Hewing Away

We just got the logs from the tree we chopped down brought to us at our hewing site, so we've been able to start work on those. We've also started to make a few work horses for ourselves. Not sure when those will be done, but they're sure to be a great help. Myself, along with Tracy and Mr. Esty, went on a search for some wood to use in the woods just yesterday. Sadly we didn't find much of use, but what we do have should work quite well!

Rainy Day

We were inside today due to poor weather. We read the parts of Walden in which Thoreau describes the actual construction of the house. It was admirable to see that the house was not only inexpensive, (about 650$ in today's money) but also build out of some scavenged pieces. The building of the house put a mere dent in both Thoreau's wallet and the environment.

Thoughts Around Earth Day

I'm reading John Vaillant's book, The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness, and Greed, in which he presents much vividly detailed history of British Columbian Forestry and the socioeconomic, environmental, cultural, and moral conflicts that arise from it still.  To start chapter four, Vaillant includes this poem, by Donald A. Fraser, "adapted by Margaret Horsfield".  The notes of what we now know as a misguided manifest destiny echo through the song.  And while, on Ailsa's house, we're being mindful in our materials selection and means of acquisition, we must, as we contemplate our link with centuries of foresters, sawyers, and builders, consider our place in the great balance.  

The Song of the Axe


I am the tooth of the human race,
Biting its way through the forest vast,
Chip by chip, and tree by tree,
'Til the fields gleam forth at last,
Eating its heart with keen delight,
Into the groaning tree I bite.
Every stroke the land doth bless,
And joy o'erflows the wilderness.

MARLEY film release yesterday

As tribute to yesterday's national film premiere of Marley, we present the favorite Bob song of the International Hewers' Guild:

Dear fellow Thoreausians,

What an honor it has been to work with you these past few weeks. From lopping down 90 ft pines to raising logs to be sawed in half, from hewing timber to hauling trunks, and all the laughs along the way, we have made a great season thus far. Let us maintain our enthusiasm, our always good natured heckling, and our profound inertia throughout the rest of the year, so as to best wish off the seniors in our future forestry ventures.

This past (4-day) week, we hauled the five sections of the white pine we felled behind the pond.  We got them out of the woods and as far as the faculty parking lot, where Dave Jones and his guys will haul them down to our hewing site off the exit driveway.  Todd Mazzeo brought us some shin pads (and lent us his own pair) after we sent out a school-wide request for used pairs to use while we hew with our broadaxes.  Thanks, Todd!  We continued our hewing and also cut more cribbing to support our logs at the worksite.  I'm hoping Allegra will upload the video she shot today of our buzzing hewing site...  Allegra?  ...Hello...?...  

Our one rainy day

Last week it rained one day.  Since our tools were sharp, we repaired to room 301 and watched Alone in the Wilderness, the story of Dick Proenneke's log cabin construction in Alaska, 1968.  Proenneke's expertise with traditional tools much like those we're using inspires us, as does his relentlessly efficient work ethic and self-sufficiency.  Here's a trailer: