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Ah but the woodpile! Now there's a concept! It's something quite contrary to the American way of CREDIT and instant gratification! The woodpile is certainly quantifiable in terms of cash. BUT it's PAID FOR...in advance!...and it's completely QUANTIFIABLE! It's the epitome of the rewards of gradual but steady hard work and PAYING for what we own! ...much unlike the average power company, who is all too willing to set us up with "easy" payment plans. How's that working out now for the mortgage industry?! Hmmmm... yeah...that's what I thought too! I can look out at the woodpile and pretty much know how many months worth we have. The best part is that I don't have near the concern about somebody's ability to take it away. It's physically defensible... at least to a point. If somebody tries to haul it off, they have to deal with US. Not so with piped in gas and electricity! They can shut this off without even being seen in many cases!

I love your description of wood piles. When we finally finished out cabin in the mountains and then started on clearing the lot of all the trees downed over the years plus those we cut ourselves, we kept creating more and more woodpiles. We probably have 10 or so woodpiles consisting of 2 or 3 cords each. Since we heat solely with the woodstove, it is endlessly reassuring to see all the tarps out there in the meadow and forest protecting our hard work - and source of heat. And it's a lot more personal and gratifying to burn our own wood than to, as you mentioned, get up and adjust a thermostat on a wall.

I had to add here what Thoreau wrote about woodpiles in Walden (still applicable today for those of us with affection for our woodpiles!):
"It is remarkable what a value is still put upon wood even in this age and in this new country, a value more permanent and universal than that of gold. After all our discoveries and inventions no man will go by a pile of wood. It is as precious to us as it was to our Saxon and Norman ancestors. Every man looks at his wood-pile with a kind of affection. I love to have mine before my window, and the more chips the better to remind me of my pleasing work. I had an old axe which nobody claimed, with which by spells in winter days, on the sunny side of the house, I played about the stumps which I had got out of my bean-field. As my driver prophesied when I was plowing, they warmed me twice- once while I was splitting them, and again when they were on the fire, so that no fuel could give out more heat."