Woodlot Management & Pearl Harbor
Along with planting trees, proper woodlot management includes selective cutting 
and pruning. My neighbor, Dave, knows that I'm adverse to cutting live trees, hence the canopy that blocks sunlight and keeps our driveway wet. This past summer the cabin had a lot of use. Each time I'd walk the driveway my concern increased. There's a small stand of giant poplar on the west side of the driveway; the tend to snap off about 25-30' in the air. Two large dead oaks were dropping limbs all summer. Most of our large white birch fell to the birch borer infestation in the early 1990s; the survivors are near there life maximum and likewise are dropping limbs. It's just time to do some work.
and pruning. My neighbor, Dave, knows that I'm adverse to cutting live trees, hence the canopy that blocks sunlight and keeps our driveway wet. This past summer the cabin had a lot of use. Each time I'd walk the driveway my concern increased. There's a small stand of giant poplar on the west side of the driveway; the tend to snap off about 25-30' in the air. Two large dead oaks were dropping limbs all summer. Most of our large white birch fell to the birch borer infestation in the early 1990s; the survivors are near there life maximum and likewise are dropping limbs. It's just time to do some work.
We do burn firewood and joke when we see the bundles of six or seven pieces at the convenience stores for $7.95. A quick check of 
WalMart indicates that you can buy a 12"x12"x18" box of oak for $49.95 plus shipping; a cord of wood is 148 cubic feet. Typically we go through two or three cords. At Walmart prices that would be approximately $15,000. You want the moisture low so we split, stack and cover and let the firewood dry for two years. You do wear out your chainsaws and your vehicles and your clothes but it is time in the woods. It's an opportunity, a gift, to hear the flock of late migrating swans and the lone bald eagle.
WalMart indicates that you can buy a 12"x12"x18" box of oak for $49.95 plus shipping; a cord of wood is 148 cubic feet. Typically we go through two or three cords. At Walmart prices that would be approximately $15,000. You want the moisture low so we split, stack and cover and let the firewood dry for two years. You do wear out your chainsaws and your vehicles and your clothes but it is time in the woods. It's an opportunity, a gift, to hear the flock of late migrating swans and the lone bald eagle.
A split trunk oak along the driveway was on the 'cut' list. Good woodlot managers would have culled this years ago but I like the way it looked. Like many trees, they die from the top down and the western trunk was ready to take.
Along with the standard thoughts of safety, where is this going to fall, where should I stack it and how small should I cut and split, taking time to look at the growth rings is part of the process. Eighty years ago this oak emerged from an acorn. This area was part of the Great Hinckley Fire where all the trees were white pine. A few generations of squirrels contributed to this oak in this place.
Eighty years ago today Japan attacked Pearl Harbor with the loss of several 
thousand lives. It was a failure of international diplomacy. America, fatigued from WWI, was reluctant to enter the war against Germany in Europe. FDR committed us to war with Japan and Germany shortly declared war on the U.S. The politics of the Allies took us first to Europe and more slowly to the Pacific. The industrial might of the the nation, unimaginable in depth, produced the goods for most nations fighting Germany and Japan.
thousand lives. It was a failure of international diplomacy. America, fatigued from WWI, was reluctant to enter the war against Germany in Europe. FDR committed us to war with Japan and Germany shortly declared war on the U.S. The politics of the Allies took us first to Europe and more slowly to the Pacific. The industrial might of the the nation, unimaginable in depth, produced the goods for most nations fighting Germany and Japan.
The five years of America's involvement in WWII is a moment in the life of an oak tree. As I counted rings the other benchmarks stood out...Viet Nam, Presidents strong and weak, our children being born, our purchase of the land shared with this oak. That might have been about the time the swans flew overhead which gave another pause to a pause. So many did not survive. Between the two wars Europe and the U.S. languished with their populations focused on their own indulgences; it was a weakness of character and democracy. We are there again.
