kai818•17d ago

Looking back at my first big storm damage job in Tacoma

I was clearing a huge maple that had come down on a garage, maybe 15 years ago now. I had my old Husqvarna 372, and I was just cutting everything into firewood lengths as fast as I could. This old timer who lived down the street, a retired logger, came out with his coffee and just watched for a solid hour. Finally, he walked over, pointed at a massive lower limb I was about to cut, and said, 'Kid, that's not storm damage, that's a whole dining room table.' He showed me how the grain ran, how the crotch had that perfect curl for a live edge slab. I'd been treating every piece of wood as waste or fuel for years. It completely changed how I look at a tree, even a broken one. Now I always pause and really see what's there before I make the first cut. Anyone else have a moment like that, where you realized you were missing the value in the material right in front of you?

2 comments

2 Comments

caseyrivera17d ago

Sounds a bit dramatic for just some old wood though.

drew80516d agoMost Upvoted

It's about the history, not the material. That wood tells a story you can't replace. Calling it just old wood misses the point.