NEW DUNBURY

We tried to get a picture of the well before launching the site but the camera inexplicably ate it. We have one now in the “house site” folder. The well is not much to look at, but it is reassuring to know it’s there.

We have also added a new gallery for wildlife photos with just the one shot now. The deer, bears, turkeys, snapping turtles, turkey vultures, copperhead snakes, frogs, salamanders, hawks, and box turtles remain undocumented for now. We probably won’t be bothering much with the insects, of which there are an enormous variety.

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That’s what lumberjacks are supposed to shout when they cut down a tree and it starts to fall. Our amateur lumberjack did no such thing, as there was no one there to hear it but him and he knew what was happening. Well, no one human anyway.

I went down to the land on Monday to drop three pine trees we had identified as offending our idea of what the north edge of our clearing should look like. The saws didn’t (excuse the pun) cut it. Upon careful consideration after chopping the smallest one down with an ax, I decided that continuing on with an ax wasn’t the way to go. Clearly the tree agreed, as it fell in the opposite direction than intended and hung up in the forest. So it was off the the chain saw store (and lunch) in Charlottesville. Something more than an hour later, I managed to frustrate myself by flooding the chainsaw. Back to the chainsaw store, where the nice man who sold me the saw told me that the biggest problem with that model was that it was too easy to start. He was right. It was even easier than the instructions (which I followed) said. By then, however, it was too late to go back and take down trees.

On Wednesday, I returned to the land, chain saw at the ready. Starting with some less intimidating trees (that weren’t on the original list) I practiced cutting down trees while getting the feel of the saw. Much progress was made. In all, I dropped six “offensive” pine trees and brought Monday’s hanger down to the ground. I ran out of steam before sectioning all the dropped trees and dragging them off the clearing. Much was learned by way of practical experience in the resiliency of “live” wood and the odd stability of curved trees. Word to the wise, don’t try to move a fresh log that’s the same diameter as your thigh if it’s longer than you are.

So there’s another trip in the future. Because, don’t ya know, there are still some “offensive” pine trees intruding on our clearing edge.

Bob the Treekiller signing out for now.

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