Saturday morning Jerad and I cut up part of an ancient Oak tree that had split in half from it’s own massive weight. I had gone down to check it out last Saturday and I could feel it’s age and mass. It had fallen on itself in such a way that it was precariously balanced on a few of it’s larger branches, some hanging over and in the creek. We would have to be careful in deconstructing it’s dead parts. We had arranged to meet there Saturday morning around 9:30. I gathered up my saw and gear, piled it on the quad and headed down. On the way down the road I was struck with some trepidation. A voice in my head was saying, ” ..you are getting to old for this stuff Buzz…you could hurt yourself……or worse… Jerad…you could just buy a cord of firewood in the fall..” Then another voice, ” you have come a long ways …this tree is a small thing in your history….just do the work…be patient and stay in the work….”. There it was again, creeping into my mind, the struggle with right and wrong…safe and dangerous…security and risk………………..the primal disease of the mind.
It was fun to work closely with Jerad, I always enjoy it. He is a hard and thoughtful worker. We tried not to hurt the part of the old tree that was still alive. The big fallen limb could easily have twisted off and split the remainder of the trunk. We were careful and patient. My trepidation turned out to be a small thing that seemed big in my ‘old fearful’ brain.
Keep on.
Jerad was there when I arrived. One big limb already off. Check out his vintage Power Wagon!
Trimming off the big limb that was creating a big twist load into the good side of the living stump.
First load on the truck
Added to my growing stash of winter heat.
We cleaned up the area and put the second load on the truck. We’ll let the remaining trunk and big limbs in the creek *settle* a while and come back and get the rest before the fall.
:-)