What Dad Made Yesterday #1

Those of you who live on or visit my parents' street might have noticed that there are fewer trees around their house each year. My dad has gone on several tree cutting sprees, all of which are perfectly justified by the trees' disease states. Says the cutter, "They are going to come down by themselves anyway, and this way they won't fall on the house...or a car...or a person." I'm paraphrasing here.

Anyway, the most recent victim was a large pine tree between the front yards of my parents and their (one) neighbor. When we fist moved to the street in 1982, the tree was small enough to be decorated with holiday lights. This fall, however, the tree was gigantic and infested with ants that had weakened the internal structure of the trunk. So, dad fired up the chain-saw and cut the tree down, with help from his neighbor, until a large stump remained.

And then he carved some more...and researched, and carved, and painted, and added little reflecty eyes. My dad chainsaw-carved a bear!