Gord finds a gold mine

My son was asked to help demolish and rebuild his neighbour's dock along the Trent-Severn channel in Fenelon Falls recently. The first small load of scrap was dropped off at the local landfill. Joe, the neighbour, paid over $120 for the privilege.

["Scrap lumber from Fenelon Falls beside my scrap box"]

I visited my son last weekend and was shown the dock renovation. When I heard about the cost of disposal I said, "Ouch!"

"I know you build a lot of birdhouses," said Joe as we surveyed the work site. (About the houses: It's true, and son Dave has many brilliant samples of my work next door to Joe.)

["Logs for future 'cabin-style' birdhouses from a few scraps"]

"Could you use any of the old cedar?" he asked. "You can have as much as you want."

Could I? Did I? Want it? I carefully pushed my eyes back into their sockets, tried to act nonchalant and hoped my thundering heart could not be heard above the sound of water slapping against the dock. I coughed gently to clear the way for my next sentence.

"Sure, I'll take a look, see what it's like. (It already looks delicious!!) Maybe I can take a few scraps home, dry them out, make a few cuts." (I'D GO RIGHT NOW IF I COULD!!)

["I came home Sunday, made my first few cuts yesterday"]

["Beautiful logs and slats. Nothing wasted but sawdust']

While slicing and dicing just two 30-inch long scraps yesterday (twice I involuntarily said, "Wow!"), I realized I'd hit gold. Final demolition is set for the long weekend in May and I've been put in charge of removing nails and stacking western red cedar in a trailer behind my son's car.

I'D GO RIGHT NOW IF I COULD!!

Be still my heart.

Photos by GH

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Please click here to read The Workshop: "rescued shadow boxes"