instead of traveling to Europe, I would have to postpone this now. However, nothing was stopping me from getting the caravan ready (finally) and travel through Ireland first!
There are so many places that we haven't seen here yet; it seems like the perfect plan.

Since I still have plans to move away from here, this might be our only chance to see a bit of the country. And we'll have to eat at home too, so when it comes to that it can surely be quite affordable to travel within Ireland. We could 'wild camp' at times too to get the cost down a bit. And of course I will be telling you all about our adventures, so there would be an opportunity to make some of the money that's needed for the trip.

Conclusion

After cutting our wood for two days, I feel pain in the muscles of my shoulders,
back, arms, hands and even my butt!
So besides clearing my mind and almost meditating, I also have a good work-out! Something I hardly have time for. That's an issue solved.

I figured out what to do with our summer when one plan doesn't happen.
And this Ireland trip can be a test run, who knows where we will go after that! Instead of feeling tired and annoyed from having to do this 'chore' I feel great and happy.
It's truly a WIN - WIN - WIN situation.
Who would have thought that chopping wood would make for such an enlightening experience?

I look at the two tiny blisters forming on my hand and smile...