New York art collector has purchased two original images from Wayne King.

Zazzle is offering 50% off on all posters for the next few days of holiday purchases: use coupon code: 2GIFTSFORALL

A New York art collector has purchased two original images from Wayne King. This removes those originals from the list of available art, except for open edition fine art reproductions.

"Canyonlands Barn"  hand painted black and white image, photographed in Utah

"A Dog's Eye View"


Originals sold were one-of-a-kind signed with a certificate of authenticity to guarantee provenance. Both images are still available as open edition reproductions as indicated below.


Canyonlands Barn: Open Edition Reproduction


Dog's Eye View: Open Edition Reproduction

"I See the Way"

Order Open Edition Fine Art Prints here

I'm pleased to announce that "I See the Way" was chosen for the Regional NH Center for the Arts Juried show in New London. It has also been selected for a Judge's award among all the works. Awards will be presented at Friday's opening at the New London Inn Micro Gallery in New London - 5pm - 7pm. I plan to announce that 50% of proceeds from sales of a poster of the image will be designated to Project Laundry List a non profit NGO that works to advocate for a sustainable future and against regulations that prohibit wash lines.

Black Border
Order this poster here 

White Border
Order this poster here 

Order greeting cards here
White Border
Black Border 

Order Clock here

Camus Quote Print

Stinson Brook Mindscape

Albert Camus Quote

"In the depth of winter 

I finally learned 

that there was in me 

an invincible summer."

~ Albert Camus

Holiday Cards

Holiday Cards made from award winning Moonlight on the Stone House image. Peace, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Peace on Earth themes. Click here.

Asquamchumaukee - Place of Mountain Waters

Asquamchumaukee 

Place of Mountain Waters

A photographic ramble through the Baker River Valley of New Hampshire

King Releases Photographic Book of Baker River Valley

Asquamchumaukee - Place of Mountain Waters

Rumney, NH . . .New Hampshire photographer and artist, and former Senator Wayne D. King has released an art book of images captured along the Baker River Valley entitled: Asquamchumaukee - Place of Mountain Waters. The title, taken from the Pemigewasset Indian name for the Baker River and the valley through which it flows, harkens back to the artist’s own Native American heritage.

King created the book at the urging of friends who had seen a collection of his images from the region and indicated that they would have an interest in a book that included the images. “ I wanted to make the book one that would both share the images of the area and serve a larger purpose as well.  We came up with the idea of creating a large format book, printed on high quality paper in a signed limited edition that could be sold to raise funds for local "Got Lunch!" programs in the Baker River Valley.”

"Got Lunch!" provides nutritious lunches for children who qualify for the free school lunch program; providing them with nutritious meals during the summer when the program does not cover them. 

Only 250 copies of the hard-cover limited edition, fine art book is printed and numbered and signed by the artist. 

The book is also available in an open edition (unsigned) in four different sizes and styles: a large format open edition, a standard size (8”x10”) in both hard-cover and soft-cover, and an eBook. “The hope was that we could create a way for anyone to participate in helping the “Got Lunch!” program by creating a wide range of options for purchasing the book.” said King.

In addition to the books, King has also made cards, posters and prints of many of the individual images from the book available to benefit “Got Lunch!”. There are also a number of mugs, tote bags and clocks made using the images from “Asquamchumaukee”.

“The book or product created from an image in the book would make a great Christmas or Holiday gift” said King. “For those who purchase the book as a gift for someone else, we will also provide a free gift card of the cover image telling them that the proceeds from the book will be providing nutritious meals for deserving children.”

King’s images are a celebration of life, blending the real and the surreal to achieve a sense of place or time that reaches beyond the moment into what he calls a “dreamlike quintessentialism” designed to spark an emotional response. Using digital enhancement, handcrafting, painting, and sometimes even straight photography, King hopes to take the viewer to a place that is beyond simple truth to where truth meets passion, hope and dreams.

As with most of King’s images, only one original signed print is available but open edition fine art prints, posters and greeting cards are also offered as an affordable alternative for people who love art for the pure joy of it and don’t require a signed original.

