Stumps

[ARKANSAWYER]

 Long ago when men of the forest felled a tree they left stumps.  The stumps would like a tombstone stand for many years as a testament to the tree that once stood there.  Squirrels would sit on them and chew their nuts as time passed by.  Hunters would rest on them while standing guard on that part of the forest searching for their quarry.  If the time was taken it would be possible to read from this stump about the type of tree that once stood there and how many years it had blessed the forest.  Of the number of fawns who rested in it's shade or birds who built their nest in it's branches we could never know.  But the scars of fires long past and dry years could be told as well as the time of plenty.  The fruit of it's blooms should still be growning around where the old weathering stump now waits out the passage of time.  Images of what it once was reflected in the leaves of it's offspring.  The marks on the top tell if it fell to the axe of a pioneer, the teeth of a beaver, crosscut saw of a lumberjack or the chainsaw of a logger.  Some stumps last longer then others but all for their season.  Stumps, the tombstone of trees.
 Lately I have noticed that trees are felled and no stumps are really left.  Sawn as close to the ground as possible to gain every coin in the tree.  No markers left to show the grandure of the forest that once was.  No place of rest for a weary hunter or place to ponder for hiker who simply passes by.  I ask in the up coming year that should you venture into the woods to fell timber that you spare a few coins and leave a stump or two to mark the graves of trees now gone.
ARKANSAWYER

[Fla._Deadheader]

 That was very well written. A tribute to Trees.

 To add something, I believe that cutting so close to the ground, is why the grade of lumber can be affected. The boards that come from the very end of the Butt, will almost certainly cup, warp, split and be very difficult to use in a project. The old logs we get, would hardly ever have any crown root showing on the butt. The old pics on our website show how high the trees were cut, above the stump.

 I have rested upon many stumps while Hunting or Fishing. I agree 100% with Arky's idea to leave the occasional stump.

[DanG]

Only a true lover of the woods could see so much beauty in a simple, gnarly old stump.

If I ever make it to Arkansas, I'd like to go on a little walk in the woods with you.

Thanks for sharing that.

[OneWithWood]

Thank-you, Arky.  You would enjoy my woods.  My state forester took the time to read some of the stumps from our last harvest with me. It is truly amazing the history contained in the stumps!  It is a wise individual who understands what is seen.

[Tom]

Those stumps do the woods a lingering service too.  They keep errant 4x4'ers off of the seeds of the new forest.  These guys see an open field and assume that nothing is there. Cutting donuts, spinning tires, pushing over saplings, they don't even care who's property they are on.  Stumps about as tall as tie rods and rear-end nuts will sure slow them down.  

[Corley5]

White pine stumps on the Kingston Plains in Da U.P.  These trees were cut in the 1880s.  The slash fire that followed set the pitch in them and preserved them quite well.  It is always nice to have a stump to rest on.  

[Ed_K]

 In my harvesting contracts, it states to cut all stumps no higher than 12". But I always find a double stem that ends up a highback chair  .
Ed

[cutterboy]

Arky, you are a true romantic, and an eloquent one at that. God bless you.

In my mind there is no better seat in the world to sit and ponder about life and women.

[Norm]

Very well written Arky, thanks for the thoughts.

[dewwood]

Arky,

A true tribute to the stump and the tree and to the person who has the insight to notice.

Thank you,

Dewey

[sprucebunny]

Thanks ARKY
I've thought about stumps, too but could never have expressed it so eloquently.

[Jeff]

Instant Knowledge base.

I entered it under the "Life" category.

http://www.forestryforum.com/tips/tips.cgi?Life

Thanks Arky

[ARKANSAWYER]

  As the days go by and the years get shorter it is important that we take a little time out of our busy lives and sit on a stump to ponder.  I am blessed in the area where I live for in just a minutes I can be out in a vast forest and by myself.  In the pretense of deer hunting I have sat a many a morning as the change from darkness to light occurs.  The creatures of the night with their soft calls and scurring about change over to the bold calls and play of the animals of day. Folding the forest around me as if it were a blanket so that I would blend in and become a part of it.  Envious of the first men either red or white who first entered this realm and saw the beauty for the first time.  Desire to search out every hollow and hill top to see what may be discovered keeps me moving searching for a new place to rest and explore.  No matter how small or grand each find is special in it's own right.  Leaving as night takes hold and the change takes place again, two different worlds occupy the same space and only the passage of time marks the differance.  The sentinels of the forest stand errect on their gray trunks reaching for the light that has left them as darkness engulfs the ground under them.  
 You must be there to experince this for as you are the carrier of your soul, and this is where your soul will find peace in the Creation caused by the hand of God.
HAPPY NEW YEAR !

