posted
Fall was upon us before we knew it that year as the Tamaracks turned yellow early and began shedding their nettles. It was time to think about firewood for the winter. Long ago, before Miss Rosemary blinked her eyes for the first time, Lyn and I cut and split our own Larch, or Tamarack as it's also known in these parts. We'd take the truck into the woods very close to home, drop a huge standing dead tree, cut it into 2' lengths with the old Homelite chainsaw and Lyn would begin tipping them face up. Swinging a 6 pound split mall...... POW!! One hit on the edge would split that beautiful Larch right in two. Another few hits on the halves, then the quarters and Lyn would begin to load the truck. That's the beauty of standing, dead Larch. Its incredibley straight grained, splits like a dream and burns hot and slow. A 3' diameter round can be split by a youngster as long as she/he can swing the mall. There was something about the two of us being alone in the woods cutting and loading our own wood for the winter. If we stopped our own motion it was dead quiet for a few moments, and the silence was so thick you could cut it with a knife, until................. until the angry, scolding chatter of a squirrel assaulted the senses. Those were indeed, the days. But things and times change. Age catches up wtih you and there comes a time when you have to get younger more flexible bodies to bring in your firewood. I had a young man that was willing to help me, but one day............. early one day, there was a knock at the back door and there, to my utter amazement, stood Everett Maxwell, his brother and both cousins. They informed me that they were cutting firewood and could bring in the rounds for about $45 a cord if I had someone who would split it, and I did. The following afternoon they showed up with a dumptruck full of Larch! I was astounded at the speed with which they'd found and cut that Larch. Everett hit the hydraulics and the bed tipped up, but as the first round hit the ground with an audible "thud" I suspected what came to be fact. These boys had cut a live, green tree! I held up my hand to stop Everett from dumping all of the wood and he did stop, asking why. I stood a round up on end, took my split mall and hit the center of the log with a squelching sound spraying liquid out both sides of the head. He looked at me with a blank stare and I said, "Everett! These rounds are green! They won't burn!" He replied, "Can't you mix them with dry wood?" "No, Everett! You can't! To keep it going you'd have to get that fire so hot you'd burn out your chimney not to mention the incredible buildup of creosote in your chimney! Load it up. We don't have a deal here." They were angry, but they loaded what had already been dumped back into the truck and sped off.
*Enter Keith Engebretzen.*
Keith Engebretzen is the head of LHC Concrete these days. A very large contractor, but back in the early days he was the Forest Service Manager in charge of the McGregor Lake, Pleasant Valley and Lost Prairie area. Keith pulled into our place not 5 minutes after the departure of the Maxwell bunch. and asked if I had seen a white dump truck in the past hour or so, and of course I had. Keith was actively hunting those boys, and this is why.
Three hours earlier he had been driving down from Caulx Mountain on the logging road. He said he was looking at the narrow road between the trees ahead but his mind on something else when............... WHAM!!! A 60 foot Larch came crashing down right across the road not 30 feet in front of him! He said his heart was right up in his throat as he jumped out and yelled! He saw a few people running through the trees off to the side and a white dumptruck quickly disappear. Forest Service personnel always carry shovels, buckets and a chainsaw with them in the woods, and it took him some time to cut through the Larch and move it in small pieces off the road enough to get his truck through. Keith was mad. I mean clean through mad. Cutting standing dry Larch requires a Forest Service permit, and cutting a live tree is a quick $2,000.00 fine. Now it wasn't easy for me to relate my story of the morning to Keith, but I was obliged to do it. No sooner was the last word out of my mouth than Keith spun on his heel and was gone down the road toward the Maxwell place. He called me later and apologized for his sudden departure and told me the the Maxwell boys would be before a federal judge the following week. Within 45 days the Maxwells departed Lost Prairie for parts unknown. I'll take this moment to thank those boys for some of the truly fun memories I'll treasure for as long as I can talk to my Grandchildren.
P
-------------------- Pierre St.Marie Stmariegraphics Kalispell,Mt www.stmariegraphics.com ------------------ Plan on knowing everything before I die and time's running out! Posts: 4223 | From: Kalispell,Mt 59903 | Registered: Mar 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
I can't wait for Lost Prairie Chronicles #8!!!!
Great story Pierre! Thank you for sharing.
The just been reading side of the Moon
-------------------- The Moon aka: Stefenie Harris Moonlight Designs Pollock Pines, CA learnin' somethin' new every day! stefenie@comcast.net Posts: 550 | From: Pollock Pines, CA, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
| IP: Logged |
Not only are your stories entertaining & very well written... but this one unlocked many memories of my own, & I thank you for that as well.
I've never kept horses, or worked around a corral as in Chronicle #6 ...but I did move to Oregon from Chicago & spent 5 years learning to homestead in the wooded foothills of the Cascades.
I was young enough to listen & learn from my elders rather then charge ahead & make a Maxwell style fool of myself... but there was a lot to learn & there were a few fools around that brought humor to some of the lessons I learned from my surroundings.
I can't wait for Lost Prairie Chronicles #8 either!
posted
Growing up on a "working" ranch meant most if not more than Pierre alludes to in his well written, entrancing story, telling of his life experiences in a place of great beauty and it's the sideline stories that always are harbored by souls native to the area, reminds me of plenty of "those" times when growing up that are still thought of today and some w/a grin... If not to brazen, sometime in future, I'd like to take your lead and tell a few of my favorite growing up stories that involved ranch life...as yours were told from a parental veiw, mine would be that of the child, way more liberal and reckless, heheheh...and childish...
-------------------- Frank Magoo, Magoo's-Las Vegas; fmagoo@netzero.com "the only easy day was yesterday" Posts: 2365 | From: Las Vegas, Nv. | Registered: Jun 2003
| IP: Logged |
You write so well that I could hear the silence you described. It's awesome that you and Lyn have such wonderful memories. I'm not liking the Maxwell boys a lot at this time, though. LOL
Are the other Lost Prairie logs still available? I'd love to read them.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Cool]](cool.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic