Publisher’s note: Good morning. Earlywood is a free excerpt from one of the thousands of pieces I’ve written since 1996. This originally appeared in a blog post in 2016. Each Earlywood entry has been updated or annotated with some modern context or point of view. Enjoy!
Have you heard "The Maple's Lament"? It was written by Kathy Mattea. Laurie Lewis did a cover. I like Pete Clark's version best, on his "Fiddle Case" album.
Trees are steadfast living beings who communicate with one another through vast mycelial networks that connect their roots. They are tangible examples of the recurring cycles of birth and death that all living things experience. They have long provided raw material for the myriad forms that mankind has constructed to support and vitalize our lives. Spoons and bowls, pencils and paper, chairs and beds, floors and roofs, caskets and treehouses. We should all be eternally grateful for Earth's beautiful forests and woodlands.
I'll be sure to shout "Iä! Iä! Xylem fhtagn!" every time I cut myself while working wood. That way my spilled blood is a sacrifice to the tree gods, not me doing an oopsie.
Thanks for sharing. Lots to ponder in both small and large moments. A friend and I were talking yesterday about our 5 most influential "forest" books. (Perhaps he and I are a bit touched, too). He recommended "A Forest Journey: The Role of Trees in the Fate of Civilization" by John Perlin. It's now next in my queue. Perhaps others might find interesting too.
Wow that’s cool. I’m trying to remember where this was (either Braiding Sweetgrass, or Jenny Odell’s “Saving Time”), but I read a description of an indigenous basket-weaving instructor describing how removing bark for baskets was literally unpeeling the life of the tree one year at a time. He wouldn’t let students leave “scraps” on the ground.
We secularize and then de-humanize whatever we want to exploit; reflections like this push the pendulum the other direction.
Christ is the new high priest, priests offer sacrifice at an alter. The first alter was His father Joseph’s where He gave creation back to His Father in Heaven.
The life of trees is fascinating. They share resources at the same time that they are competing for resources. Most trees hit their prime at the age of 100 or so and then slowly die for 200-300 years. Some like that pine take thousands of years.
Coppicing: Never kill a tree ever again while also making said tree immortal-ish.
Have you heard "The Maple's Lament"? It was written by Kathy Mattea. Laurie Lewis did a cover. I like Pete Clark's version best, on his "Fiddle Case" album.
We live, we die and our remains fertilize the earth for plants. And yet we consider ourselves to be masters of the planet?
As long as we have the axes.
Trees are steadfast living beings who communicate with one another through vast mycelial networks that connect their roots. They are tangible examples of the recurring cycles of birth and death that all living things experience. They have long provided raw material for the myriad forms that mankind has constructed to support and vitalize our lives. Spoons and bowls, pencils and paper, chairs and beds, floors and roofs, caskets and treehouses. We should all be eternally grateful for Earth's beautiful forests and woodlands.
I'll be sure to shout "Iä! Iä! Xylem fhtagn!" every time I cut myself while working wood. That way my spilled blood is a sacrifice to the tree gods, not me doing an oopsie.
Okay, I definitely need some kind of artwork with that phrase to hang in the workshop.
So, have you used the huon pine yet?
Yup. Used it all on small squares.
Thanks for sharing. Lots to ponder in both small and large moments. A friend and I were talking yesterday about our 5 most influential "forest" books. (Perhaps he and I are a bit touched, too). He recommended "A Forest Journey: The Role of Trees in the Fate of Civilization" by John Perlin. It's now next in my queue. Perhaps others might find interesting too.
Wow that’s cool. I’m trying to remember where this was (either Braiding Sweetgrass, or Jenny Odell’s “Saving Time”), but I read a description of an indigenous basket-weaving instructor describing how removing bark for baskets was literally unpeeling the life of the tree one year at a time. He wouldn’t let students leave “scraps” on the ground.
We secularize and then de-humanize whatever we want to exploit; reflections like this push the pendulum the other direction.
But yes you should always insert a fart joke.
Christ is the new high priest, priests offer sacrifice at an alter. The first alter was His father Joseph’s where He gave creation back to His Father in Heaven.
The life of trees is fascinating. They share resources at the same time that they are competing for resources. Most trees hit their prime at the age of 100 or so and then slowly die for 200-300 years. Some like that pine take thousands of years.
First we deconstruct, then we construct. Woodworking is Hegelian.
Hersey has some other interesting books too.
I’ll speak for myself here, my family always knew that dad was a little “funny”.