A GREAT article that is near and dear to my heart
We have 21 acres so I can't count the trees but there are LOTS of them
A good mixture of softwoods and hardwoods although we lost quite a few pines from the pine beetle during a severe drought about 10 years ago.
I love wood. We have lots of wood in our home. We have oak doors, casing, baseboard, vanities as well as cherry cabinets and some knotty pine as well. None of which we could afford if we didn't already have the lumber, machinery, tools, or the carpenter to build them.
That said, Hank and I are huge tree advocates
For many years, we would purchase trees through our county extension office. You would get a nice selection of hardwoods and softwoods. There would be around 300 saplings all for a nominal fee.
We do not agree with clear cutting, selective cutting only. When Hank picked the oak trees for building our doors, etc., for every tree that was cut, twice as many saplings were planted.
Hank wrote an article back in the late 70's or early 80's about harvesting wood from our rain forests. I wish I could find it but I can't. He refuses to build anything for anyone with wood from rain forests. I seem to remember there is also lots of things in the rain forest that is used in medicine as well.
I have had the honor and privilege of seeing a standing oak go from the forest, to the sawmill, to our shop where it is "sticked", ends painted to prevent checking, dried, planed, shaped, moulded, built, stained, finished, and installed.
I have a huge respect for trees for all that they give us.
In our woods, it's fun to see all the shapes like you all have posted above. There is one that is a stand of 3 poplars all together and Hank named them the three sisters. They are huge and seems like they reach all the way to heaven.
When we were building this home, the telephone folks backed a huge truck into a pine tree so that it leaned terribly. Hank took the bobcat bucket as high as he could and climbed up and put a log chain around it and pulled it straight, fastening it to another tree. We left it like that for about 3 years and now it's perfectly straight. Over the course of those 3 years, people would ask why were we trying to save a dumb tree. What???
We have this in a framed print. My sister gave it to Hank as a gift for all the wood "stuff" he does.
Prayer of the Woods
I am the heat of your hearth on the cold winter nights, the friendly shade screening you from the summer sun, and my fruits are refreshing draughts quenching your thirst as you journey on.
I am the beam that holds your house, the board of your table, the bed on which you lie, and the timber that builds your boat.
I am the handle of your hoe, the door of your homestead, the wood of your cradle, and the shell of your coffin.
I am the bread of kindness and the flower of beauty. 'Ye who pass by, listen to my prayer: Harm me not.
(This prayer has been used in the Portuguese forest preservations for more than 1,000 years.)
Thank God for trees
