[RP]

hitting mid-February with a nice stack of firewood outside your door. Those who heat with wood can relate, I'm sure. It's been a pretty mild winter in my neck of the woods, but my previous firewood supply dwindled nevertheless. I knew I wasn't going to make it a month without getting some more, and I like to get a decent amount when I order from my "firewood guy."

Those who either cut their own or don't heat with wood may not be able to appreciate the importance of having a "firewood guy." I generally don't give it much thought until my neighbor remarked on my newly acquired pile. She asked where it came from and the cost, which I shared. In her own roundabout way she shared that she thought that I'd overpaid. That got me to thinking.

She tends to order small loads from local guys, one of whom I'd previously purchased several loads from. However, I found that it was difficult to pin this particular guy down as to when he might be able to deliver, a pretty important consideration during a cold snap. The quality of his wood tended to be inconsistent - some of it may have been a tree several weeks prior to delivery (green & unseasoned) while other stuff would be junk wood like pine and cedar which burns way too fast. In addition (and this is important), he would throw his delivery into the back of his truck rather haphazardly leaving a lot of empty space in the truck bed rather than firewood. In the world of firewood, all truckloads of the same size truck bed are not equal and all firewood is definitely not equal.

My "guy" delivered the firewood the day after I contacted him. The wood was stacked inside his truck bed so there was a minimum of empty space that wasn't firewood. In addition, and those with bad backs like mine can appreciate this, he stacked the wood in front of my cabin as shown below. I don't want to stack firewood for the same reason that I no longer cut my own firewood - a bad back. I should also state that my firewood guy cuts his wood a year in advance of sale so it's nicely seasoned and consists of all hardwoods. So all things considered, did I overpay for my firewood? I don't think so.

However, it got me to thinking that buying firewood is a metaphor of sorts for the adage that you get what you pay for. We frequently get AGF questions from new guitar players regarding what guitar to purchase. Guitars can seem very pricey until one gets immersed and then that refrain, "You get what you pay for" gets oft repeated. This is not to say that less expensive guitars are not playable, but if one has his heart set on a $1500-$2500 Martin or Taylor and can afford it, does it make sense to buy a less expensive stepping stone guitar knowing full well what he really wants. Clearly guitars outlast firewood - firewood is very expendable while guitars for the most part are long term acquisitions. I'm at the point in my life when I'd rather pay a little more for firewood or a guitar and get what I want. Ok, sure sometimes my guitars end up in the AGF Classifieds, but that happens knowing that I got what I wanted. If it ends up being sold, then someone else got what I thought was a great guitar...