Marry the house to the land and the land to the house…
As I stated before, every tree we’ve had to remove from the property has been removed with reticence and tears. They’ve been removed because leaving them in place would have put life, limb, or property in peril. This was true of a Black Walnut tree we had to remove which had root damage from excavation and which, even before the excavation, was leaning right on top of both the old and new houses. We really felt that it was criminal to remove the tree, but it was something we really had to do. Fortunately, we found a way to at least partially salvage it.
Several weeks ago I was at a barbeque at some friend’s house and I got to talking with another gentleman whose daughter is on my oldest daughter’s soccer team. He got to telling me about how he and another friend had accidentally gotten into the business of building high-end custom bars, as well as other furniture, using unique woods. He also said that because of their business, they had build a small lumber mill and a drying kiln for the woods they used in their furniture. As we talked further it became apparent that the Black Walnut might stand a chance of being resurrected in our new home.
When the tree was taken down I made sure that the cutters saved two 10 foot lengths of the tree. Today this gentleman and his friend came out to see the logs I’d left. They’re going to take them and out of one of these two lengths we’ll be able to get a mantle for one or more of the fireplaces in our new house. So, while both Kathy and I were quite sad to see this tree go, we’re quite pleased that it will still find a permanent place in our home.