Poor Trees the Sequel

After you cut down white oak and black walnut trees and decide the wood is to beautiful to use as firewood what do you do? Thankfully we have friends who know a thing or two about wood. We did manage to get the logs to the portable sawmill and I will say it was a lot of work. It took one work van with a wench the Nissan and a borrowed/stolen farm use trailer, five trips up and over the mountain in what turned out to be a 35 mile one way trip, oh did I mention Mark didn't want to cut the trailer plug so we could plug it into the Nissan so we  had no tail lights and the seriously bald trailer tire that needed air after every trip. Not to mention the thrill of being pushed down the mountain by thousands of pounds of tree trunks. But it was worth it!!

I need to mention why it was a borrowed/stolen farm use trailer. Our friend Oscar has access to trailers they just happen to belong to his dad. It usually works out well unless Oscar forgets to tell anyone we are coming to get a trailer. So the afternoon we first picked up the trailer Mark was hooking it up to the Nissan when the neighbor Daryl came driving down the lane to see what we were up to. Mark is busy so I wander over to the truck and stranger says "what are you doing?" The snarky smart ass side of me want to say "stealing a trailer what does it look like we are doing?" But before I open my big mouth I notice the rifle on the passenger seat, it as at this point I am reaching for my phone to I can show this guy the text from Oscar saying it is alright to steal/borrow said trailer. I mention that we are hauling logs so we can have them milled when the portable saw mill guy gets here on Saturday! Bing!!! I said the magic words. Now Daryl is a very happy man and starts to tell me he has been tyring to avoid having to help with that particular job and have a nice day and if we hear any gun shots its just him so don't worry!!!! Two trailer loads of logs later we are taking the last logs out of the trailer in the dark when we see the headlights of a vehicle coming our way. Mark just keeps working until we notice the headlights are just sitting there staring at us and the driver is still behind the wheel, kind of like a cop. Mark stops working to go see who we have upset now. Turns out to be Oscars dad he wants to know what we are up to on his land with his trailer in the middle of the night. Some fast talking by Mark and all is well. Logs are ready to be cut in the morning.



 

 

If you have never had the opportunity to be involved in a weekend of milling trees let me just say that you have missed out on one of the great experiences of life. For us it involved three generations of family, friends and neighbors, two cow chases one by the men and the last by Nick. A family photo session, a buffet lunch on the tailgate of a Chevy blazer and a little bit of rain thrown in for good measure. Mark and the dogs and I came home a little damp, over fed covered in saw dust dragging a trailer with no taillights full of oak and walnut and exhausted it was one of the best weekends of my life. Our neighbor Gloria let us park the trailer in her yard for a week until we could get the wood unloaded and stacked to dry in our yard. With any luck it will sit and dry peacefully thru the winter and we will finish it out in a kiln and mill it into flooring, counter tops and a fireplace mantle. I must say that there is something deeply satisfying about taking wood from your land and being able to make something useful with it. I have a new appreciation for all of the work that it takes in order to make something beautiful with wood.