August 6, 2019
While visiting the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland, about a week and a half ago now, I saw large, neat stacks of cut wood along the road, often far away from any houses. I meant to ask my Airbnb hosts in Quirpon about it but never thought of it (we talked about lots of other things). When I took the tour of L’Anse aux Meadows the tour guide addressed the issue.
These were stacked near a home but my point is – wood is valuable. Someone paid for this wood. All stacks of wood which have been carefully cut and stacked (to dry) belong to someone, or perhaps a group of people. Many Canadians heat their homes with wood the majority of the year. The rule is – don’t take the wood unless you have permission. If you were in an accident or are sick and couldn’t get your own wood this year – I’ve got 3 years worth, here, have some of mine. But take my wood without my permission and you’re a thief and very quickly your name is mud and people in the community will shun you. To use a phrase from the TV show Survivor, you might get voted off the island!
My experience in 3 1/2 weeks here is that Canadians are extremely polite, friendly and trustworthy – but don’t go pushing their buttons….
And you can’t beat the smell of a wood fire, especially if you know it isn’t coming from a wildfire like what I experienced in the western US the past two years.
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