I wrote last week of the demise of the elms at the homestead, but farm jobs aren’t completed or dismissed easily. That was a good day of work, and by evening the trees were down, but there were still a few details to be dealt with – like about a ton of wood laying on the ground and the “final” trim-outs to be done on the standing elms.
There must be a country law of nature that guarantees that darkness and fatigue will overtake any significant task. As the sun went down on the piles of elm wood, the crew’s climber sat in the truck exhausted while the other crew members threw the last of the limbs on the trailer to take to the chipper. A good strong breeze pushed the truck and trailer down the lane, a job well done for one day.
Most of us who have lived the farm life have a real sense of gratitude for what we have, so we believe that what we have, we ought to use. Often it takes a little extra time to make good use of the by-products of a job, but that’s just the way we do it.
I called a neighbor who burns wood in his shop and offered him any portion of the elm wood he would take. “In the next few days,” he would come and take a look at it.
The next morning the tree crew called to let me know that “in the next few days” they would be back to pick up any remaining wood and finish the trimming.
I, too, gave the project “a few days” break and by mid-week my neighbor had appeared, took not a little but ALL the wood. The tree crew had finished their jobs and raked the entire yard. The seventy-five year-old trees had simply disappeared.
Country jobs take a little longer, and our community of workers needs to occasionally stop work, exchange a few stories and rest when we need to.
Today I met with the crew and selected replacement trees, which took a few hours. We told stories. We rested when we needed to and in “a few days,” we’ll plant them.
