Firewood

Yesterday I was sitting on the lanai with my lap top when I noticed an old man looking through the fence into Scott's agricultural lot next door. This in itself is not unusual, but the man continued to stand there, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, then 15 minutes later he remained. My mind ran through all the different reasons he might be standing there. While I debated whether I should go and find out what was going on, the gate opened up and in walked the man with Jhun, a young Filipino man who works with Scott on the agricultural demonstration project. The reason for the man's wait became obvious as they began picking up some piles of sticks and small limbs from where Jhun had done some trimming recently.


Most poor Filipinos cook over open fires. Until the last couple of years, charcoal was the fuel of choice for most of them. Unfortunately, the price of charcoal, as well as prices in general have risen greatly in the last few years. This means that instead of charcoal, families are hunting for firewood. Often walking along the road I see women and young boys carrying large rice sacks filled with sticks that they have collected for their family. In a concrete urban area, I am sure this wood is hard to come by. Even now, I hear some chopping going on in the trees across from our house. I took this picture a week or so ago of these kids walking by our house. They were with 2 ladies that I assume were their moms and they had been out collecting sticks. They were awfully little to be carrying, or rather dragging, this big bag, but they were so cute!



On an unrelated cooking note, last week Emily cooked her first full meal. She has been learning some basic cooking this year and this was her first night to be completely in charge. The menu: homemade spaghetti sauce, Caesar salad with homemade croutons, garlic bread, and for dessert brownies.

It was a good meal for conquering a fear of getting food in and out of the oven. She is growing up so fast. The meal was quite yummy!