The days and nights are getting colder and your thoughts are turning to things like blankets, sweaters, hot chocolate and firewood, right?

That's what my thoughts are about, and because of the high price of natural gas for my furnace, I rely more and more on my wood stove these days.

And according to local firewood purveyors, I'm not the only one. The wood wars have begun.

In my research for sources of the stuff, I eventually turn to craigslist.

Some say that the online classifieds are unreliable or rife with bad guys, but I have found that it is pretty much like any other type advertising; do your homework and you'll be fine.

Under "firewood, delivered" and a listed price of "150" dollars, I found fourteen initial listings in the Seattle/Tacoma area.

After skipping the ads for unsplit "rounds" and the ones for undersized, half-loads, I found an ad from a guy in Puyallup.

"$150 a cord, seasoned, delivered," the ad said.

I called and got a full mailbox message. Another call to a similar ad yielded a message phone, so I left a message.

A lady called me back and said, "Uhh...that ad? The price is wrong...it's now $185 a cord if you want dry wood." Whoops. Things change, I understand, but now what?

I bumped my total maximum up to $175 a cord, delivered and found Dan and Chuck's ad.

"Mixed, Seasoned firewood, $175 delivered."

I hoofed it to the phone and fumbled with it like a lumberjack with my gloves on the wrong hands.

Dan picked up on the first ring.

"Dan, I need some wood, what have you got?" I asked.

Dan got right to the point.

"I can deliver three cords right now for $175 bucks a pop, not a weak cord, a real cord of mixed wood if you're within 25 miles of me, just say the word," he said.

I said the word and Dan was there that afternoon. Awesome. As his guys were unloading, I quizzed him.

What sort of wood is in this pile, Dan?

"It depends on what I get," he said, "and it's mostly mixed wood, down for about 6 to 8 months, but no garbage."

Is your firewood dry, Dan? "The stuff I get at Weyerhaeuser is well seasoned." Weyerhaeuser? How'd you get that gig?

"I'm a licensed logger, I have contracts with Weyerhaeuser, and I do tree removal too."

Dan bucks up and loads his product just off of 1st Avenue and about 312th, and he prefers to keep his deliveries local, (The cost of gasoline is a terrible thing when you've got a delivery truck with an engine the size of a small ferry boat) but if you live farther away than 25 miles, Dan will work something out with you.

As Jeremy and Chuck tossed the last few pieces into the pile, I asked Dan what he wanted customers to know.

"That a full cord is 128 cubic feet, no matter how you stack it, it has to end up at 128." What Dan means in layman's terms is that your wood pile must end up being 4 feet wide, 4 feet tall and 8 feet long, neatly stacked, to equal a true cord.

Do you have more of this stuff, Dan? What's it going to cost, say, next month?

"The going rate is already over $200 (delivered) but I have an ABUNDANCE, and no, I don't think I'll be raising the price."

Did I hear that right? And to top it off, Dan will always top it off" "and if the load turns up a little short, 'boom' I'll come back with some more." Once this column hits the paper, Dan, you'll be getting some calls you know.

"Get it while we got it," he said. "Just call me or Chuck."

Contact Dan at 206-304-3436 or Chuck at 206-304-3225.