Woodpiles

This summer I spent several weeks in rural/mountainous/forested Austria and Germany and I was really struck by the woodpiles, both the number and their variety of style and structure. My parents have two woodpiles, one of geometrically cut lumber, inside the garage, and one of logs with bark still on, in the yard along an exterior wall, braced at both ends by tall metal fence posts and wires. (They have a wood-burning stove they use to create a comfy living room atmosphere and drastically reduce winter heating bills.) I'd like to see my father take a cue from the technique employed in many of the woodpiles I saw (and the first several shown here), using cut logs laid perpendicularly so as to eliminate the need for end braces.