A Loud Noise Leads to a Surprising Discovery

Hey, Stuffie Friends!
We were all eating lunch when we heard a rather strange noise, but we couldn’t figure out exactly what the buzz was all about. Then, as we were playing games, we heard a HUGE BOOM! We quickly headed outside. It didn’t take long to spot what was different.

A giant red pine was lying across the driveway. That buzzing was someone cutting it down with a big saw. Scottie was really upset. How’s a squirrel supposed to escape from a Stella without a good tree to run up? When we asked Dan what was going on, he said that several pine trees were dead or dying because of a beetle infestation. The MN Forestry service encouraged him to remove the trees and today was the day. We were pretty upset, but the neighbor might be more upset if the dead trees land on their house. So, it’s probably a good idea.

We had to go to the woods in search of the other two that “bit the dust” (as the saying goes). We learned that these trees were about 80’ tall. A live one weighs about 3,000 pounds. No wonder it made such a loud noise! It’s pretty interesting that only really heard the driveway one go “BOOM!” Guess the ones that fell in the woods got muffled from all the needles, leaves and dirt on the forest floor. Nature is pretty wild!

And of course we had to detour to check out the one stump that was left standing. Scottie, who is very smart, told us that counting the rings of a tree tells you its age. That’s way easier said than done! So many of the rings were really close together- the trees didn’t get to grow much those years. Anyhow, Wol the Owl and Flicker have the best eyes. They counted somewhere between 60 and 70 rings(= years old)! No wonder the tree was so tall! Too bad we didn’t get to give this one a birthday party.

We should have known that staying outside meant we’d be put to work! Do you know how many 12 - 14” pieces they cut up from just one tree?

We do, since we had to haul all of them in the wheelbarrow (somehow we’ve become experts at that task)! (The answer is 48.) They’re destined for those cool fire pits we’ve been helping to build in the Cities. Thankfully, Dan agreed to do the hauling t from the woods to the wheelbarrow. We know one thing for sure- we’re not going anywhere near the boat garage in the next few weeks. There’s sure to be a lot of work splitting and stacking the wood.

Since we worked our tails off (figuratively, not literally) we were provided a double treat of a chocolate marshmallow cookie and some cashews. YUMMY! (Scottie snarfed those cashews down in a hurry). Good thing we finished all that work before it started raining!

Well, that’s it from the Northwoods (minus some woods…)

Scottie, Wol the Owl, Flicker and Loonie