Vermonters have catchy little quips for everything.. For example "knee high by the Fourth of July" refers to the height of your hay or corn crop out in the field. If it's 'knee high' by the Fourth of July it's doing well and suggests a satisfactory yield once it's cut down. Having not grown up here though I often mix up these little ditties. So yesterday while shoveling the snow off the wood shed roof I was trying desperately to remember the little ditty about the amount of firewood one had left in February.

I always start to worry this time of year that my stacks of firewood are going down much quicker than they did in Nov or Dec. Suddenly I remembered what that old time Vermonter used to say in reference to the amount of firewood left in Feb. "50% wood....February's good" meaning if your wood shed still had 1/2 the wood in Feb it did when you filled it that you should make it through the remainder of the season w/o running out. Relieved I got back to work.

Afterwards I walked up on the hill w/ my camera. It was snowing lightly...and as seen in this image the sky was overcast.... the scene had that bleak mid-winter look. Just as I was taking this photo I realized I had REALLY mixed up my quips. The Feb one had nothing to do w/ fire wood at all. Instead, it was "50% hay....February's OK" (meaning if the barn was still 1/2 full of hay in Feb you'd have enough for the rest of the winter) LOL Back now to wondering if the remaining firewood seen in my shed here is actually going to get me through the rest of the season.