Red oak spring pole

Because the wood is so heavy compared to many other trees, a bent red oak is a rarity.  How sad, too, because the trees can live much longer than red maple or paper birch, two species more prone to becoming a spring pole.  But this young oak has been bent for years, likely the victim of an ice storm.  Taken down with the handsaw this morning, the tree will get cut up in the spring, then hauled quite a long way to burn in the 2018-19 season.

When the cut was being made on the bent trunk, a "barber chair" was created, which is a split down the length of the tree.

One benefit from a spring pole is kindling.  Or, walking sticks.  These two branches from the red oak served as extra legs on the walk back up the hill.