Nice Mulberry score Midwinter! looks solid and straight, but you even took more catalpa which is good you don't discriminate haha I'm writing this during my remote online classroom lunch break. I know its late haha. This is crazy and will surely change the way this country operates going forward even long after the virus. Who knows, we may have a virus culture going forward where every flu or even a sneeze becomes a major issue. That said while everyone is hoarding toilet paper no one is looking at the wood. There was finally a good craigslist ad for solid maple rounds two towns away and my wife discouraged me from getting it because my nephew who lives close by just had a new born child a few days ago and she wants them to feel we are totally germ free in case we need to help out. Who would have thought I would have to pass on a great and relatively easy score?? Granted my wife tends to over react, but given that there is something very suspicious about this whole virus thing and its enough for me to listen to her this time. Plus it isnt worth being couped up in the house listening to her yelling at me for being careless. But yeah, for the rest of you getting wood, pretty safe so hoard on people!!! Im on the sidelines for now watching. I have plenty of stock
If I lived where you do, I'd be cautious too. But it will get progressively riskier here too, NH just reported that community transmission is happening. I hope you have plenty to split in your own yard!
I saw him about a month ago, but I'm sure he's out there! Did you ever get a call from the wheeler dealer?
Actually not plenty, but a few good days worth of processing work. Then as you might remember my yard is a mess from wood score byproduct and multiple procrastination sessions haha! I really have plenty to do if there is an extended stay in place order in effect. This includes repairing old yard and garden structures from years of decay and damage from this winters harsh winds.
Just thought I would post something here in case you guys thought I was doin' nutt'n but growing a gut while cooped up all day with my pantry. Not gonna lie, I am doing that as well but I'll leave that part out of the pictures. Below we have some long dead Ailanthus wood, Aka.. "Tree of Heaven", "Poor mans Ash" , "weed wood", "trash wood", "stink wood", "A tree grows in Brooklyn wood" . I've heard it all with this tree, which arguably is not technically even a tree. However this is a typical downed tree score a city person like me comes across often. I actually think it burns well enough not to pass up unless severely degraded. This particular ailanthus I found roadside as an 8ft log section left by the city after they did some storm damage clearing. It is solid and beautiful,... But as they say "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder". This next group of photos I call "thinning the heard". First pic is of a few mixed wood rounds left against my boat and trailer await splitting. Second one, a shot of whats left in the yard as I finally get down to the last of this seasons random scores. Next some stacking and yard cleanup, then hopefully soon I will be back out on the prowl!..not to sound creepy or anything
I like ailanthus! It has taken two years to get dry enough, up here in NH. YMMV. Do you think scrounging will be allowed during lockdown? Or are you waiting for that to lift?
Well I think if I find a good quiet spot no one will bother me and I would have no problem going about my standard scrounging behaviors. That said, no one may bother me anyway, but let me try and communicate the atmospheric effect this has had to my surrounds. As the country continues to tighten the recommendations and regulations, Populated areas like mine are beginning to look a little like "The Twilight Zone". It's become eerily quiet and this is very out of the norm. If you've ever stepped outside in the summer during an extreme heat wave and notice how quiet it feels with people staying indoors, no lawn mowers humming, and even the birds and animals conserve their energies and refrain from squawking and chirping etc... It kinda feels like that. So it just seems that since the usual hustle and bustle around here has gotten so quiet, any unusual activity might seem alarming . It may not feel all that dramatic in less dense zones, but here especially with many staying home I'm sure new eyes are everywhere when before they may have been at work in an office or stuck in traffic. Take me for instance, I would normally be at school teaching and commuting to and from while cursing the traffic. Now I'm home teaching students also stuck at home while we all figure out how this on-line remote learning even works! Believe me it's a learning curve especially for me who for years shunned programs like Google classroom and virtual classrooms. Just more "big brother" in my business is how I always viewed it. Well I knew that one day there would come a time I would be forced to get on the platform and here it is...only who would've guessed this? Sorry for my tendencies to ramble. In short let me just say I will wait this out for a while till things get back to normal. Then I will be hitting my usual wood hot spots with a vengeance. Hopefully a promising medical breakthrough appears soon and life as we know it returns, though I think this virus has already made a significant impact socially and economically that I feel not everything will return to status quo.
