He's a Lumberjack and He's Okay...

Well, there was some quality father-son time today out in the bush part of our farm. Our oldest and I went out to cut down a few trees to clear a path so we can walk (or drive) into the bush more than fifteen feet. It was hard work, but it was fun. It's good to spend time together like that, especially since he and I have so little in common to begin with.

The windstorms around here are truly nuts. We haven't had one for a couple of weeks, but they do some serious damage when they show up. One of the trees we chopped into pieces was already torn in half from the wind. The wood was rotted in the middle, sure, but still. This wasn't a skinny tree, it was about eighteen inches in diameter. And the wind tore the entire top right off. I'm just glad our house is still standing.

We ended up taking our four trees today, including the broken one. It was a good day's work, and we had enough space that we could go looking for the maple trees we were told grow in our bush. Sure enough, we found some. This is very exciting news, since it means we're going to have the chance to do something really cool: tap the trees and make our own, homemade maple syrup. I can't wait.

While we were wandering in the bush, we discovered something truly impressive: An entire tree torn out of the ground, roots and all. It was a birch tree, and judging from the fungus that was growing all over the trunk, it probably came down some time in the summer of 2019. But I have to say, that was quite the sight to see. There was a flat disk about ten feet in diameter at the base of the trunk, the birch tree's roots. I really should have taken a picture; it's hard to imagine it without seeing it. This disk was only a foot or so thick, but it held the entire birch tree's trunk five feet in the air.

We also got a good lesson in how nature takes care of dead things like trees. We stepped on some very old, moss-covered logs...and went right through them. They were so soft from rotting that it was like stepping on dirt. That was some seriously old wood.

We are going to plant some trees to replace the ones we took down; these ones were already dead or close enough to it. There's a lot of that in our bush, so we're going to slowly start pruning out the dead wood and planting some new stuff in there. Too bad we don't have a fireplace in the house; we could heat it for twenty or more years from just a fraction of the bush back there.

We're still waiting for winter to hit, though; we had a bit of snow the other night, but nothing that lasted. It's actually been decently warm (for a Maritime November) so far, with only a couple of days where the temperature dipped below zero. I'm sure we'll get a good dose of it soon, but for now, we're just chilling. So to speak.