The Tree Stump Carving

Part 6

For four months the stump aged and then time was found to create "James."

The carver is my friend. His wife was one of my 4-H club members 35 years ago!

I have kept touch with her through the years and they have 4 kids. The oldest (daughter) took over a large Arabian horse farm nearby us a couple of years ago. Our daughter took lessons there for several years when she was small and one of our mares was boarded there to foal because she was accidently bred already when I bought her and she gave birth in January. She and I camped out in the tack room and saw the foal born. The carver's wife worked at that farm then and still does now - for her daughter!

Small world! The past sometimes returns - in a different way at a different time. I guess the saying, "What goes around, comes around." is true.

The carver has done all our tree work here and for that, I'm grateful. He works a full time job, does the hay for his daughter's farm, trims and cuts trees AND sometimes carves! He's also a great father to his other son (17) and his twin sons (13). I'm privileged to know them all.

I gave him full artistic license to let the stump talk to him and carve as he determined. The large bleeding knot on the right side of the stump was the deciding factor in what way "James" would face. How wonderful the result!

I call him the "Guardian of the Cabin." His likeness resembles my great-grandfather, James Marshall.