Last weekend, an ice storm hit our area. In fact, it stretched across a large portion of Ontario, dropping between 20 and 30 mm of ice onto roads, sidewalks, vehicles, fields and buildings.

The poor trees

The trees fared the worst of all, though. Between the huge number of smaller branches, large limbs and entire trees that were brought down to the ground, just about every tree nearby was damaged in some sort of way. And there’s a domino effect; when trees and branches come down, they often damage power lines. There was also enough ice on the power lines to make the situation even worse.

We don’t usually think of trees having a critical role in how our towns and cities work, other than providing oxygen and shade during the warm months. Although they give us so much, there can be a potentially serious downside to trees. Not only can they bring down power lines, but they can also damage homes, vehicles and even people as they fall.

I’m not for a second implying we should cut down all the trees or stop planting them in our towns and cities. I’m just saying we should be aware of their size and weight and treat them with full respect.

Pitch in

Our power was out for about two days, but thankfully it’s back on now. Many of our neighbours are still out of power, with no idea when it might come back. We’ve had an extension cord running from our place to our neighbours’, so they can at least have a bit of electricity to keep their fridge cold, turn a light on, recharge their phones and make a hot beverage.

We got out with my kids to help clear a few neighbours’ fallen trees. We also went to a few local trails and paths to see about removing some of the fallen trees so folks could pass through the area. It was actually surprisingly satisfying, not only to help out the community, but to use a chainsaw, a pair of loppers and a few handsaws to cut up and move the wood. It was good, honest work where you get your hands dirty and feel great from the exercise.

One benefit to fallen trees

As I was cutting up the neighbours’ flowering cherry tree, I couldn’t help but notice the colours of the sapwood and heartwood. The two colours –one deep reddish brown and the other a pale yellowish white – contrasted beautifully. I thought to myself, “This would make some great spoons,” so I took a few pieces home.

School’s out

Over the next few days schools were closed. Both my kids were fine with that, but I hate seeing kids sit idle. Once the power came back on, we were able to split up one of the chunks of cherry and each try our hands at making a spreading knife. After I worked the wood into smaller pieces, they used a scroll saw to rough out the shape. We all then set to work with our knives. Over about an hour we all worked side-by-side, obeying safety rules to keep our fingers safe and grain rules to make the work easier. Carving by hand definitely makes you realize how the grain direction affects chip formation. Both kids seemed to catch on pretty quickly.

Working with green wood was really enjoyable. While kiln-dried wood is hard and brittle, wet wood is soft and forgiving. It even changed colours as we worked; the heartwood turned from a deep reddish brown to a lighter reddish brown within about 30 seconds of exposing fresh wood with our sharp knives.

Right now, the knives are drying out. We will make the final shaping cuts in about a week, when the wood is much dryer, then apply a finish to the knives. I was considering giving my knife to our neighbors who lost the tree, as they really loved it. From the colourful spring blossoms to its attractive overall shape, the tree will be missed.

We’re lucky

While we’re enjoying having our power back and making knives, many around us are still living in the cold and dark a power outage creates. Thankfully it’s not too cold this time of year, but the warming freezers and lack of hot water only add to the other challenges of life. Some of the trees that were bent right over until their tops touched the ground, are now mostly straight. Like everything, there are pros and cons to trees. The tree giveth and the tree taketh away.