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Free Heat on the Street Part III--Abandoned Homes and Businesses

Parts I and II of the saga.

While driving down a major thoroughfare, I noticed an older building, which used to house a tax service, now had a "For Rent" sign on it, and a bunch of tree limbs were piled up in the front of the parking lot. I pulled in, picked out the thickest of the lot, and piled them in my trunk. Among them were trunks of narrow trees, and I took them home for further cutting.

As I was filling my trunk, someone else pulled in with a minivan--I assumed they were there to share in the wood bounty. The side door opened, and out popped a gentleman with groceries destined for the apartments next door (which had no driveway, since the building was directly on the major thoroughfare--this building was O-L-D).

An older gentleman got out of the driver's side, walked over to me, and proceeded to tell me of a downed tree already cut up and sitting in the front yard of an abandoned house not far from my home.

I drove over there when I was done loading. I couldn't find a real estate company sign or anything, but there WAS a large and splendid pine that had fallen over during the last good storm we had, and evidently had blocked the road. Someone crudely cut it up and tossed the sections back into the yard.

Down the road from that was ANOTHER house clearly signed "For Rent" with another downed and crudely cut-up tree in the front yard. Once I make contact with the owner, I plan to get permission to go firewood gathering over there.

Although not abandoned, I did find another place with free heat--a neighborhood church had some sizable limbs come off their old pine. They either don't care about them, or can't afford to have them hauled off. THIS is an instance where a pickup and chainsaw would come in handy. C'mon, Santa!

My husband says I have firewood on the brain. No, I have FREE on the brain, and wish more people would too. Maybe then the electric and gas companies would quit begging for extra money for low-income people's heat bills, and maybe the low-income people could heat their homes for free like I do. Maybe then we'd have no more rug-wrapped senior-cicles.

Ever been to Virginia Beach? You won't find a single piece of driftwood, because even the rich gather it to burn.

Posted by Cute at 8:27 PM

Labels: financial (non-tax), health, social issues