We call 2017 our year of fire and ice. Before the monster prairie fires of March 6, we began the year with an ice storm. It began to rain in mid-January and the temperature remained right at freezing. Three to six inches of rain fell, and froze. Trees and power lines came down. Some neighbors were without power for weeks. Our old cedar trees, straight, tall, and brittle, were sheared of half of their branches.
Canadian, 25 miles away, was hard hit as well. Known as the Oasis of the Panhandle, the town was buried in downed limbs from the once-stately trees. My mother-in-law, Gaydean Bucher, had an ice-damaged Austrian Pine in her front yard, and her back yard and side hill were full of limbs from a tall Siberian Elm. The pine needed to go. It had many broken limbs and also had been planted too close to the house, and directly over the sewer line. After two weeks of cutting, hauling, and splitting, it was time for the stump grinder.
And then the decision was made to remove the elm tree in back. With a trunk of 14 feet in circumference, a 55-foot height and spread, the old tree had outgrown the lot, and threatened the house, fence, and even Main Street at the bottom of the hill.
Part of the back fence was taken down, and then a 40-foot self-propelled Genie boom lift was carefully driven up the hill into the hard-to-access back yard. After being in the lift basket all day, taking the big limbs down, one tied-off chunk at a time, I would come home still feeling like I was swaying in the wind.
Once the spreading branches were on the ground, I fired up the Stihl 880 saw with the 41-inch bar. Because the trunk was too big to be moved out of the yard, I cut it into thick flitches that were then threaded out of the yard with a mini-skid steer.
Gaydean now has several cords of firewood stacked and curing for the winter. The big flitches are drying under our drying shed, waiting to make the move to the shop, and then on to tables and other projects.
The studio photos below are by Peyton Aufill of Conejo Gallery in Canadian, Texas.
Mesquite, blackened steel
(38”h x 109”w x 35”d)
Ash plywood-dyed
(96”h x 156”w x 16”d)
T-posts, antique tractor seats, steel
(34”h x 16”w x 16”d)
Mesquite, mixed media
(10”h x 2”w x 1/4”d)
T-posts, walnut, charred post, steel, baling wire
Wildfire Memorial commissioned by George and Beth Briant
“Dedicated with deepest gratitude to the first responders, volunteers, and good neighbors, near and far, who came to the aid of Hemphill County and the surrounding area during the wildfire of March 6, 2017, and the hard days of recovery that followed.
These two t-posts came our way from a good Samaritan in San Saba, who when seeing trailers being loaded with fencing supplies for the trip north, said she wanted to help out. She could only afford two posts. The relief crews made sure that her contributions made it to the fencing and hay drop-off in Canadian.
We are eternally grateful.”
(84”h x 27”w x 14”d)
Walnut, cedar, rotary hoe parts
(87”h x 34”w x 15”d)
Pecan, walnut, food-safe finish
(4”h x 24”w x 11”d)
Ice storm elm, steel, charred ash
(50″h x 27”w x 3-1/2”d)
Ice storm elm, walnut, food-safe finish
(4-3/4″h x 26″w x 18”d)
Cherry, walnut
(6″h x 20-5/8″w x 12-5/8”d)
Walnut, cherry
(8″h x 20-5/8″w x 12-5/8”d)
Maple, walnut
(7-3/8″h x 20-5/8″w x 12-5/8”d)
Maple, food-safe finish
(2″h x 14-1/4″w x 14-1/4”d)
Maple, food-safe finish
(2″h x 14-1/4″w x 14-1/4”d)
Maple, food-safe finish
(2″h x 14-1/4″w x 14-1/4”d)
Maple, food-safe finish
(2″h x 9-1/2″w x 9-1/2”d)
Ash, red gum
(17-1/2″h x 22-1/2″w x 4-3/4”d)
Bird’s-eye maple, walnut
(19-1/4″h x 22-1/4″w x 4-3/4”d)
Ice storm elm and cedar, steel
(32″h x 26″w x 4”d)
1920 cottonwood
(44″h x 36″w x 4”d)
Pecan, cultivator, wheel, baling wire
(35″h x 24″w x 3”d)
Mixed media
(36″h x 48″w x 22”d)
