“Observations from the Woodpile”

Jeff Yocum

Prologue

Observations from the Woodpile” is a collection of essays bundled together and given as a birthday present for my wife, Nancy, in 1997. Twenty-seven years have passed since the collection was given. The two main subjects of the essays, my sons Justus and Jacob, have grown into men with families of their own.

I’ve often wondered if my kids had been birds in a nest, which one would have been pitched over the side by the others? Nature shows on television tell us that it helps the species because the weaker siblings don’t live long enough to breed. I think human siblings do it to convince the parents not to have more kids. I know I’m convinced.

Rummaging around in the barn, the boys found an old two-man saw I had bought several years ago. They brought it to me, eager to give it a try. I had my doubts but agreed. I showed them how to pull the saw through the wood and rest as the other fellow pulled it back. That keeps the saw from binding. 

After some safety tips, I let them go at it. I was careful to watch them, more out of curiosity as to how long it would take before they were in a fight than for fear that they would get hurt. I thought after the saw bound a few times from one of them trying to push, they’d end up rolling on the ground and I’d have to separate them.
I have to admit, they sure fooled me. They got the hang of working a two-man saw after just a couple cuts. Before long, they had cut off the end of every log that stuck out of the stack. Sensing that I had stumbled across something, I built them a sawbuck and began saving logs eight to ten inches in diameter for them to cut. I let them use the saw only after we had split some wood. (That way the sawing was still viewed as a privilege).

The following September, our little town put on its annual community show. One of the attractions was a sawing contest for different age groups. The boys entered and actually won the blue ribbon for the under-twelve age group. Don’t you know, I’ve used that little story to show them what they can do when they cooperate.