Sticking Lumber

I’ve been advised repeatedly to stay active and continue learning during retirement.  No problems there; I’ve always had a curious mind.   On Tuesday morning Peter gave me my first lesson in sticking lumber.   He and I traveled down the mountain in his large pick-up to an adjoining town to gather planks of lumber cut from trees on his forestland.  In the sweltering heat, he and I loaded the planks on the cab of his truck and traveled about an hour and half across miles of highway and winding roads that snaked along two rushing creeks to a mill in Greenville, Tennessee where the planks will be dried and milled.   We unloaded the truck and began sticking the planks.   Being a neophyte lumberjack, I quickly learned that sticking involved piling the lumber in stacks by laying six to eight boards over several sticks spread about two feet apart.   The layered sticks allow the boards to dry over two to three months.   The enterprising Peter will use this lumber to build an additional room to his mountain home.    I marvel at his prodigious talents as builder and naturalist.  It was a pleasure to have worked work with my hands.  Unlike my tasks in university administration, I could take immediate satisfaction in my work.

Once our task was completed, it was time for lunch.  We stumbled upon a country general store, filled the tank with gas and had the most delicious barbecue pork sandwich imaginable.    Later in the afternoon, Peter and Miriam’s youngest daughter, her husband and three children from Morocco arrived for the summer.  I had met the mother and father several years ago in South Bend, Melanie for the first time.  Melanie and I enjoyed speaking French with the two older children, a boy and girl, age 7 and 4 respectively.  The youngest, a girl, is only four months old.   We regret we had only that evening and part of the next morning in their company.   I suppose we’ll have to go to Ifrane, where they live, to extend our visit with them.  That evening over a delicious meal of chicken and dumplings, our animated conversations covered wide-ranging topics, including news about life in Morocco.   Melanie and I were last there in the spring of 1996, to visit friends from Humboldt State University, a professor and his family on a yearlong Fulbright.   We loved the culture there, and often speak of returning.   Now we have a good reason to do so.