Book Description

In the heart of New Hampshire, the geographic center of the state, is a beautiful meandering river that is the focal point of a very special community of people and a landscape that grows into the heart like a spreading wildfire. The Baker River, called Asquamchumaukee by the original natives of the region, is an archetype of a river,  beginning with the fast flowing waters of the Moosilaukee region and ending in broad lugubrious oxbows where it meets the Pemigewasset River.  Anyone who has canoed the Baker or climbed Rattlesnake Mountain or hiked Mount Cube; anyone who has bicycled or driven along the Buffalo Road, can't help but fall in love with this area. 

If the landscape isn't enough the people will seal the deal: pragmatic, serious-minded in their politics, and deeply devoted to their families; people who work hard, play hard and who immerse themselves joyfully in the life of their community and the other communities of the valley. 

In that spirit, a portion of the proceeds from sales of this book will benefit the local "Got Lunch!" programs in the Valley. 

“Got Lunch!” provides nutritious lunches for children who qualify for the Federal free lunch program but who are not provided with meals during the summer vacation. “Got Lunch!” assures that the children of the Baker River Valley will return to school, ready and able to learn and unhampered by the challenges of poor nutrition. 

This book and the images from it are available in a number of different formats including a large landscape hardcover, signed and numbered, limited edition art book; an open edition in hardcover, softcover and eBook formats as well as other related products including calendars, clocks, mugs, cards, posters and prints.

http://bit.ly/BakerRiverValley

Signed, Numbered Limited Edition - Large Format

Hardcover 13” x 11” 

42 Pages printed on Proline Pearl Photo Paper

Hardcover with Dust Jacket: $165.00

Hardcover with Image Wrap Cover: $175.00

Shipping & Handling: $10.00

http://bit.ly/OrderAsquam

Open Edition (unsigned) - Large Format

Available through Amazon.com

Large Landscape Hardcover 13” x 11” 

42 Pages printed on standard paper

Hardcover with Dust Jacket: $98.76

http://bit.ly/AsquamNo3

Hardcover with Image Wrap Cover: $110.29

http://bit.ly/AsquamNo4

Open Edition (unsigned) - Standard Format

Available through Amazon.com

Standard Landscape Hardcover 8” x 10” 

42 Pages printed on standard paper

Hardcover with Dust Jacket: $59.35

ISBN-10: 1320165141

http://bit.ly/AsquamNo5

Softcover: $39.58

Plus shipping & handling

http://bit.ly/AsquamNo6

eBook from Blurb

42 Pages

$4.99

http://bit.ly/AsquamNo7

Catalog of Special Related Products

Proceeds also benefit “Got Lunch!”

Open Edition Fine Art Prints
Many of the images from Asquamchumaukee - Place of Mountain Waters are available as open edition fine art prints in various sizes, framed or unframed, even printed on canvas and metal. A catalog of available images, including some that were not includedin the final book can be viewed at this web address:

http://bit.ly/FAA_Print_Cat_Asquam

Asquamchumaukee Calendar 2015

13 Images from the book in a beautiful Calendar

Suitable for Framing 

http://bit.ly/RB_ASQUAM_Calendar

Asquamchumaukee Limited Edition Poster

Cards, Posters, Clocks, mugs and other related products. Click here:

http://bit.ly/BakerRiverValley

Other Links
Facebook Page

Portrait of Molly Clock

The Pony's Trail - with ee cummings quote

Special Poster offer!
The Pony's Trail - with ee cummings quote




This poster is created from one of my favorite images and includes a quote from ee cummings: "To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting." ~ e.e. cummings

Available in two different sizes and signed limited edition or open edition. Choose below.

Choose Size

Pony's Trail Poster 16x20 $21.00 USD Pony's Trail Poster  23.4" x 29" $35.00 USD Pony's Trail Poster Signed Limited Ed  23.4" x 29" $250.00 USD

 

The Pony's Trail - with ee cummings quote

Special Poster offer!
The Pony's Trail - with ee cummings quote




This poster is created from one of my favorite images and includes a quote from ee cummings: "To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting." ~ e.e. cummings

Available in two different sizes and signed limited edition or open edition. Choose below.

