Before Hurricane Sandy, we were hit pretty hard here in the northeast by Hurricane Irene. That was in August of 2011, in case you forgot. That was the event that started me collecting wood salvaged from fallen trees by these two monster storms. The most memorable from Irene, for me at least, was a giant Gingko tree that came down on the other side of town, just missing the owners house, but not the brand new Volvo that sat in his driveway. This tree was a monster. By the time I arrived, most was cut and taken away by professionals, but I did manage to fill my van with some large parts of the trunk and some of the lower branches. As it turns out, Gingko is a very nice wood for carving. I have made a lot of spoons from it and even kept a few to use and see how it fairs over time. It has many good qualities; lightweight, easy to carve, sturdy and apparently quite resistant to time and decay.
This week I have been moving and re-organizing the huge pile of logs in my driveway. The pile was a little larger in all dimensions than a full-sized Cadillac! So that meant the earliest pieces of Gingko I collected were in direct contact with the driveway and completely buried under wood I brought home after Hurricane Sandy, a year later. The piece of wood in this photo has literally be sitting on the wet driveway were I left it almost two years ago. When I uncovered it today, I was quite amazed. First of all, no signs of rot, spalting or insect infestation and... a brand new, green sprout growing out of it's side. How it that even possible. Like I said, life is amazing!
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