Florian the Lumberjack
I was about six years old at the time of this incident. I didn’t chop down a cherry tree like George Washington, but I did tackle three small pine trees. My dad had planted three small pine trees in our enclosed front yard. The only shade trees we had around the house were located outside of the picket fence. He planted these three pine trees on the east side of the house in hopes of them growing up and casting their shade on the porch of his house. He watered and nurtured them and they grew to be about 10-12 feet tall. That’s about the time I decided to go on the “attack.” Before he became a house mover in 1945 he was a carpenter. He kept his tools in a large trunk or tool chest. This chest was housed on our enclosed porch where I played. One day out of curiosity I managed to open the lid to this heavy chest and found myself a nice looking hatchet that fit my hand just right. Well after looking around in my play area, I couldn’t find anything to chop so I ventured outside. As I looked around the bare yard I saw nothing but three tall pine trees. Well, pretending I was a great lumber jack, I proceeded to chop around on not just one but all three of the young trees. After I tired of this I figured I better put that hatchet back into the chest before dad came home and found out.
Well, find out he did. The first thing he noticed coming into the yard was the scalped bark on each tree. Taking me by the ear he led me to the first tree and asked me who did that. Even though I thought of fibbing my way out I knew he had me red-handed so I said it was I who chopped into his trees (just like George Washington chopping down his father’s cherry tree and couldn’t tell a lie, so he admitted to his dad that it was he who did it.) Besides a stern scolding I can’t remember any other punishment bestowed upon me.
He did apply some sort of balm – maybe bees wax to the wounds on the tree trunks. But after suffering for a few weeks, all three of the trees died. Needless to say we never enjoyed any shade on that east side of the house because of me.