I keep a little list in the back of my mind of things that would be nice to have but I really don’t need enough to go out and get. Yes, obviously boys will always be boys and the list includes some far-fetched things like a small bulldozer for shaping up the waterways that drain through the pasture and leveling the yard, but it also includes some much more practical things that would just be handy to have – like a jointer and planer for some of the woodworking projects I have planned.

Last Friday morning while I was at work the DW sent me this pic:

A strong storm had blown through after I had left that morning and split out one of the old trees in front of the house. This finally meant I had enough of a reason to get one of the things off the list – a chainsaw. (You thought I was going to go for the bulldozer, didn’t you? Fun, but maybe a little overkill for this project.)

An experienced logger couldn’t have positioned the tree any better than the job the wind did. With everything that could have been hit, including the house, the tree didn’t touch a thing. It fell just far enough to the west that it missed the flowers and the 911 sign, and just far enough to the east that it missed the mailbox and traffic could still pass down the road.

We knew the tree was in pretty rough shape and had debated cutting it down earlier, but had no idea how bad it really was. The base of the tree was almost completely hollowed out.

Of course, the guard dog had to investigate… I can only imagine how many raccoons have lived in there over the years.

The half of the tree that’s still standing is even worse. This shot was taken at the base looking up. To give you an idea of the size of the tree, I could fit up the hollow trunk and out the hole on the top – that is if I had any desire to wedge myself inside a tree. It only confirms that the rest of the tree will need to come down soon as well.

It took a few hours Friday night, but with the new saw and a little help the tree was cut up and piled out of the way until it dries out enough to be burned.

I should get some marshmallows… that’s going to be one heck of a bonfire.