Hello Husqvarna

Yesterday, we earned a new "rural skills" badge ... we used chain saws! Sometimes I feel like such a city girl when I write about these new things we are getting to experience while living "in the country". Folks, if you have never used a chainsaw, it's pretty damn fun, and only a tiny bit scary.

My Rotary friend, Howard, had a dead tree that needed to come down. He invited us up to help, with the promise of some firewood. So getting tree down involved many yards of rope, one diesel Dodge pick up and two chain saws. It started with Howard pitching a rope up into the tree and tying it around. Bob and Howard then cut through most of the tree and made a notch. The rope was then tied to the truck hitch. I was in the truck driving slowly forward while Bob did the final cut on the tree.

The tree came down, but lodged in another tree.

It took a few more rope maneuvers and truck tricks, but it finally fell all the way down. I think I even let out a little hoop and holler when it was finally all the way down. Afterwards we sawed off all the side branches and then cut into large sections. These would later be split for fire wood.

 

So, now Bob has chainsaw envy and I think he wants one of his own. For me, it felt good to do some physical labor and have something to show for my work. Often times my work is phone calls and writing and I don't often have something tangible for weeks. After just a few hours, we nearly had firewood! What a nice feeling.