How to clean a chimney

After a few years of heating the house with wood, it’s past time to clean the chimney. This chore has been on your to-do list all summer, and it’s finally time to git-‘er-done.

You head to the hardware store and buy the wire brush and necessary extension poles to scrub the stovepipe. Except that, after unloading the horse feed, you inadvertently leave the tailgate open, drive to a stockdog-training session, and the wire brush, still in its cardboard box with red and black lettering, falls out somewhere along the highway.

Teeth grinding, you make another 38-mile round trip to the hardware store the next day and buy another wire brush in a cardboard box with red and black lettering. Now, you should be good to go.

As the hot afternoon turns breezy, you bring the…