When I’m not at camp and my mind wanders back wistfully, I often find myself sitting comfortably near the woodstove… It doesn’t matter which camp has drawn me back in my mind’s eye, I’m often near the stove. My camp has an old cranky cast iron stove that I picked up at a yard sale years ago for about $50. It has both a front door and side, neither of which closes tightly due to one faulty and one broken handle. The front door has a small glass window which lets just enough light into the room at night so that I can make it to the camp’s front door in the middle of the night without a flashlight, thus allowing me to get to the end of the porch to pee on “the rock”. As I get older, I seem to be making this trek more often. Its a good thing too. Because this little stove is so inefficient, I seem to always wake up just about when the stove needs refilling.

At my Dad’s camp, “The 3 Shoe’s”, there’s a serious heat generator! A double front door and a deep storage box lets one really load this one up! It’s a good thing too. My Dad’s camp is at a higher elevation and was constructed of cinder block. It takes quite a bit to get it warm and to keep it that way. But that stove is more than capable. When it gets brutal out there and as my brother’s buddy Boo says, “The Wolf is pounding at the door!”, that stove is more than capable of keeping the Wolf outside. I can come in chilled to the bone and after sitting for a bit in Pop’s chair next to the stove I’m ready to look for a new seat a bit farther away. Ahhhhh.

Both stoves have become a part of that camp’s identity. Its sort of like a car that you’ve been driving for years. Sure they can get a little cranky, but you’re so familiar with their individual characteristics that keeping them burning right is second nature. Let a little more air in here, close the damper a bit there, and all is right in the world.

I sleep better at camp too. Sure I’ve been out in the woods all day, but, I don’t know, when I’m ready to turn in and the place is WARM and I hear the logs cracking and settling inside the stove I just zonk out quickly! I’ve seen my brother Rich fall asleep faster than the speed of light. Seriously! I’ve seen him head toward the bunk room where the light was on saying, “I’m ready to turn in”. He’d hit that wall switch and I swear before the room was dark, we’d hear him in there sawing logs!

Usually when I arrive at camp the first thing I carry in are my rifles. The second thing I do is light the stove. I just like carrying my gear in and seeing the smoke coming from the stovepipe as I bring in my duffels and coolers. The camp will be right shortly. Once those chores are accomplished, the next order of business is to turn on the gas for the cookstove and get a pot of coffee going. And finally just about the time that old stainless steel pot has finished perking and I can pour myself that first cup of joe, the camp is getting warm. Now grab that mug, take my seat next to the woodstove and settle in and relax. This is camp! I’m fortunate and I know it! Time for some appreciation and reflection because tomorrow I’m hitting the woods! It’s great to be back at camp!

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