The Prepper Broadcasting Network - What is a Pile of Wood?

Episode Date: September 20, 2025

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Hi, jury-I assistant here. We've got a bit of a good news, bad news situation. Seems a podcast you're about to listen to has been flagged. It's been flagged for disinformation and misinformation. So you won't be able to enjoy it today. Be careful out there. Remember, I'm your friend. What is a pile of wood, Phoebe and family?

I probably should do a frugality podcast for you guys because I spent, I don't know, 15 maybe going on 20 years living a extremely frugal life and taking advantage of people giving stuff away, not understanding that the, you know, the trash that they want gone is of immense value. yesterday i found a about 16 to 18 inch i mean a pile like an entire old maple tree cut down to 16 to 18 inch rounds in uh facebook on facebook marketplace and went and picked that up and i'm dumping it all you know like into the yard where i'm going to split it all because this time of year i always look for these things, right? If you can be seasonal and smart about things like firewood, you can gather these things up, you know, you really like, if you can do it in June, if you can do it in July, like nobody's thinking firewood. They just want trees out of their way. You know what I mean? A tree came down because of the storm and we cut it up and we just want it gone. Come pick it up.

But you got to be careful, you know. You got to be careful because some of them are dryrodded, some of them are dead so you know one of the things i always look for is i don't mind manipulating the wood um but i don't want to have to cut every piece down to a size that'll fit i've done it i mean i've done it in the past but i like the ones that are pre-cut into big rounds 16 to 18 inch really more 16 and uh and that's it man go load the truck up but i'm dumping all these logs you know into the yard and you know one at a time i probably should have got the wheelbarrow but i said whatever i'm just going to do it and uh i'm sitting there looking at them like they're piling up you know in this one spot in the yard and i'm going into like poetic mode you know what i mean my mind starts

switching i start seeing the world through that those poetic eyes that poetic lens and i started thinking like look at that pile of wood man Right, to most people, it's like trash, a mess. It's a problem, you know? And I started looking at that pile of wood and I started seeing, I started asking this question, you know what I mean? Like, what is this pile of wood? This pile of wood is that first fire in the fireplace

with the disaster coffee sitting on the couch, dogs curled up on the couch. You know, it's barely, sun's barely. up it's cold out that first really cold day i mean that if you've never experienced that like that's a thing it's a thing for the family and it's a thing for a man too you know it's a thing for a man to make coffee and build a fire in the fireplace because dogs kids wives they all love it my one dog link man he just curls up by the fire all through the season that we're burning wood he goes over there and curls up by the he loves it he never lays

there normally but when it's winter he's curled up by that fire man so i look at that pile of wood and i think you know this pile of wood is lady liberty and i in the morning and the house is decorated for christmas and the fire's going and we're talking about life and both drinking our coffee and the kids are asleep upstairs safe and sound the house is asleep but for us too and the fire's crackling in the background you know the other thing the fire is uh even my 14 year old you know the kids the kids get this feeling they come downstairs it's a weekend or what have you or They're on a holiday break, you know what I mean? And they come downstairs, and we always have covers and stuff on the couch.

You know, we live in our house. Our house is a lived operation. It's not a visually appealing operation. Like, we don't have furniture that's not used by every creature and person in the house. We don't have special knick-knacks, tables with things on them. You can't touch. We don't have any of that. So, you know, the couch is for that.

So you come down and there's always covers on the couch and we get big pillows on the couch. And the kids, and over all the years, they've always done it. They still do it to this day. They come down and they're sleepy-eyed and they curl up under the cover. They might go back to sleep or whatever the situation is, but they curl up under that cover and they watch the fire. They lay there and they watch the fire and it dances on their face. and they usually say something like

