After the tornado in October, Game & Parks went through and piled up all of the damaged trees. Sadly most of them were deciduous trees and some of them were very old.  This pile is just one of many and it is probably 7 or 8 car lengths long. Some huge Cottonwoods, Sycamore and Ash. We had checked the G & P website to see if they were letting people cut, but we didn’t see anything.  On the way to Heather’s shower Sandy and I were talking about it so she emailed them to ask if we could cut some of this wood. They said yes, just be careful because some of the logs could roll.  Wow, this was great.  We don’t have a lot of wood left to cut and we definitely don’t have the hard wood like the Ash and Sycamore. Just couldn’t say no to free wood.  The price of chainsaw gas is a lot cheaper than propane, that’s for sure!!

I couldn’t lift these big pieces but I could roll them closer to the truck so that Ken didn’t have to carry them so far.

If you look close, Ken is in there somewhere.  He had to climb up on top and then work his way down through the pile, cutting as he went.

 

Since these trees are older, some of them have beautiful grain markings.  A slice of this would make a stunning table top.

 I didn’t feel too bad about not being able to lift these big pieces, since Ken sent me home for the splitting maul.  He had to split some pieces off so he could lift them up into the back of the truck.  There were a few that were still too big so we went home for the flatbed trailer and ramps.  We had to roll them up, but we got them home.

I’m always amazed at the big logs that Ken can pick up and put in the truck, and he’s pretty good at splitting wood. Not too bad for a 60 year old man. In fact, I would put him up against most of the young guys I work with.

 

Aaron, this video is for you . . . thought you would appreciate the sound of your Dad splitting wood.

Here’s the pile we have accumulated at home.  Lots of splitting to do yet, but it should keep us warm for many days.  Lucky for us, I ordered propane just before the price skyrocketed to $5.00 a gallon.   I thought paying $1.91 was a lot at the time and that was twice what we paid last year.  I can’t image paying $5.00 a gallon.