My father, Jack Bromaghin in 1930, age 14. This picture was in a storage locker for about 10 years and sent to me by my oldest sister to make copies for other family members, especially her grandson, who is also Jack.
This is about the middle half of the original photo, which is landscape. That wood pile is a LOT bigger than what you see. I know this wasn't taken at our farm so he probably didn't participate in making the pile, but I don't recognize enough of the missing surroundings to say where it was taken. Woodpiles like this were very common where I grew up, as many houses were heated with wood. This one appears to be mainly birch, which burns really hot, but as a softwood, doesn't contain a lot of energy. The homeowner would have been very busy tossing wood into his basement over the winter.
When this was taken, my dad was the only surviving child of 4. One died in childbirth, but at one point he and his older brother and sister were all fallen ill with either the 1918 Influenza or Whooping Cough. My uncle and aunt both died. It is said that at this point, my grandmother Mae's red hair went grey overnight. He later survived Polio. All my life I have hoped to be half the man he was.