Ten things rural life has taught me

1. Wood ash on wet newspaper easily cleans creosote from wood stove windows. (Lye is made from wood ash.)
2. Applewood has more BTUs than paper birch.
3. Juvenile red spotted newts, those little red efts that cross the road in droves, can be six years old by the time you flatten them with your car tires.
4. Lichens on trees indicate excellent air quality, not tree decline.
5. Bears like lobster.
6. Fresh grocery store vegetables are not fresh; the ones from the garden are.
7. The Milky Way still exists.
8. You can't have too much land.
9. Trees know more than I ever will.
10. There is no such thing as silence.