The Attic Project

Our attic is BIG, roughly 1600 square feet, and rises 1.5 stories above the rest of the house. When we moved in 9 years ago, it was filled with all sorts of stuff. Built-in cabinets and shelving, semi-framed walls, and lots and lots of flies. The space had served as a workshop and storage area for the former owner whose fondness for collecting left it filled to the brim. Wood was everywhere; stacked in piles, propped against surfaces, arranged on the floor. Honestly it was hard to see the forest for all the trees. Here’s what it looked like in 2009.

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Wood you be mine?

Here in Maine, a state with vast quantities of firewood, people are struggling to heat their homes. I read a heart-wrenching article in the New York Times about it this past weekend, and have been hearing similar stories in the local media the past few months.

Maine’s older housing stock is fitted mainly with oil-burning furnaces. Many of those residing in these homes are older, others are simply poor, and very few have the financial wherewithal to change systems. Meanwhile, oil prices continue to rise, and cuts at the state & federal levels in heating-assistance subsidies mean the very neediest Mainers are having to make terrible choices. Like whether to buy food or fuel.

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