What's this? A Post From Home? Like in Oregon?

For reasons I will not go into, we had to cut down a majestic Douglas Fir tree 

     This caused some degree of controversy in our inner circle of friends and family, as some did not feel good about such a thing.  
     Old trees are precious, but when they are in the middle of a 40 acre farm field, they can become a hindrance, and probably should have never been allowed to grow there in the first place. 

     At any rate, the big tree had to come down.  But my conscience is clear, as I have planted well over 8,500 trees in my time (this is no joke, I currently have a tree farm - and once grew Christmas trees.  My timing was bad, the Christmas tree market collapsed, and many of these trees are still growing).
     At any rate, this is a significant tree, one with emotional value, and we want to preserve the lumber and create something of lasting value, such as a structure, or a piece of compelling furniture. 


     Then we had to move this beast.  We cut it into a couple of saw logs that you can make lumber out of, 16 feet and 8 feet - and those chunks turned out to be incredibly heavy.  They were very, very, difficult to move.  It took some serious machinery to do it.  It was a team effort by some very skilled people  
     We didn't have a log truck so we were creative and used a local tow truck company with some rigs that could handle the weight.  Kudos to Greg Butler in Jefferson.  Greg loves a challenge. It was no small task.

      Once we had loaded them onto the truck we had to transport them to the facility that could mill them to usable lumber.  It took a while, but we made it safely.  Thank goodness it was a nice day. 

     And Dee Grubbs also helped out a lot with his log lifter to get the wood off the truck and place it next to the saw mill where it will be artfully cut to dimension lumber specs. 
    Here they may sit for a short while until they become something beautiful.  We have a few design ideas for this this wood.  

     In the meantime, it is not an unpleasant place where they rest.  In fact, it is spectacular and sublime in the vineyard hills ...