Viewport

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

It ain't paradise


They took all the trees and put 'em in a tree museum
And they charged all the people a dollar and a half just to see 'em

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got til it's gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

--Joni Mitchell
The wood is gone. I look back in nostalgia at the time I spent with that wood...the heated disputes with the tree service that cut the trees down, the infestation of yellow jackets, the hours spent trying to get rid of the oversize rounds of wood and finally the quality time splitting and stacking it. Yes, there were some good times.

I did manage to get someone to hall the wood away AND pay me $50. So, considering the amount of time it took me to split the wood I figure I made $1.19 an hour off the wood. Of course, I need to factor in the cost of the sledgehammer and that nifty new splitting maul with the unbreakable fiberglass handle. And then there were the three wedges (two of which are are still wedged somewhere in an unsplittable piece of wood). Plus there was the $750 I had to pay the evil tree service to cut the trees down in the first place. So net, I'm in the red $775.

But I have my health.

Though the irony about the person who did buy the wood was that they were buying it to take up to the woods to their cabin. I cut down two trees in the city and someone buys the wood to take it to a cabin in the forest. What would be even more ironic would be if we end up buying a new house that has a wood burning fireplace and I have to pay someone $200 for a cord of wood.

Wouldn't that be funny? Ha, Ha.

Good thing life cracks me up.

I kind of miss the wood, though.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ya know, I miss it too.

It's like when you are reading a series of books and the last one comes out.

Oh, you're happy that the author didn't die before he could finish and all, but there's still a sense of loss when it's all done.

This is exactly like that.

Except completely different.

Time said...

Not to worry. I'm thinking of a retrospective on the wood as we speak (or write...er..whatever). Then I may rerelease the log blogs. I've also go some plans in the works for an anniversary special. And I'm working on a screenplay and a creative brief for a FOX reality series. The working title is "Got Wood?"

Out of an acorn, you know.

Naughti Biscotti said...

I haven't quite stoppped laughing yet... but....hee hee...
you got paid $50 to give wood to some guy... I can't get past that.

Time said...

I'm quite proud of my $50. Though it was a woman and her boyfriend and a high school kid they brough along who took it. They brought two trucks but no wheelbarrow. I'm not sure how they planned to move it without a wheelbarrow. Fortunately I had one. But Tess actually oversaw the actual removal of the wood. I was at work.

Oh, and the check they wrote me for the wood was to Tim Helly, as long as we're on the topic of messing with people's names.