|
There’s Something Magic About An Aspen Grove
Whenever I hike in the Rocky Mountains, here in Colorado, I am drawn to the aspen groves that speckle the landscape. The forest here is filled with a very diverse bunch of various pines from limber pine, ponderosa pine to the ancient Bristlecone pine, however the aspen seem to have a certain appeal to me. Perhaps it is the way the beautiful leaves wave and shimmer in the breeze, as if to say “Hello there, come join us”, or maybe the sense of family or being related. When I hike through other forests, I feel like I am among old to ancient sentinels, each a stoic individual, but when in an aspen grove I feel like I have been welcomed into a clan or tribe, where every one is related and one big happy family. Indeed this may be a very real feeling due to the fact that a grove of aspen is one of the largest living organisms on Earth. Every tree in a grove is connected by an intricate and complex web of life.
This fact accounts for the density of a grove and the fact that in the autumn, you will witness entire groves turning their leaves brilliant yellows and reds simultaneously . Each section you see with differing colors, is a family unit marching through the season to its own internal clock.
Another sign of their intelligence or awareness is how as the grove matures and gets crowded, it instigates a natural thinning process with certain trees dying off in order to let more sunlight in for the enduring trees. Eventually, these dead trees fall or get blown down and decompose creating soil to feed the remaining trees.
So, here’s where we come in. Sometimes there are so many downed trees in older groves that they are cast about like pick up sticks and never reach the ground. Thus the process of decomposition is slowed dramatically.
It was in my quest for wood to warm my home during the cold Colorado winters, that I started using this naturally harvested, dried wood. Many times at my woodpile while I was splitting firewood, I would be amazed by the colors inside the rounds. Having used aspen for the ceilings and kitchen cabinets in my home, I felt that I needed to honor the woods for their continuing gift to my everyday life and wanted to do something more than just burn this beautiful, naturally dried wood, in my woodstove. As Synchronicity would have it, I was introduced to the wood lathe by a dear friend, and after turning a few pieces of green aspen that he had, I secured a piece of my firewood onto the lathe. I was astounded by how much more color it had than the green wood. Though more challenging to work than the wet, green aspen, the rewards far outweigh the effort.
I soon learned that the dead, naturally, dried wood is referred to as spalted and it quickly became by favorite wood to turn into useful works of art.
As you will see my entire website is dedicated to this type of wood.
|
