The woodsmen and their tools - a chainsaw named Armageddon

Ken sent this saying Derek would explain . . .

When I asked if I could post it in news he said, "You know I wooden send it to you if I wooden enjoy seeing it on the news!"

You know he couldn't resist!

 

Now Derek's story:

 

Well, hello Wendy.  It is a bittersweet, serendipitous and good story of healing, friendship, and the hidden blessings and power of. “PowerCore”   Ken Thompson and his wife Lisa have both quickly and intimately become good and cherished friends.  However when I first met Ken, it was more than evident that Ken Thompson was the counselor of counselors.  I recognize this to the tune of recommending my very own girlfriend as well as a young woman who uprooted her entire life to move 500 miles in order to be in close proximity to me, so as to be mentored by me both personally and professionally as a musician..    Ken Thompson did miracle work on the both of them.  He also subsequently hired me to do tree work and tree pruning..   Of which I gratefully offered him a “ thank you for brainwashing my girls” discount.    Very recently, I lost one of the only mentors I have ever had in my 63 years.  The whole reason why I am an arborist and hold skills with a chainsaw is because of my mentor who I recently lost Tim Ard.   Well, since Tim passed away, I have not had the heart to run a chainsaw.    Serendipitously, Ken called me asking for help cutting up some of the incredibly large logs on his property.  I brought out my biggest and strongest chainsaw “ Armageddon”, and used it to proverbially get back on the saddle under the loving and intentional healing, watch of professional counselor and now friend Ken Thompson.   These photos are the stereotypical self proclaimed, macho male pictures taken by his wife, Lisa. Thank you for inadvertently introducing me to Ken Thompson. The wonderful healer, hypnotized, and friend.    So there’s the backdrop to the Armageddon story.    Derek

 

From Ken's side:

Why are those logs laying there? On one of Derek’s visits to help Lisa trim some tree branches, He noticed what he thought could be a problem with the big, tall 60’+ “what I thought was healthy” red oak tree 4’ away from the side of my 3-story home. He saw a small bulge in the main trunk 30’ up in the air where he thought it might be open on top and retaining water. When his team went up and looked, they saw the whole area was rotten and full of dirt. Since this was where the top of the tree main branch left the trunk and leaned out over my roof, they were concerned that if it weakened enough, that top of the tree would break away and fall on my roof. We decided we needed to take the tree down. His team did it quickly and so efficiently that they never touched the house, roof, or walk deck below. Little did we know that when they cut the main trunk off at ground level, we would find the entire base of the tree rotted out. You can see how rotted it was looking at the trunk on left side of these pictures. If Derek hadn’t discovered that problem, I don’t think that tree was long for this world and the damage would not have been minimal. The hole on the left trunk was the ground level base of the tree. The hole on the right log was the “water trap” and top of the tree branch location he saw 30’ up the tree. You can see how rotted they both were. Thank you, Derek, for your eagle and skilled eye and ability!