Day 186

As part of my chainsaw training, I was given an assignment. Rather than hack away at some of the trees in the ash stand, I was requested to practice with simple cuts using some logs already placed in our backyard. I practiced making a few cookies. Then, using these cookies and some of the million or so random rocks  around the farm, I outlined an area I already woodchipped. However, I was starting to feel a little stressed as I knew I had plenty of wood to clear in the big backyard and our mowing was scheduled any day now.

I reached out to our restoration partner and he mentioned he would be there to mow in a few days. This gave me a timeline and a goal. But I  needed help.

I reached out to another sawyer friend and asked if he would be willing to come help me buck up and move some of the fallen trees. As luck would have it, he was available and set up a time the following day.

When he arrived, I explained my situation and we went right to work. For this adventure, he would cut up trees and I would move them out of the way. I wasn't quite ready to start chainsawing on my own yet. 

Although it was only 8:30 in the morning when we got to work, it happened to be a humid morning. It also happened to be a day where the smoke from the Canadian wildfires had made its way to Wisconsin, lowering the air quality and prompting officials to ask people to minimize unnecessary outdoor activity. The odds were not in our favor to be as productive as we needed to be.

We did what we could do before running out of gas (literally and figuratively). We definitely had more to do but the air quality and schedule just wouldn’t allow further progress. Instead, we did what we could to clear as much of the land as possible to prepare it for mowing. We created a wood pile in the middle of what used to be a full ash stand. It was the best we could do for now.