I had some special guests that came by and found me down in the ditch Friday morning, Mennoniteman and the Mrs. They were/are wonderful folks to meet and visit with. Menman saw some value in my timber and was impressed with the fire effect on the landscape.
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Thanks for showing us around, Liz and I had a wonderful time getting to meet you in person and you picked a very tasty place for supper. It was a very special part of a great 4 day trip and we are back home again in PA all safe and sound in one piece.
We were under two different tornado warnings in Christian County on Friday evening and one of my distant relatives lost his house and four chicken barns east of Hopkinsville, so we were fortunate indeed.
By stopping in there at your place I was able to confirm what I've been suspicious of for a while already, that you are truly living the dream! I'm still enslaved to the daily workforce while you have somehow been able to kick that habit. Living back in the woods, in the middle of 160 acres of your own land, and having time and opportunity to pursue nature is to me one of the best possible lifestyle opportunities for sure. Also do say hi to Rip and the boys for me. I forgot to ask to see the place where you laid Tank to rest.
I loved the character and implied history of the old cabin built out of the two sided chestnut logs although I doubt that it's financially feasible to fix it up, but the building that I call the sawmill is in pretty good shape with the work you've done, and has much better possibilities, I like your plan to add a lean-to to the south? gable end. I do admit that I was somewhat directionally challenged down there in the ditch.
The best part of the tour was seeing the fruits of your labor up on the ridges and saddles, I think my favorite spot was where the rattlesnakes were fighting, the undergrowth is just phenomenal across the ridgetop out through there. Your land seems to want to grow oak and cherry trees if given a good chance, and you sure have a very good stock of quality hardwoods and other vegetation there just waiting to be managed.
When I saw the draw where you dropped the tulip logs into I thought to myself, he's going to invest some sweat to get those out. And you can't wait very long, because tulip poplar starts decaying very quickly after it's cut down and laying on the ground. Plus the wood would come in handy for your building project. We've even used that poplar wood (sorry, I forgot the Latin name, but you didn't) for vertical 1" board and batten siding on barns sometimes.
I could see firsthand and appreciate that hunting those ridges has tremendous possibilities but also some challenges with access, so now in the future when you describe about the detours you need to take to get to a certain hunting spot I'll be able to visualize what you're talking about. The nice thing is about anywhere you harvest a deer it's all downhill to get it out, and your road system is pretty impressive.
I'm looking forward to hearing more about your escapades there in the ditch in the future now that I can visualize exactly how it looks. Thanks again for taking a few hours out of your day to give me a tour. Allen
P.S. You almost had me there when you suggested that I split a piece of wood, I swing a pretty mean ax, and I almost put my hand to it, then I thought, wait a minute, that sure looks like "black gum"

