There is a wide variety of rural people. Industrial farmers plant property line to property line, without even a fence row to break the monotony. They would never let a wood lot stand. They would rip it out and plant soybeans. All his equipment has an air conditioned cab.
That's entirely different from a family that lives in the country because they want to enjoy their land and being outside. For years I would stuff an 8" round into the stove at bedtime, which would leave a bed of coals in the morning. A few 2" rounds on the coals and open the damper would give me a roaring fire and a warm house by the time I finished showering and dressing for work. It would burn down to coals again, I would damp the fire and leave. A wall of south windows would warm the house and tile floors all day. I would come home, clean the ashes out, start a new fire, and repeat. We kept the heat pump set at 60 degrees, but it rarely came on. With the ability to handle a max 10" round, making firewood was mostly cutting and not much splitting.
BTW, I just had my annual physical. The doc goes over me with a fine tooth comb, and always comments on how healthy I am, and that at 70 I am taking no medications. Great blood count, liver enzymes, total cholesterol of 135, no joint pain, no problems breathing or with other major organs, no sign of diabetes, and a ticker that is working fine. On the down side, it's time for new hearing aids, because I'm really getting hard of hearing.
Convenience kills. I credit a lot of my good health to outdoor activity, like cutting firewood. People sit around until they rot, and then they die. Meanwhile they miss things like sharing their lunch with a raven.
He detests people having even 1 or 2 a day.
