take what you can get (take it all)

i went wood cutting yesterday with [a friend] ... we were cutting cedar and i was collecting the entire tree ... even the small branches that others leave behind ... he asked me if i was going to burn those smaller pieces and i said yes ... i told him that a couple of years ago i was staying at [another buddy's place] and we burned old construction debris ... so even these smaller branches of cedar were cherry in my eye.

i remember ... [that bro back then] found the wood on craigslist ... it was free to whomever would remove it ... and it was everything from two by fours to plywood ... we packed it all ... took it to his place and piled it up in the backyard based on cleanliness ... the wood without nails goes in one pile ... the other stuff over there ... and of course you start with the clean and work your way down.

we had a metal garbage can that we would fill up from the wood piles in the backyard and then take in the house to burn ... it would be blowing snow ... and you'd be back there with the sledge hammer breaking two by fours and stuffing them into the garbage can ... wind blowing ... hurrying to just get the can full so that you can get back in the house ... it was pretty rugged, but, hell, we managed ... and it was warm once the fire was going ... and more importantly it was free.

i didn't go into all this detail while we were cutting wood yesterday ... the construction debris term was enough for [the friend] ... when he heard that he simply said ... i guess you take what you can get.

so now i am in a warm house and i have a stack of cedar logs on the front porch ... and a pile of smaller cedar branches five feet further ... and i can burn those smaller pieces during the day while i am up and at the computer ... and i can burn the thicker pieces at night when i want more time to sleep and less work to tend the fire.