A while back, I mentioned that I would tell you about the story of the Oak wood used for building our shoppe furniture. The wood comes from our wonderful neighbour by the name Dr. Southwick.
Dr. Southwick is/was, as he is retired, a real life country doctor. You know, the kind you see on TV. lol Wonderful man! I've spoken with nurses that worked with him and they have nothing but kind words to say about him. They told me lots of stories of how patients would bring tires or whatever as payment for services rendered. lol Oh.... as a side note, Dr. Southwick's hobby is collecting old cars, and a fine collection he has. I made him blush one time.... but I digress....!
So Dr. Southwick owns a couple of farm lands and he had this old oak tree that needed to come down. Being the kind of individual who likes to do things himself, he decided to chop it down using a chain saw. Yes sir, Dr. Southwick was on a ladder, chain saw in hand, attempting to cut this huge oak tree (you've seen some of the wood/furniture that came from it). And by the way, 2 (two) book shelf units were made by Stephen for the local library using wood from that tree. You can just imagine how huge that Oak tree was!
Of course, he admitted to me, after he told me the story, that it really was not the wisest thing he's ever done. He did injure himself as he lost his footing, chain saw in hand, but he was fortunate. As he would say, "it was not one of his best decisions!" The things we do in our youth!
Being such a huge majestic tree, he had it milled. These oak boards had been sitting in one of his barns for close to 25 years. As a matter of fact, some of the wood was used to make pins for our barn, but I'm digressing again..... Dr. Southwick gave the wood to my husband in exchange for some labour on his old cars. You see, one of his trucks has needed a wooden bed/siding (I think it dates like in 1920's).
There you have it, the story of Dr. Southwick Oak! Cheers!
3 comments:
I can´t even imagine how big that tree must have been. I have never been to a real wood, the trees in the countries I have been to are not so big.
What a charming story! I love to know that people still deal with one another this way, bartering things instead of always using money. Warms my heart and makes me think there is still hope for mankind. Thanks for sharing!
A nice story and just makes me want to come and touch your cabinets. There is something so American about how they came about. Sr. Southwick sounds like a wonderful person and for that matter, you and your husband do too.
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