I love when the fire's going I love when I come down and the fire's going you know what I mean I didn't you know it's human it's carnal it's ancient it's ancient the the piece of a fire the safety of a fire

right to a lot of people have a stack of wood it represents next to nothing drive by it scroll by it on eggs list you don't think even think about it you might have one in your backyard that you didn't take advantage of it now it's you know half rotten you can't burn it anyway i think about thanksgiving not as much but there are occasionally thanksgivings or have been this year might be one where we can all gather around the family and have our thanksgiving meal and the fires burning

in the background and you know that's magic maybe there are probably there are two that stand out one is our annual grinch party every year we have a grinch party we invite not a lot of people really just close close friends and neighbors come to the grinch party we party we play party games christmas themed games give away prizes do all kinds of fun stuff watch the grinch of course collectively eat great food and go about our business but all the while because this is you know usually the week before christmas all the while that fire is dancing in the fireplace the real fire not the propane fire not the whatever kind of mechanical mechanized faux fire people use anymore all the while that far that wood pile that benign little banal wood pile that benign little banal wood pile

that was one man's you know headache has been split it's been set to dry it's been covered by a tarp and as the cold months you know as the cold months go on it's just it's there to serve it's not only there to serve you know it's not our main heat source or anything like that but it's it's also there to just add the little things to life that make life great Do you know what I mean? Like, if not for the little things, then what? So, and of course, you know, best of all, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day. I mean, you can't.

It's so lovely to do Christmas Eve with the fire blazing. My mother used to do a thing, and I don't do it as much. I need to do it. But my mother always used to do a thing, and she didn't have a fire. place you know but what she used to do is a certain time usually at night eight o'clock whatever seven eight o'clock she would turn the television off and she would light candles all kinds of candles around the house and then we just sit there and talk and laugh talk about what we're excited about you know in terms of you know what santa's going to bring and all that and uh it wouldn't be the

whole night we wouldn't like fall asleep on the couch in harmony or anything like that it was just a little moment but it's magic man all that from a little pile of wood but me personally you know i love those one-offs even in january and february those one-offs where you're like oh god's gonna be terrible out tomorrow it's gonna be high at 20 or whatever for virginia that's a problem and uh you know, it's early Saturday morning and the house is warm because we're lucky and we've got the convenience of a heat pump and we're living modern life, right? But at the same time, there's a different level of warmth when you have that fire going and you wake up early, set to starting that fire, and you, uh, whatever it is, right?

You're reading by the fire, you're writing by the fire, you're sipping coffee by the fire, painting by the fire, whatever it is. Just adds a layer. all from a little pile of trash a little pile of somebody else's trash you know what I mean somebody else is inconvenience somebody else's headache

and that's of course when you realize looking at that pile of wood I'm looking at that pile of wood and I realize this is you it's you it's me it's everybody

right how we look at what we are and what we're capable of and what we could become or what with a little effort we can become or be for that day right it's potential that pile of logs in my backyard is it's massive potential right it's there's so much potential in that pile of logs that it literally makes memories makes dreams makes lives And that's a pile of wood. Now, think about yourself for a minute.

Think about what you're capable of. Think about you as a human being. As a human being, you know, you can wake up in this society and feel like, you know, I didn't make it. I didn't make this much money. I didn't get this kind of house. I don't drive this kind of car. So I didn't make it. I didn't reach this kind of level or, you know, whatever the situation is.

Fall for all kinds of. You can fall for all kinds of stuff. if you're not careful. But if you understand that that pile of wood has so much potential with just a bludgeoning of an axe, right? And some duffist guy who calls himself the commander.

Now think about what you're capable of. Now think about when you're sitting there on the couch and you look like a pile of human. or you're sitting there feeling depressed you're sitting there wishing that something had gone a different way for you or someone had done something differently for you or wishing you could do more, be more, feel more.

And once you remember that PBN family, you hold unbelievable potential. Unbelievable potential. Don't forget the pile of wood. Right? Because it applies to everything. You look at your kids. You see the same thing. Right? You look at a co-worker. You look at a person. Here's a good one. You look at a person that you don't even like.

Maybe a person that you hate. Maybe a person that drives you absolutely insane. You look at that person and that, you know, you really hit something when you can look at that person and say, wow. But imagine the potential. imagine what they're capable or could be capable of right now you can't affect all that in someone else but you can't affect it in yourself think about a pbn family enjoy your weekend folks okay i will talk to you guys soon and uh yeah enjoy your life