Choose Size

Pony's Trail Poster 16x20 $21.00 USD Pony's Trail Poster  23.4" x 29" $35.00 USD Pony's Trail Poster Signed Limited Ed  23.4" x 29" $250.00 USD

 

A Spring Symphony of Lupines

A Spring Symphony of Lupines                                  Wayne D. King

Wayne D. King is an accomplished photographer. His work can be found in the collections of a broad range of people including Livingston Taylor, (the late) Peter Max, Koko Taylor, Richard Merit, Bill Bradley, Bruce Babbitt, Bill Clinton, Adhiambo Odaga, Bill Russell and others.  His images are a celebration of life, blending the real and the surreal to achieve a sense of place or time that reaches beyond the moment into a dreamlike quintessentialism designed to spark an emotional response. Using digital enhancement, handcrafting, painting, and sometimes even straight photography, King takes the viewer to a place that is beyond simple truth to where truth meets passion, hope and dreams.

King studied photography under Richard Merritt at the University of New Hampshire. UNH had only a few photography classes but in those heady days Richard Merritt worked with a small and dedicated group of photographers who would become some of today's finest photographers: Edward Acker, Steve Bliss, Christopher Polydoroff, Casey MacNamara, Hannah Stutz and others.

As a freshman at UNH, King borrowed a camera from his roommate in order to have a camera when he applied for a job as a photographer at the New Hampshire, the UNH student newspaper. He had never used a camera but he needed the money so he talked a good game and was hired, prompting him to quickly learn how to develop film and print images. Within a few days he was hooked and he went on to work for "The New Hampshire" - UNH's student newspaper -  for the next four years competing fiercely for front page images with his roommate and good friend Edward G. Acker  III.

King holds a BS Degree in Environmental Conservation and a Masters Degree in Earth and Space Science Education from the University of New Hampshire, Durham.

A three term former State Senator from New Hampshire, Wayne King was the 1994 Democratic nominee for Governor. King is also the founder of The Electronic Community, a group of social entrepreneurs working on social and development issues in Africa. To find out more about King's latest project in Africa, click here.

King recently concluded work as the CEO of MOP Environmental Solutions, Inc with a merger that will make the company a force in the industry. MOP is a small public company in the business of manufacturing Oil Spill cleanup products. He is currently planning his next great life adventure.

On Line Galleries and Sites:
Mindscapes Website: bit.ly/wdk_mindscapes
Red Bubble:http://www.redbubble.com/people/waynedking/portfolio
Fine Art America: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/wayne-king.html
Twitter: http://Twitter.com/King_Mindscapes
Zazzle Shops: http://www.zazzle.com/moosewoodmindscapes
Wayne King uses only Canon Cameras and Equipment

Purchase Spring Symphony
On Cards
As a Poster
Fine Art Open Edition

Original Image

Order the Original Art

Spring Symphony of Lupine Original $895.00 USD

Monarch Endangered by GMO Rising Tide

New Study: Loss of milkweed linked to plummeting number of Monarch Butterflies

According to a new study conducted by Prof. Ryan Norris and doctoral researcher Tyler Flockhart and a team of Scientists at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, the dramatic decline in the monarch butterfly population in eastern North America is due largely to the steady loss of milkweed crops in U.S. breeding grounds.

Scientists at the University of Guelph say it provides the first proof of the critical connection between the monarch's sole source food and the declining population. Having picked apart the various factors linked to the drop in monarch butterfly populations - including climate change and storms in the wintering grounds for Monarchs - the researchers confirmed their theory that the lack of milkweed is likely the principle culprit in the chain and new anti-weed treatments for farm land may be the leading agent of the change.

Although originally thought to be caused by other forces in the region of Mexico where the Monarchs winter after a long migration, there is evidence that Monarchs have been able to recover regularly from storm related events that wiped out as much as 80% of the population at once. But the interruption of the breeding cycle, which takes place in a broad swath of both the US and Canada, seems to be placing the species in real jeopardy.

