Timber!

A few weeks ago My Best Half walked in with a present for me for our anniversary. It was a beautiful light weight, high powered electric chainsaw! He placed it in my hands and I was mesmerized by its beauty and power and ability to down large branches and limbs like a knife through hot butter. I do believe it was one of the best gifts ever received given to me by him.

I am not much into gift giving or for that matter gift receiving. Especially when it is from my Best Half. Over the years, if there is something I need or  think would be good to have, I buy it when the finances can afford it. I am not much for getting stuff that isn’t practical or will sit on a shelf and collect dust. It just isn't really my style. I am more of a Fleet Farm and Menards kind of girl. And I really feel bad when my Best Half will walk in with a gift that is so far out there from being what I would use or want. I used to think he really didn’t listen or think things through when he bought me gifts. Especially in the earlier days of our marriage.

But in all honesty, I can’t really fault him for giving me gifts in the early days that were so far removed from what I wanted. I never dropped hints and never was in need of much. But that didn’t keep him from trying to find me a present for special occasions over the years. I received gifts that would include big bouquets of expensive flowers, books I would never read or gadgets for the kitchen that would get put up in the cupboard and never used. This was never his fault, I realized I never let him know what types of things I would want or need. That all changed about 10 years into our marriage when I finally spoke up and said I really didn’t need gifts from him. His gift has always been to just tell me to get what I need be it a special occasion or just on a whim. 

But he is a giver of gifts no matter what. It is what makes him the person he is. So he has continued over the years to give me gifts that were welcomed. But most women would probably shake their heads if they saw the list of what he has given me.

For instance, I have been given a miter saw, a pvc pipe cutter, rubber wheels to make a kayak hauler, a small row boat to take the kids fishing when they were little and a kayak when I started going by myself once the kids were grown. He has actually given me at least 2 kayaks, 4 canoes and 2 motorboats over the decades of our marriage. And multiple fishing gear. He has also given me handguns, a conceal and carry class, and a Henry .22 rifle that I drooled over when I was a kid. That was the year he declared our anniversary the Guns and Roses year. Along with the rifle, there were a dozen red long stem roses. And now here I was holding an electric chain saw. 

I took that chainsaw out to the fire pit and surveyed the job that had been staring me in the face all Summer. There had been much tree trimming over the Summer by my Best Half,and there was a huge pile of brush and larger tree limbs lying directly on the fire pit. For some reason, still unknown to me, my Best Half had just kept piling brush and large branches and tree limbs on top of the fire pit. It was now about 15 feet wide and at least 8 feet high. All sitting in our 4-5 foot wide fire pit just off the side of the house about a few hundred feet away. 

So with my new chainsaw in hand, I set out to clear all the brush and timber from the fire pit in order to safely put it all back on the fire pit in small bundles to burn it. I spent the entire day slicing through the brush and chopping the 8-10 foot long tree limbs into 2-3 foot lengths. Slowly but surely I was able to get some of the thick stuff stacked for bonfire nights and I got the brush in little batches to toss on the fire pit. 

It has been a couple weeks since getting the chainsaw and all the brush and wood is cut and stacked. The brush is just waiting for a safe day where we can sit down at the firepit and burn it all. Unfortunately, I am not sure when that day will come. We are pretty dry and the winds have been blowing hard and steady for weeks. No burning is allowed until there is some good rain and the wind dies down a bit. But in the meantime, I continue to use this treasured gift…my chainsaw. My Best Half has been staying clear of me when the chainsaw is running and I am yelling “Timber”.

 Along with being a smart gift giver to me, he is also a smart “stay out of my way when you hear timber” kind of guy. As I was surveying the dead 40 foot pine tree the other day, he gently took the chainsaw from my hands, saying it needed re-charging. Carrying it back up to the garage I heard him mumbling and shaking his head. Probably one of the times it was best I didn’t hear what he was saying.