Gathering

Family traditions just happen, they aren't planned or contrived, they are natural and unique.  They evolve  as the years,  needs, seasons and families change.

One such family tradition of ours is the gathering of fire wood. Every April, as the air starts to cool it begins and it continues until September.

Our first winter it was just me and him in the ute. He would pick out a fallen tree months earlier and down the paddock we would go. I would collected smaller pieces as he would cut with the chainsaw. Together we would carefully stack the ute back. Sometimes a trailer as well, if we were feeling energetic.

Over the next few winters my belly would grow and babies would arrive. I preferred to stay home, he would go out with his father and collect what was needed to keep his family warm.

This weekend past this tradition evolved once more. I packed the snacks and drinks, he packed chainsaw and fuel. We all climbed into the ute and drove down the paddock. All five of us. He cut, I gathered. One slept in the pram, one needed reassurance from Mum because of the noise and smells, and the other one relished the chance to help Dad, lifting piece after piece into the trailer.

As the boys grow the traditions will to. Once again I will prefer to stay home, when the safety of Mum is no longer required. The Boys and their Dad will create their own. And as the decades pass, once again it will be just me and him in the ute, down the paddock.