"Milkweed loss specifically in the midwestern U.S. is likely contributing the most to monarch declines, but the loses of the food species are occurring everywhere that the plant grows" according to Flockhart. The study was published in the Journal of Animal Ecology.

The reason that the midwest seems to have the dominant effect is quite simply that it is the corn belt and new techniques for enhancing the growth of corn and limiting the species considered to be "weeds" are having unintended consequences.



The plant is both the food source and the nursery for the species because, in addition to consuming its leaves the insect lays its eggs on it. It is also the only group of plants that monarch caterpillars feed on before developing into butterflies.

"Reducing the negative effects of milkweed loss in the breeding grounds should be the top conservation priority to slow or halt future population declines of the monarch in North America."

The study's findings, which are based on a mathematical model that includes all known factors linked to the decline of the butterflies, challenge long-held beliefs that their population drop was due to the degradation of their wintering grounds in Mexico. Mexican authorities have taken action to protect the wintering grounds but this new twist indicates that the attention has been in the wrong place and that action in the US and Canada will be needed to halt the drift toward extinction.

The authors say the loss of milkweed crops is likely not the only cause of the butterflies' falling numbers, but they're calling on governments to restore milkweed habitats.

Mexico, the United States and Canada agreed in February to form a working group on the conservation of monarch butterflies, with discussions expected to include milkweed restoration but we should not wait for government to address these issues. We can start immediately by planting milkweed in areas where they will flourish but not be subject to agricultural interference and particularly to the use of genetically engineered crops.

The Boy and the Monarch           Cards with this image             Fine Art Prints 

Links:


The Monarch Crusader

The Phoenix Project Aims at Cleanup and Job Creation in Niger Delta

Phoenix Project Aims at Cleanup and Job Creation in Niger Delta

Creating Multiple Positive Outcomes from Spill Cleanup

Brief:

The Phoenix Project proposes to create a pilot "Enterprise Recovery and Empowerment Zone" in the Niger Delta of Nigeria to test an innovative approach to oil spill cleanup that includes creation of an enterprise community generating electricity, jobs and research opportunities for the people of the region.

You’ve probably seen the photos of the devastation in the Niger Delta. They were likely a sidebar story to coverage of the Gulf Oil Spill. As cleanup commenced here in the US within days of the accident, an equal amount of oil was being spilled in West Africa’s most fertile valley and richest fisheries and little was being done by anyone. Further, on an annual basis the Delta has experienced spills equivalent to two Gulf spills every single year.

Oil Companies find the inconspicuous nature of drilling and harvesting oil in Africa an attractive alternative to doing so in the West where consumers are more organized and unforgiving. Many of the local Nigerian politicians find that oil money makes a very tempting and large target for illicit proclivities. Add to all this a spill cleanup funding mechanism that suffers from a complete lack of transparency, further tempting even aspiring “honest” politicians and distancing oil companies from the assumption of responsibility and you have a recipe for an amoeba-like environmental catastrophe - growing and spreading as it devastates the economic and social fabric of the region. 

Enter Project Phoenix, the conceptual brainchild of former NH Senator Wayne King of with the help of his Nigerian counterpart Osita Aniemeka. King began going to Nigeria in 1997, shortly after an unsuccessful run for Governor, Leading a team of social entrepreneurs on behalf of the Ford Foundation, King’s team, which included Santa Barbara-based Philip “Kip” Bates of the University of California, Santa Barbara who was the technology guru of the Team. Rounding out the team was the late Dr. Chidi Nwachukwu a native born Nigerian and US Citizen and CEO of Sameday Express and a unique startup called UConnet that was one of the nation’s very first companies to use the Internet for telephone services, now referred to as “Internet Telephony”. Since 1997 the team has continued to return to West Africa for Ford Foundation, USAID and the World Bank among others. Dr. Nwachukwu died from Leukemia in 2000, when the idea for doing something about oil spills in the Niger Delta was little more than a glimmer in the eyes of the trio, and the team has dedicated this pilot project in his honor.

