Original oil painting by: Grandfather’s wife
Grandfather says trees are very important to him.
Not the kind that’s planted to exploit for money; orchards, for example.
The ordinary, volunteering kind.
First –and maybe foremost — he says they are beautiful in his mind’s eye.
Some are truly majestic:
Redwood trees dwarf Grandfather’s Airstream trailer.
Other times, trees take a roundabout way into Grandfather’s life: For example, from the woods into sawtimber a hundred years or so ago, then into a barn which outlived its usefulness and got pulled down …
… and then its oak timbers used to make woodwork for Grandfather’s house.
Stair treads, two inches thick.
Pine boards that had been sheathing on the interior walls of a log house found their way into Grandfather’s house as flat paneling.
Black walnut trees are abundant here, and Grandfather left two of them standing to the south of his partially-passive solar-heated house when he built it. Walnuts leaf out late in the spring and then drop their leaves early in the fall, so Grandfather used them to shade his south-facing windows in the summer and allow sunlight through during the colder months.
Walnut trees lying dead in the forest for many years and thus well seasoned, became paneling. The tree was crosscut into short logs which were slabbed on a bandsaw:
The rough boards were planed, trimmed, glued together lengthwise to form panels and the edges beveled. They were then sanded and finished with tung oil:
Grandfather recommends looking for ways to enjoy and use nature instead of artifice.
***
About the Author: RD Blakeslee is an octogenarian from West Virginia who built his net worth by only investing in that which can be enjoyed during acquisition and throughout life, as opposed to papers in a drawer, like stocks and bonds. You can read more about him here.
Photos: Courtesy of the Blakeslee Family
Grandfather has no hope that very many young people will even suspect that there may be a more liberated way to live.
https://wolfstreet.com/2018/09/17/where-millennials-live-zip-code-and-are-the-majority/
https://www.popularmechanics.com/home/how-to/g172/shipping-container-homes-460309/
Grandfather believes that the third quarter of the twentieth century was probably the high point in U.S. history.
Agreed. And what happened near the very end of the 20th century’s third quarter (in 1971) that changed America’s trajectory?
You are probably right, however, Being a 29 year old man who chose to live in a rural area, I can say that the people around my age that chose to stay or to move here are a lot more like yourself than you might think. Of course, there are bad apples in every bunch, but the vast majority of people that I know in the 20-30 age range in my neighborhood of central Maine are hard working, self reliant, fiscally responsible people. The vast majority of us live here because we love the outdoor recreation opportunities that the area affords us. The vast majority of us are homeowners who either built our own houses (with help from our friends) or remodeled run down affordable houses. The vast majority of us share the same “can do” attitude that you have. People like you, Grandfather, like you, Len, and like myself and the people my age around me are certainly the minority, but there are younger people out there that share your values. Can I blame the bulk of my classmates for moving to the cities? No. There is a lot more opportunity in the city than there is around here. But I would choose the life that I live every time instead.
It’s encouraging to hear that, Jason.
As you say, there is more opportunity in the city.
That’s true, in the conventional lifestyle of these days. I personally regret that you and I and others of like persuasion cannot reach them to open their minds to a more libertarian way to live.
But virtue is its own reward. We have no need to enforce our way of life on anybody – ours is not an “agree with me or else” mindset.
(Maybe we should for a Mutual Admiration Society *chuckle*)
Nixon closed the gold window.
Thank you for sharing.
You are welcome.
My home is located on property that my grandfather bought nearly a hundred years ago. Part of his and my father’s legacy is that respect and appreciation of the “woods” is essential to any who would hope to live relatively self-sustained lives. It seems apparent to me that anyone who appreciates and preserves trees understands the need to provide for future generations. I really identify with your basic philosophy R D. Thanks for sharing the things you value with Len’s readership.
That’s encouraging Steve!
My oldest son lives much as I do on his own place nearby and the other four children come here often for recreation, in the fundamental meaning of that word. So, Yes, the need to provide for future generations is understood, in a personal and direct way, just as your grandfather and father provided for you.
Here’s another of my experiences related to trees:
When I moved the family from Arlington to Warrenton, VA at the time of the Cuban missile crisis, I bought our house there from an elderly gentleman who owned a haberdashery in town. He was an avid gardener and had an English Boxwood hedge, among other difficlt-to-establish plantings.
As we discussed the terms of sale, the gentleman told me he had a contract to sell the mature Tulip Trees from his woods and asked me if I would like him to try and buy out the contract and save the trees. The trees were past maturity and the nature of Tulip trees is to die naturally soon after maturity. Knowing that, I told him to go ahead and harvest them, but please save all the oaks (there were many; long-lived and beautiful). I said: “It takes two hundred years to grow one and it can be cut down in five minutes”.
Well, I was 33 years old at the time, had four children and not much money, so the gentleman finance the sale for us.
Years later, when we sold the house and paid off our debt to him, he said “What you felt about those Oak trees is why I had no hesitation offering you financing”.
Mutual respect.