Four-Poster Poplar

This is the story of a tree. It was a huge, lovely poplar tree, just over 100 feet tall. When I was a little girl, I wanted to build a treehouse in this tree. When Batman and I were choosing the location of our future home, I wanted to be near this tree. When our nice neighbor was clearing the land for our house, he suggested we remove this tree. I was shocked. I was horrified. Get rid of my beautiful four-poster poplar? Are you kidding? Absolutely not!

Fast forward a bit. We moved into our house, and the remnants of Hurricane Ike came through Kentucky. We had strong, sustained winds for about ten hours. We were all in fear that the poplar would bisect our house. Finally, the winds ended, and we were all glad the poplar was still standing.

That is, until the next thunderstorm. Then we worried the tree would come down on the house. But it didn't, so we were glad.

We sort of forgot the threat of the poplar for a while-
until the ice storm. For those of you who don't live in this area, you may or may not remember a story that made national news at the time. For those of us here, we will not soon forget the ice storm of 2009. The morning when it was just beginning to get bad, we cringed every time we heard a branch snap, worried that it might be the poplar. The next night, we tried to sleep, but every few seconds we heard snaps loud enough to wake us. Frequently they were followed by crashes of trees falling. I have never been more terrified in my life.

But, even after the worst ice storm in a century, the poplar still stood.

We were no longer glad. I was expecting Bonus at the time and what I wanted more than anything, other than wanting the pregnancy to go well and the baby to be okay, was for the poplar to be gone. Well, my dad granted that wish just before Bonus arrived. Dad has a small sawmill and poplar is good wood, so it was a win-win situation. The most desirable logs were quickly whisked away to the sawmill. That was about nine months ago.

Today, I completed my first woodworking project using the less desirable wood from the poplar. With the assistance of Mom, Dad, and Batman, I built a bookcase for Stinkerbaby's room. Dad sawed the lumber and cut the pieces to length. Mom kept the kids and helped me assemble the bookcase. And Batman kept the kids while Mom and I assembled it. Even Stinkerbaby helped by putting some of her books of the shelves. It's not the most amazing thing ever built, but I very happy with it. Not counting time, I figure I have about $12 in it, mostly from the wood sealer.

Before

During

After

In case you are wondering, it only took one log about seven feet long to make this entire bookcase. Since this is in a kid's room, this thing is fastened to the wall, so I don't ever have to hear a huge crash followed by, "don't look in my room, Mommy!" Ask me how I knew fastening it was a good idea.

-Susan