The Phoenix Project officially has been in the works for more than four years when King got the idea that it might be possible to build an “Enterprise Community” around the oil spill cleanup process where the cleanup and associated funds - if they could be accessed - would drive the development of both cleanup jobs as well as jobs related to the bi-products of the cleanup, specifically electricity, biochar, and biofuels. The more the team began to explore and research the components they envisioned the mmore they came to realize that there may be a way to make the effort sustainable, replicable and taken as a whole - carbon-negative. The Kyoto accords, that took effect in 2005, also spurred the idea that there might also be an opportunity for Carbon Credit trading based on the Carbon-Negative

In most circumstances today the end results of an oil spill cleanup are hidden from the public, quite possibly because the companies want the problem and its accompanying bad publicity to simply go away. “This means” said King, “that the opportunities to generate revenues from the cleanup of the oil and the treatment of the oil contaminated absorbents - like booms - go unnoticed and and untapped. Our pilot project recovers and recycles as much of the oil as we can, using a patented cellulose absorbent from MOP Environmental Solutions for the cleanup on both land and water (MOPenvironmental.com) then using the remaining biomass (the cellulose after oil removal) to generate electricity with a small, mobile, pyrolysis power plant manufactured by EcoReps of Adelaide Australia (www.Ecoreps.com.au). In addition to the electricity, the plant will also produce biochar a highly acclaimed soil amendment that has properties that make it both a fertilizer, a water storage element and a carbon sink - capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and sequestering it for decades and perhaps centuries, releasing it only when called on for plant growth.” 

In addition to the jobs and opportunities created by the obvious products and processes The Phoenix Project - Niger Delta expects to seek out additional research and entrepreneurial opportunities that coincide with, and take advantage of, synergies that arise within the process. For example, research on biochar is at its very early stages and the use of it for bioremediation of oil spills is postulated but not thoroughly researched. Osita Aniemeka, Director of Nigerian operations, believes that the emphasis on research is consistent with Nigeria’s new emphasis on its agricultural sector and provides opportunities for the Phoenix Project to create jobs and ventures that empower women and young people who are particularly vulnerable to the economic woes brought on by these devastating and continuing oil spills.

Depending upon their ability to access oil spill cleanup funds and the extent of those funds, the Phoenix Project team believes that they can generate sufficient revenues to allow them to fund all or part of the cost of designating and cleaning up the next zone.

“We see this pilot project as our opportunity to develop an Open Source solution to the challenge of oil spills. Once we have tested the various aspects of the Pilot we will make the model available broadly to others who are seeking a solution to oil spills that creates a “Phoenix Effect” within an area devastated by a spill.” said Aniemeka.

The Phoenix Project is seeding the project with a crowd funding campaign on Indiegogo to raise the funds needed to bring together the communities, the experts and officials from both the government and the oil industry in the Niger Delta. They will also be carefully choosing the first site taking into account the long term needs of the community after the Enterprise and Empowerment Zone is turned over to a local governing body. “With a little luck”, King says, “we can move on to the next zone with most of the funds needed for the next cleanup, leaving a 1 megawatt electricity plant in the control of a local governing body to continue to provide badly needed and reliable electricity to the businesses and homes of the community.”  

The total cost of the pilot will be in the range of 12 million dollars but the companies participating as partners in the venture have all agreed to discount their costs in order to create the model. The net cost is likely to be closer to 8 million dollars, most of that for the capital equipment like the mobile power plant. “Once we have the model down right,” King continued “the net cost of each succeeding Zone should be somewhere in the range of $2 million dollars per zone, before calculating in revenues from most of the bi-products. While only the real thing will allow us to be sure, we are confident that after Zone one the process should be self sustaining - as long as there are funds available for the cleanup.” and in the Nigerian environment . . . that seems to be the biggest question mark.  

