Economic Reality

Once in my life on the "other" coast, I used to occasionally climb big mountains. Quite a few of the people I used to climb with had this need to get to the top. Many times this need overwhelmed their rational brain and perhaps that's why I was asked to join the climbing party. Getting to the top was nice and all but I really enjoyed just being out there, enjoying nature and the kindred spirits of the other people in the climbing party. I mean, you get to the top and what happens? You look around for a few moments, give a few high fives and then turn around and go back down. I guess that I'm the type of guy that enjoys the journey much more than the destination.

The economic downturn had it's effects in our family just as it did many others. The funds that we saved to build went instead to supporting our family. I returned to the classroom this fall to teach Chemistry. It was time. My wife and I were very lucky to have been able to spend lots of quality time with our two kids before they started school.

I have weathered a few of these life-changing, course-changing experiences. They are not without their angst. But, they teach us if we are willing to listen. And, if you care most about the journey, then the experiences aren't so devastating. Life is full of different roads, each one with something special to teach us about ourselves.

So, my "Thoughts from the Woods" may be more infrequent. Being a good teacher is time consuming. We have had about half of our acreage "cleaned-up" by our neighbor and his tractor. He has done an excellent job of not only harvesting wood that needed to go but in grooming the forest-land as he went. I don't agree with all that he has done but, by and large, the harvested areas look great.

This summer and fall, I have focused my efforts on cleaning up specific areas of debris left after tree removal. These areas surround the "core" of the property and these areas we will ultimately use when we do build. Branches were cut off of limbs with a machete, piled in rows and mowed with my field mower. Limbs were stacked in piles and are slowly being chipped as I get to them. Wood that is too big for my chipper is moved to low areas and packed into "you rot!" piles. The idea here is to get this wood all together so that the wood decaying organisms can have a field day. Wood chips then brush is piled on top to keep the area from drying out in the summer.

What is left in the core area, now that all the pine and fir have been removed, is a hardwood (mostly maple) forest. My next goal is to thin this to all but the larger trees and to sell the gleanings as firewood. In a few years, once the ground litter (the shredded brush and chips) has decayed, I'll plant clover and grass.

One of my other goals is to slowly create a forest garden. The concept is simple. You add food producing trees & plants to the understory of your forest. I add a few trees each year. In the last three years, I have added 6 hearty nut trees, 3 apple trees, rasperries and concord grapes. There's no telling how well they will survive in the long run; that's part of the experiment. Some of what I plant is free. The rasperries were grabbed from the outskirts of someones raspberry patch as raspberry roots will "run". The grapes came as rooted pieces from an old grape arbor that had fallen and the shoots had rooted themselves. This year I will add a few pear trees and perhaps some blueberries.

Though I can't get into our woods as often as I did (or as I would like), I've adapted to this course correction. I'm glad to be back teaching high school. I'd forgotten how much fun it is (and how much work is involved). After grading a few quizzes this morning, I'll be puttin' on my snowshoes and heading in to our woods to begin pruning wild apple trees.