Farm women know how to stack wood. So do their sons.

Nicole came over yesterday with her son Keene to help us stack the two cords of firewood we got last week. We need to make room for some more, we need  seven cords for the winter, and now, we have four and-a-half.

Nicole is not on a farm anymore, she works at the Cambridge Valley Vet. She’s a single mother and she and Keene are working hard to raise the money for a trip to the New Hampshire ocean beach. I can’t count how many jobs Nicole has and Keene is a ferocious worker.

We have hired him sometimes to come over and play with Fate, and Keene is the only person we know who has worn Fate out and left her lying on the ground with her tongue hanging out. Sometimes he throws the ball and rushes out to catch it before Fate gets there. And Fate can move.

The two have  raised almost enough money for the hotel, they need money for gas and food and games.

“You okay stacking wood,” I asked Nicole a few weeks ago and she looked at me as if I had three heads. “Of course,” she sniffed.

There is no doubt they will get there. It’s interesting seeing how kids up here, even young ones, are so eager to work. Whenever I pay Keene for playing with Fate, he puts the money in a jar so they can take their beach  vacation. Keene says they stacked 127 pieces of wood today.