To learn more about the Phoenix Project you can visit the Project Phoenix Blog at nigerdeltaphoenix.blogspot.com

The Crowd funding effort can be viewed at http://igg.me/at/PPND

The Gathering Storm - Climate Change

The Gathering Storm

Borne on an ill wind, our own

Confers no favor.

Braced Against the Storm                      Cards                         Fine Art Prints

Our Existential Challenge

Our Existential Challenge

Though I consider myself first a citizen of the planet, I continue to believe that the precepts - first laid down by my own Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) ancestors and then adopted by the framers of the US Constitution - are the foundation of the last best hope for the planet. That is why I am a patriot.

Last night I listened to an interview with PJ O'Rourke on NH Public Radio who said that the baby boom generation had never faced the sort of challenges that previous generations had faced. It was - ironically - followed by a short piece related to climate change. I assert that the challenges of climate change are in fact the greatest existential challenge that we have ever faced; and, while the solution must be forged inter-generationally, the baby boom generation has the greatest obligation to act because we bear the greatest responsibility for the creation of the problem. Furthermore, halting the advance of climate change is hardest for us because we, naturally, have become more set in our ways. In short, we must lead the way and get out of the way at the same time . . .

Dusk Dims Not her Colors               Cards                Fine Art Prints

Tender Corp 5 K Race to Benefit Mt Eustis Ski Area Revival and Troop 209 BSA

The cost of a ski ticket has - lately especially - made the sport of skiing out of reach for most New Hampshire folks. In addition to this, most ski areas have dropped their special rates for local citizens and especially students - an act that they will regret as climate change makes it more and more challenging to draw skiers. That's what makes this effort to revive the Mount Eustis community ski area important. 

New Hampshire was once dotted with these small community ski areas. After all, New Hampshire was the birthplace of skiing in the United States so it made sense that communities would make an effort to provide an opportunity for their citizens. But over the years, particularly when skiing was more affordable to the average citizen and ski areas had community discounts for locals, the number of these ski areas dwindled until there were almost none. 

Expect to see more of these efforts to revive old ski hills. You can learn more about NH's "lost" ski hills here.

You can help with the effort in many ways. I've donate sales of a beautiful image "Tamarack Tempest" taken within a few miles of Mt. Eustis.

To purchase this image on cards, posters as open edition or limited edition fine art prints, click here.

Preparing for Climate Change in New Hampshire and Militating the Damage

Preparing for Climate Change in New Hampshire and Militating the Damage

For those who missed it, Laura Knoy's edition of The Exchange today on NH Public Radio, featured a discussion about Climate change that was very interesting and disturbing. Two important points of the many made deserve our attention. The first is that, without naming the Northern Pass Project the two scientists stressed the need for decentralized renewable energy as the pathway to a healthier and safer energy future for New Hampshire. Centralized sources of power - like Northern Pass - are more likely to generate jobs elsewhere instead of here in NH and push NH in the direction of what they termed the "High Emissions Scenario" that will wreak economic and environmental havoc on NH. Centralized sources also make us much more vulnerable to acts of terrorism (my observation not part of the discussion). The second point is that what we can do as individuals matters a great deal. Every step we take to reduce our own personal dependence on carbon generating energy sources is a gift we give to the earth.

Knoy's guests, Cameron Wake from UNH's renowned Institute for Earth Oceans and Space, who co-authored UNH's Report on Climate Change in New Hampshire; and Michael Simpson, climate adaptation scientist and chair of the Environmental Studies Department at Antioch University New England, which just announced establishment of a new Climate Change Preparedness Center at Antioch.

The burial of the power lines of Northern Pass is often mentioned as the resolution of the problem but in truth burial of the power lines is a compromise that fails to tackle the most important policy questions with respect to New Hampshire's energy future. If we have to live with buried power lines, it will be a victory for our "view shed" but the fundamental flaws that should kill Northern Pass altogether will cast a pall on our future in many other ways.


Read: http://nhpr.org/post/adapting-climate-change-flood-insurance

Listen here

UNH Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Spacehttp://www.eos.unh.edu

UNH’s report on climate change in New Hampshire.