Things are quieter in my town, but more like a Sunday morning, rather than the Twilight Zone. I'm not going out much, so I don't know what stores are open, but there are still cars buzzing around. I'm still checking the dump for wood. Got to have something to split, not much else to do! I was wondering if you would be attracting police attention if you were scrounging. If they are out cruising around, with not much else to look at, except that weird guy with a chainsaw and a shopping cart! Good luck with the distance learning. Hope it's not too aggravating. Stay safe!
We'll be under "stay at home advisory" starting tomorrow. Restaurants can stay open for take out/deliveries. Liquor stores can stay open!
Yes, I have been staying in much more as well, but when out I do notice proportionally more police mixed in the reduced civilian traffic now. They are definitely cruising like they are looking for something too , so yeah, dont want to look at all suspicious.
So I finally got out of my chair/teachers desk today to brave the outdoors and visit a site I had my eye on for a few years. I always put it off because it involves parking near an industrial office site and hiking a ways down freight rail tracks. I kept that site in back of my mind for what I call "special circumstances if times got hard" and since I really don't want to look suspicious and be near anyone, this was probably the perfect time to hit this desolate spot in the middle of my urban town. I knew it would take a lot of energy and be a beast of an obstacle course to move wood to my car from where I had to cut and I was right. As I said this site is a freight rail track where rotting piles of aging trunks and branches were cleared from tracks over the years and resting on the side. It involved a short hike across a loading dock driveway then down the down the tracks about 300 yards totaling 400 yards. I told you the spot was secluded haha...Did I mention I'm out of shape from usual winter atrophy and now for 3 weeks being in a stay in place lifestyle? Here's some pictures of the scene: Scary!! There was a lot of smaller stuff I could get in various stages of decrepitude, but black locust though heavy was what I hit this trip because I can always get the easier stuff another time. I happened to have kept on my saw an old chain blade with some missing teeth because I didnt want to risk a good blade on suspicious industrial local wood. Also long grounded petrified Black locust is hell on my blades and so I didn't need to worry too much with this already battle scarred chain. Now to get them back to the car. I figured all the transport to the car was going to take a while and I decided 4 big logs was enough for now. Each log was 36" long and 13 to 14" diameter, also solid as a rock and surprisingly not very dry. I estimate about 120 lbs-plus a piece. The first one I picked up and carried 300 yards down the tracks and to the loading dock. Man that was a haul!! Carrying a log that distance on a crumbled granite rock mound I bet I looked like I was competing in a strong man competition for aging wimps It was tough on my lungs, so I decided to try my bag lady shopping cart. But its a rock pile surface on an incline mound so that was not working too well. I wish I had one of those hand pumping rail sleds carts, the kind you always saw in cartoons like "Scooby Doo". Next I tried using the cart on the tracks banging the wheels it on the ties over and over again. Oopsie's! I should've saw that coming, but I was walking looking forward with both my hands behind my back pulling the slamming cart. After 20 speed bump slams I decided to take a look. So I had no choice but to roll the remaining logs in combo with carrying them when obstacles were encountered. It was some cardio workout repeating this 4 times. Finally I got them all there to the loading dock I looked like a sweaty mess and smelled like hard work. I was glad I stopped at 4 logs! Into the car they go! Probably the most energy I ever spent for a decent score of primo wood, but nothing too earth shattering....still, I needed the exercise Anyway, I hope y'all enjoyed my documentation. I think when it's all bucked up further and split it should wind up to be close to a full cord and if being honest is expected on this forum then I would say maybe between a 3rd to half a face cord ....OF BLACK LOCUST!!!!! There are just a few more pictures below
