# Sometimes you're the dog ...



## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

... sometimes you're the hydrant.

So friday afternoon I leave the shop and head for home, stop by my favorite watering hole for a cold one on the way. Bill the plumber is there, we get to chatting about weekend plans. He's not too enthused, he promised his sister-in-law or brother or some such relative to help with some landscaping work on their new house over the weekend. I offer my sympathy, finish my beer and head home.

This afternoon I'm out doing some stuff, stop by again for another brew. Bill the plumber comes dragging in, dirty, disheveled, obviously worn out. He had a tough weekend, thanks to the landscaping work. Basically they yanked out 4 trees, cut them up, chucked them in a dumpster and had them hauled to the dump.

So what does this have to do with anything food related? Most of you won't care a bit, but there might be a pitmaster or two reading this. The trees that were hauled to the dump were 2 cherry, 1 apple and a pear.

I almost cried on the spot, but contained myself. From the sounds of it, had I known this friday I could have ended up with a few seasons worth of smoking wood for basically nothing. Drat.

mjb.


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Pitmaster?

No, no, no, noooooo. Call up any turning club and they'll chop down the tree for you and haul it off and smile at you.

What's a turning club? A bunch of geezers addicted to wood lathes, turning wood--especially green/wet fruit woods into bowls, platters etc.


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## amazingrace (Jul 28, 2006)

I don't know about the apple or pear, but if the cherry tree was of any measurable size, it could have been worth a lot of money milled out. 

This reminds me of the black walnut tree that was in my grandmother's yard when I grew up. It grew to be about 2 feet in diameter. Year after year it yielded baskets of those hard to shell, but oh so delicious black walnuts. Well, Grammy died, and the property was sold to my cousin & his wife. First thing they did was haul all the antiques in the house to the dump. That was bad enough. But then they cut down the walnut tree (she said it was "too messy"), and chopped all the wood up for fuel. When my brother told him they could have paid off their mortgage (about $5,000) if they'd had it milled, our cousin didn't believe it... until he was talking to the owner of the local sawmill.


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

Speaking of wood...

My husband now fancies himself a carpenter. Sure he's great with his hands. By day he's an artist (no he doesn't wear a funny hat), making large oil canvases, by weekend he's a plumber (I can't figure out why he loves it so much) and now he thinks he's a carpenter. Love him to death I do so I just kissed him on the forehead and said "sure honey, whatever makes you happy" when he said he was going to make an entertainment center like cabinet for us. He's using poplar and been working on this for nearly a year (5 months alone was planning stage). So far he has created one cabinet out of the 4 that make up the system. Oh dear. I can't believe how beautiful it looks though just wish it won't take 4 yrs haha.


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## amazingrace (Jul 28, 2006)

Most of our joy is not in the destination, but in the journey. 

He's loving making this cabinet, and it keeps him out of the kitchen, so you can do your own magic in there. Hopefully, when the project is finished you will still have a TV that fits.


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## shel (Dec 20, 2006)

Oh, man, what a waste of good wood. What a shame ...


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## free rider (May 23, 2006)

Now that one reminds me of a Dire Straits song... Sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug. Must be 1980's memory night.


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## maryb (Mar 21, 2008)

Sounds like here. Someone took out 3 100+ year old oaks. They dragged them to the burn site and tossed them on the fire. I dang near cried because I pay a premium for oak firewood here on the prairie. I saw the ends of a few branches when I was dumping off some boxelder tree trimmings.


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

Reminds me of a bit on a radio station here:

"Let's keep the van a-rockin' so no one comes a-knockin"


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

Well that worked out nicely! Back at my favorite watering hole this weekend, and Bill the Plumber was there. Turns out he had some more work to do clearing the property, and not ALL the wood was chucked into the dumpster as I thought.

The back of my truck currently houses this huge 100 pound or so slice of apple tree trunk, and a smaller but still nicely sized piece of cherry. So I should be set for next summer, except for those times when I want to use hickory or mesquite, of course.

mjb.


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