Environmental Studies department at Antioch University New England

Antioch Center to study climate change preparedness

Washday, Alton, NH                          Cards & Posters                             Fine Art Prints

You Can Do It the Hard Way or…

Notes from the Country
by Jennifer Larochelle
 

When we bought our home there was snow on the ground, giving us a picture of the winter landscape.  As the snow melted and spring took hold it seemed that new wonders were revealed to us daily. The most magnificent of these was the granite foundation for a barn that once was the centerpiece of our farm. There were priorities to set, however, and though the barn ranked below the wedding, rewiring, insulation, plumbing and walls, Roger and I knew it was only a matter of time. The old stone foundation called to us with each passing day, and as spring faded to summer and summer to fall and the immediate projects got ticked off the list, the barn drew nearer to the top.

As I have often found in my marriage, Roger and I spend a lot of time thinking separately about the same issue or problem. The barn was no different. One winter night I wandered into the kitchen and found Roger drawing plans. We marveled at how parallel our thinking actually was. This seems to happen a lot in our marriage. On one point we differed, and it is this point that has made all the difference in the way I think about our barn. “We’re going to cut our own trees, and mill our own lumber, and we’re going to rebuild that barn,” he said with conviction. Though that was certainly how the original barn had been built it hadn’t occurred to me that we would embark on such an incredible journey. Still, it wasn’t until the first trees were felled that I truly believed that we had begun living our dream.

If you aren’t familiar with life in small-town New England, it is probably important for you to understand at this point how information travels. Knowing what we knew about the barn and our dream of cutting and milling our own trees, the next step was to find someone to help…and the logical place to take that step was at our local village store. Whether the 6:30 crowd that was on their way to work and in a hurry, or the 9:30 crowd that had done their time in the workforce and now liked to swap stories and tales, a well-placed question at the Hebron Village Store could usually illicit an informed answer. Just two years earlier, when I wanted to surprise Roger with a gift of a chainsaw, this is where I went for advice. Another thing that you should know and understand before you ask for local advice is that these are guys who expect follow through; they are deeply invested in your question. In the case of the chainsaw they were more invested than I was, but I understood the importance of reporting back, so I did. The day after we asked, “Do you know anyone who mills lumber?” the answer was given: “David Jaques.” Coincidently we met David at the Village Store just days later. Was this happenstance or destiny?

A cigarette hung loosely from David’s lips. His eyes gazed intently at the task before him. His job was to maximize the yield, to transform the log into lumber. Cut and turn. Cut and turn. Cut and turn. He was masterful at his work. Even the scraps would be utilized: campfire wood bundles for tourists and “stickers” for the next job, and a pile of slabs that to the undiscerning eye were waste, but to the seasoned Yankee represented the heat source for next spring’s maple sugaring. Maximize the yield, minimize the waste.

The first boards were 2x6’s and they brought tears to my eyes . . . This was the beginning. They seemed enormous, but David explained that they were real 2x6’s, not the 1-1/2 by 5-1/2 inch boards the local lumber outlet wants you to believe are 2x6’s. Rather than pull them off the saw carriage, as we had done with the edgings and the slabs, David used the “drag-back” feature to pull them off the end of the mill. “You can do it the hard way,” he exclaimed, “or you can do it the easy way.”

This was David’s mantra and we heard it often. The familiar rumble of his truck marked the beginning of our days, and we were eager as each day began to see his familiar orange wool hat bobbing down toward the mill.  In the first few days we discovered a rhythm to the work, and we learned that David’s simple gestures and nods were an extension of his words. A nod could mean leave it [the board] or take it off. His expectation, though never spoken, was that you cared enough to learn the pattern of the work, so words were unnecessary. The pattern was always the same. The hydraulic lift moved the logs from ground to carriage and with unwavering deliberation David’s mind began to work. His experience and his frugal Yankee spirit required that the log be turned and measured and turned again, sometimes in what seemed like an endless cycle to the casual observer, before the first cut was made. Though the desired yield was 2x6’s or 2x12’s, David’s intention was to get every possible board foot out of each log. And that was exactly what he did. And I watched. Brimming with awe I watched.

