danrouth

Sawing Cedar

I walked out my back door on Saturday morning and with the wind coming from the southeast, I heard my neighbor Gary McMasters’ sawmill running in the distance. I went by and found Gary, Charlie and Cecil sawing cedar logs for another neighbor Ronnie Horrell. It fascinates me every time I go by the mill. My Grandfather was a saw miller and I have great respect for Gary’s ability as a sawyer. It is an art and takes a tremendous amount of skill and coordination to saw consistently straight and uniform lumber on a mechanical mill like Gary operates and to do it quickly. It’s hard, it’s dangerous and yet he operates the sawmill fluidly and effortlessly. On Saturday, Gary rolled the logs and operated the carriage while Charlie and Cecil stacked the lumber and slabs.

Below is Ronnie Horrell, for whom Gary was sawing. Ronnie is a thirteen year cancer survivor.

Old Store

Uncategorized

Sometimes you stumble across an image when you least expect it. We were driving along the old Lincoln Highway in Belle Glade, Iowa working on an agricultural shoot a while back when I saw this old store literally covered in antique service station signs. Turned out to be a veritable museum of odd memorabilia run by an elderly gentleman named George Preston. He was an interesting character who regaled us with his stories about being on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He even had an old x-ray machine for viewing your feet when fitting shoes.

Franklinville Mud Bog

Automobile

Four wheel drive vehicles enable folks to go many places off-road that regular cars and trucks can’t go, including through mud, over rocks, etc. Pretty handy if you need to go places like that. When it comes to anything with wheels, human nature, at least here in North Carolina takes over and it doesn’t take long for someone to figure a way to take the capabilities of these trucks and make them do it really fast and very loud. A big ditch full of water and red mud and have at it full bore.

Sawmill Portrait

Portraits, Work

Cecil Bailey stacks lumber and slabs at neighbor Gary McMasters’ sawmill on Saturday in Grays Chapel, North Carolina.

Shearing Tools

Sheep

Still life of sheep shearing tools.

Livestock

Animals, Farm

Most of the farms on Grays Chapel, North Carolina raise what you would consider traditional livestock, but some of my neighbors keep some more exotic animals. For those of you who followed my buffalo post last fall, below is the fellow we wrangled, content in his home pasture.