Friday, November 26, 2010
RED OAK
The oak tree on the lakes edge was 90 years old! It had survived the axe of man as the North Woods disappeared when this acorn took root in 1902. The inner core showed fire scars. It could not however survive years of drought and Gypsy Moth caterpillars. What tales this sturdy sentinel could tell; loons calling through calm foggy nights; deer drinking from the lake; birds singing from it's limbs; beavers gnawing at its brethren.
The chain saw brings its dead decaying body down and shears off its limbs and cuts its trunk into 16" lengths. An axe chops each of the sections into 8 burnable logs. The carcass is then loaded into a wheelbarrow and stacked in a pile with other fallen comrades. It is sad to see such a proud and mighty living giant dismembered and carted off like that. But it lives on in my campfire; providing light and heat and inspiration. Its' smoke dances upward to mingle with the green growing canopy of the living forest. Its' ashes provide minerals and life to an acorn lying on the forest floor. I sleep, I dream, it lives.
Lake Smokey Hollow, Outing, Minnesota
The chain saw brings its dead decaying body down and shears off its limbs and cuts its trunk into 16" lengths. An axe chops each of the sections into 8 burnable logs. The carcass is then loaded into a wheelbarrow and stacked in a pile with other fallen comrades. It is sad to see such a proud and mighty living giant dismembered and carted off like that. But it lives on in my campfire; providing light and heat and inspiration. Its' smoke dances upward to mingle with the green growing canopy of the living forest. Its' ashes provide minerals and life to an acorn lying on the forest floor. I sleep, I dream, it lives.
Lake Smokey Hollow, Outing, Minnesota
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)