First: On Sunday my wife spontaneously announced that I needed to buy a new chain saw. Since she's right, on Monday I bought one.
Second: On Tuesday, while she was driving home she noticed a good sized / storm damaged paper birch and brought it to my attention.
Man, woman and chainsaw promptly got in the pickup truck but the homeowner wasn't home. So I left a business card with a note that I owned a chainsaw and would finish dropping the tree in exchange for the wood. Today the owner called me back and said to 'go for it'.
The net result is one brand new chainsaw and a 16" dia. birch in my backyard in 4' - 6' lengths. Lots of branches for pens and goblets, too. Some of it is already spalted (a poorly trimmed branch allowed entry and ultimately doomed the tree) and there were a couple nice crotches. I see at least 3 bowls from crotch wood ... mebbe 5.
now that wasn't called for, it's only a birch tree, if it was say 200 year old cherry tree, or maybe black walnut then I'll start handing out the torches, somebody get the pitchforks!
With 85 year old cherry running to 5' diameter, and probably full of brown rot, I'd have to wonder about a 200. Every time I'd ski past them, I could only see wood, not trees....
I'll donate a quarter toward the ammunition ... I deserve to be shot.
In fact, I should be shot dead. Twice.
(GRIN!)
I have also been given a small pear tree (about 14" at the base and 12" at the three foot mark) and a box-elder tree (both still standing) from a soon-to-be construction site. I had to wait for Woodcraft to get me some green wood sealer, though. Aint no way I'm going to drop that pear tree without the sealer right there. I rethought my order and bumped it up to 2 gallons today. I'll get started on those trees this weekend. What I have in mind is to drop them and cut them up for bowls right where they fall ala Bill Grumbine. Then seal them immediately and take only the 'keeper wood' home.
Last fall I scored a pile of ancient maple that is so highly figured there's no way to make lumber out of it and so big around that I'm not even thinking about cutting into it until I get a bigger lathe. Oh, and a cherry stump about 3' tall and 4' diameter. I took it out in 6' thick slabs (that being the biggest I could wrestle into the back of my pickup truck.) I think at least one slice of the cherry is going to get neandered into a one-piece table with drawers cut into the solid (if I can ever figure out how to do that.
But, nice as it is, that's not the biggest / nicest thing to happen lately. Honestly.
My eldest son dropped out of high school. After flipping burgers for a while he decided to go get his GED. While there, he was told of a program to send folks to trade school (Minnesota). Leaving trade school, he went down to Florida and found work doing tech support for a smallish CAD-CAM company and eventually got married. So far, so good ... but it gets better.
Over the course of about 5 years, the company moved him up to their head tech support position but my son, looking around, realized that he needs to get a degree to move any further. So he started putting himself through college in a local school. So far, he's done well for the past two semesters.
So well, in fact, that he's been selected for their "Honors College".
Bill! As you should be! There is all too much emphasis on shoving kids into "college!" Lots of them are not equipped nor want to do it, and as a result a great portion of the entering classes must undergo remedial instruction in core subjects (readin', ritin' an' ritmatik). Either that, or colleges dumb down their classes! Good tech schools can give a kid a heck of an education and a subsequent good job.
InspirePoint website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.