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Cotopaxi2024-04-19T15:39:58+00:00monthlyhttps://mayasilverwrites.com/2024/01/24/best-books-about-the-southwest-desert/https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/blank.jpgblankhttps://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/stories_from_the_land_dueaer.webpStories_from_the_Land_dueaer2024-01-24T17:37:34+00:00monthlyhttps://mayasilverwrites.com/2017/01/19/the-story-of-my-first-and-possibly-last-marathon/https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/post-race-313x420.jpgPost-Race-313x4202023-12-16T16:37:54+00:00monthlyhttps://mayasilverwrites.com/2023/07/02/a-guide-to-bryce-np-cn-traveler/https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/img_3354.jpgIMG_33542023-07-02T14:23:17+00:00monthlyhttps://mayasilverwrites.com/2023/07/02/a-guide-to-the-best-utah-national-parks-cn-traveler/https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/img_5314.jpgIMG_53142023-07-02T14:20:01+00:00monthlyhttps://mayasilverwrites.com/2022/07/01/6-amazing-dark-sky-destinations-for-stargazing-with-your-kids/https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/camping-under-stars-1024x684-panorama.jpgcamping-under-stars-1024x684-panorama2022-07-01T16:29:14+00:00monthlyhttps://mayasilverwrites.com/2022/07/01/why-spring-is-the-moment-to-embrace-desert-season/https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/img_3740.jpgIMG_3740https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/img_3742.jpgimg_3742https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/img_3741.jpgimg_37412022-07-01T16:24:19+00:00monthlyhttps://mayasilverwrites.com/2022/07/01/the-pros-guide-to-a-crowd-free-ski-getaway-travel-leisure/https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/img_3745-1.jpgimg_3745-1https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/img_3745.jpgIMG_3745https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/img_3744.jpgIMG_3744https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/img_3743.jpgIMG_37432022-07-01T16:18:31+00:00monthlyhttps://mayasilverwrites.com/2022/07/01/how-to-be-pura-vida/https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/24516_608795631539_7437933_n.jpg24516_608795631539_7437933_nhttps://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/javier-mazzeo-gtxvpz2etda-unsplash.jpgjavier-mazzeo-GTXvpZ2eTdA-unsplashPhoto by Javier Mazzeo on Unsplash2022-07-01T15:48:28+00:00monthlyhttps://mayasilverwrites.com/2022/07/01/ice-climbing-and-the-climate-crisis/https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/img_2649.jpgimg_2649https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/img_0018.jpgIMG_00182022-07-01T14:55:49+00:00monthlyhttps://mayasilverwrites.com/2022/07/01/sense-of-dry-humor/https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/img_2111.jpgIMG_21112022-07-01T14:41:43+00:00monthlyhttps://mayasilverwrites.com/2020/12/09/moon-salt-lake-park-city-the-wasatch-range/https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/img_2753.jpgimg_2753https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/img_2159.jpgimg_2159https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/img_0400.jpgimg_04002020-12-09T20:17:09+00:00monthlyhttps://mayasilverwrites.com/2018/08/08/beyond-a-shadow-of-a-drought/https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/old-ranching-gate.jpgold ranching gate2019-07-20T14:22:57+00:00monthlyhttps://mayasilverwrites.com/2018/08/08/the-11-best-hotels-in-salt-lake-city-timeout-magazine/https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/screen-shot-2018-08-08-at-10-41-29.pnghotels in Salt Lake City2018-08-08T16:43:50+00:00monthlyhttps://mayasilverwrites.com/2018/06/08/the-14-best-restaurants-in-salt-lake-city-timeout-magazine/https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/image.jpgimage2018-06-08T15:24:28+00:00monthlyhttps://mayasilverwrites.com/publications/https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/9781402273070-300-1.jpg080712c-22018-05-25T03:43:05+00:00weekly0.6https://mayasilverwrites.com/2018/01/24/baby-brain/https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/8576730425_3ed4b29fd4_k.jpg8576730425_3ed4b29fd4_k2018-01-24T15:35:58+00:00monthlyhttps://mayasilverwrites.com/2018/01/24/original-fuel/https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/20180124_075151.jpg20180124_075151This fall, my husband Casey and I made several trips into the Uintas to fell trees and collect wood. We searched for big dead trees close to the road. Casey chopped them down with his chainsaw and then cut the tree into logs, which we loaded into the truck.https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/20180123_140459.jpg20180123_140459Heating our home has become a hobby. We swapped mountain bike rides for firewood fetching expeditions. We skip the gym and chop wood instead. Our dog Uinta enjoys the harvesting and processing components of heating our home with wood, but the fires themselves spook and overheat her if she sleeps too near.https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/20180123_140844.jpg20180123_140844I sometimes resent the more time-intensive process of heating our bedroom with pellets. When my husband leaves town for work, I stockpile a few of the heavy pellet bags in our room. Weekly, we must let the stove go empty, dropping our room temp down to a chilly 55 or so in order to clean it. When we run low on pellets, we plan trips to Evanston, Wyoming, where pellets are by far the least expensive and of the highest quality.https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/20180123_073603.jpg20180123_073603A boisterous forced air heating unit about the height of a human. Whitewashed radiators hot to the touch. Coils of heat embedded beneath floors that warm the soles of your feet. These are some of the heating systems I've had in the past. None are as prominent as the pellet stove, which cranks into action at regular intervals throughout the night as a fire ignites. https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/20180123_140853.jpg20180123_140853By comparison, a thermostat summons up the fuel you need for warmth nearly instantly. Instead of gathering, chopping, drying, transporting, building, you simply press a button. The up arrow triggers images of fracking rigs and coal mines scarring mountains, oil spills, and invisible carbon dioxide collecting in our atmosphere.https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/20180121_051645.jpg20180121_051645Our bedroom heating source furnishes a full sensory experience. The dust of pellets coats my tongue and nostrils when I pour them into the stove. The fire ignites and blushes our ceiling orange and red, roaring. This is my view of the fire from my bed through the slats of the crib. Needless to say, an eye mask is in order.https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/20180120_163545.jpg20180120_163545Before we installed our wood stove, we simply used our fireplace—an environmentally detrimental habit. When we discovered we’d had a chimney fire, the fireplace went temporarily out of commission. Our living room regularly dropped down to 60 degrees or colder. I tried to remain optimistic by imagining how balmy this would be by other standards—19th century standards, Arctic living standards.https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/20180120_155239.jpg20180120_155239To chop wood, you start by splitting logs using a wedge. This takes some finesse: position the wedge with the grain, lodge it in a crack, tap it in with a maul until it's set. When the crack begins to emerge in the cross-section of the log, you know you're close.https://mayasilverwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/20180120_153731.jpg20180120_153731The woodpile beside our house is a nagging reminder of all the work set out for us to keep our home warm in the winter. I contemplate the ridiculous amount of time it will take me to split and chop one log, then multiply it by 100. 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