I marveled at the math being done in David’s head. With time, I began to see the log as David did; with a mathematical eye. “You’re doing so much math in your head. How do you keep everything straight?”

“Everything I use every day I learned in sixth grade science and math,” said David. Both his words and his work were simple and deliberate.

When one cut could yield two boards, sometimes of different dimensions, it was done and this was what sparked my quilters’ eye. I saw in the wood at that moment not the barn or a 2x6, but a new quilt square design: the Sawyer’s Square. I told David of my quilter’s intentions and his appreciation of my mind’s eye was immediate. His first wife Ruth had been a quilter, and he understood and was pleased by the turn my thoughts had taken.

Clear in David’s approach was the value he placed on hard work and practical thinking. The big logs and the crooked ones burned brightest in David’s eyes. They were challenges - the logs that delineated the seasoned sawyer from the one who didn’t care how big the waste pile got. The waste pile was pride’s measuring stick, you see.

Neighbors came regularly in those first few days. They marveled at our spirit and determination and at David’s prowess with the mill. It was on a day with an audience that David lost his first log. It was a “big gun,” and he had explained that the third turn would be the trickiest. “The weight of the log at that point will be away from the turn. If I don’t get it just right it could tip off the carriage.” And tip it did, with a thud that shook the ground and my nerves. A look toward David saw him shrug his shoulders in an “it happens” gesture, and he moved on to the next log. Nothing wasted, especially time.

The romance of the project embraced all who came to see it in action, especially the guys from the store. The stacks of milled lumber grew, each board carefully “sticked” and aligned so as to dry the wood properly, without the threat of ants or mold or rot. At the end of each day a new tally was taken and we  relished in the thought that we were one step closer to our dream of building a barn.

When the logs got bigger and the boards they yielded grew heavier, sawhorses were moved in to lessen the lifting necessary before the edging occurred. “You can do it the hard way or the easy way,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. And so we worked day in and day out. And the stacks of lumber got higher. And as the stacks grew and the number of logs to mill shrank we became a family of sorts. A family of circumstance, sharing our lunches and our stories around the picnic table, all working together.

The final day of milling was grueling. The sun rose early and hot and in some ways the romance wore thin. David’s orange wool hat had been replaced with a terrycloth sweatband. At this point each of the logs had to be debarked with the spud before cutting. The small curved tool was effective, but there was no denying the full-body workout of debarking. The kind that left you wondering “Did I really do that?” though the growing pile of bark was clear evidence that you had.

Long days of rain had prolonged our work and our brains were tired too. We didn’t react to the sawing as we had at first. David’s concentration didn’t seem to come as readily. He looked longer at each cut and moved more cautiously with the controls. His “thinking cigarette” hung lower on his lip. The melancholy of the day came not just from nearing the end of a job well done, but from a sense that we would not likely be seeing each other anymore. Sure, we could have Dave’s family over for supper, but that would be different. The work that had bound us together for a short time was ending.

The heat of the day made each board seem heavier than the last. As David and I carried a 2x12 to the pile, I thought surely my body would give way. The pile had grown to shoulder height and David stopped to shift his body so he could lift his end over the top of the pile. I stared at him. He was tired and I knew it. Calling up a little sixth grade science of my own I said, “Just rest your end on the pile.” He stared back and tilted his head in question. With a superhuman effort I lifted my end, and using the edge of the pile as a fulcrum pushed the board which slid across the top of the pile with relative ease. When I reached David’s side I said, “You can do it the hard way, or you can do it the easy way.” And we smiled.

As the heat abated and the sun dipped in the sky, we came to the end of our work. With a toast of cheap champagne, and some photos to record history, we admired the lumberyard we had created. This phase was now complete. We had now only to watch and wait as the breezes and heat of summer dried our lumber and drew us to fall, when lumber would become barn.


             

* Ed's Note: From Heart of NH Magazine











Eyes of Pride

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