[DanG]

Go on, Arkey, go on.

[sawguy21]

No better place to sit, enjoy the peace of the forest and contemplate

[isawlogs]

  Arky ....

Great reading ... please don't stop I enjoyed it much. I have also spent a lot of time on a stump , it being hunting or wile working ... after cutting un down and limbing , its nice to take a breather and siting on the stump and just look at whats around you ...
 Its just great, I love the work knowing that the tree I cut down and skidded out and sawed on my mill , I'lll be using to make something with .
 My shop/garage is something that came of this , so has a few peices of furniture in my house , Not thta I want to quote anybody but * from forest to final form * does come to mind. That really is a comforting feeling when you are able to do it.
       And it is something that I really like to do .....
 

[Gilman]

Thanks Arky,
I visited and stayed with my cousin while growing up quite a few times near Raineer Oregon.  His dad, my uncle, is now dieing with terminal cancer and made it to his last Christmas with us yesterday. I had a hard time being with him at Christmas having never realy talked with him, just never had that something to talk about.  Your appreciation of stumps brought me back to the greatest stumps I've ever seen, those stumps above his house.  Most were from wind blown trees that uprooted from growing too grand in too loose a loam.  They fell and created these great caverns that we hid in and climed out of as kids, while always having that smell of decaying wood.  You brought back a memory that would have been lost forever for me, now I have something to talk to him about on my next visit.

I truely thank you Arky,

David

[redpowerd]

this post has popped into my head all day

and ive noticed before how trees have such great fists that claw like nothing we can dream of, into the depths, but we can get a crew of college boys in underneath that oak....

thanks arky
now i gotta go get a pic

[Minnesota_boy]

 Arky ....

Great reading ... please don't stop I enjoyed it much. I have also spent a lot of time on a stump , it being hunting or wile working ... after cutting un down and limbing , its nice to take a breather and siting on the stump and just look at whats around you ...
.....
 

Watch carefully which stump you sit on while felling.  If it's a white pine, you may be stuck there for a while.  You might have to wiggle out of your pants just to get away from it.  The white pine like to bleed pitch from the stump and the end of the log.

[Silverback]

That was some dang good writing.  I printed out the second one.

[isawlogs]

The white pine like to bleed pitch from the stump and the end of the log.

 Yes and when you get enough on your pants they will last forever ....

[DanG]

All this talk of stumps brings back a memory of a little tongue-twister poem my Grandma used to recite for us when we were little.

A skunk sat on a stump.
The skunk thunk the stump stunk,
and the stump thunk the skunk stunk.


Try that one real fast 3 times.

[Paschale]

Great thoughts and writing, Arky--thanks for sharing.  To my wayh of thinking, you express the feelings of a true environmentalist:  one who loves nature and creation with a zeal and passion that understands that for nature to succeed, there must be a cycle of death and rebirth.  The legacy of those stumps built our nation--thanks for giving us something to ponder as we walk through the woods.  

[Weekend_Sawyer]

Ah there you go DanG, we went from heavy thinking to easy reading. left tun Clyde!

[ARKANSAWYER]

 Dan G that is some fine poetry for sure.  How something looks depends on where you are a standing to see it.  (or smell it)
ARKANSAWYER

[Bruce_A]

I like my stumps cut low, I would rather leave a few trees rather than high stumps.

[Tom]

Good and deep thoughts, David.

[Kirk_Allen]

David you need to put these in a journal and include any other writings and have them published.  

Title -  "The Forest, What Do You See?"

Thanks for sharing.

Kirk