Grandpa's Pruners

My cousin, John, gave me this big piece of apple wood the week of Christmas. He told me he had cut some of the original apple trees and thought I would like to have this piece of wood. He knew it would mean something to me. Damn right it did. When he handed it to me my eyes welled up with tears.

It's cut with the grain instead of against it which makes it very unusual. Its odd shape is due to the fact that it is the trunk profile, the upper right corner being an old cut wound left behind after a limb removal. The wood is rough from being cut with a chain saw. The tree it came from was at least 65 years old.

I wasn't sure what to do with it since it's such an odd shape. I thought about sanding it smooth and turning it into a shelf or a wall hanging of some sort, but it didn't seem fitting somehow. Jim suggested I mount grandpa's pruners on it. I had to think about that for a while though. I decided it was a pretty good idea but I didn't think the pruners would fit. Today I placed the pruners on the plank and discovered that they did indeed fit. I drilled three holes and mounted the pruners with some thin wire. I found the picture of grandpa pruning an apple tree in one of my photo albums and mounted it between the handles where it seems to fit perfectly. It's just taped there for now until I can find a suitable mounting method for it.

Isn't it odd that this piece of apple wood seemed destined to hold grandpa's pruners? It's a perfect fit and I can't help but think that this was somehow preordained. Jim even says it's "perfect" and that it seems that the wood was made for the pruners.

Those pruners and I have a history. I've had them since I was a young adult when mom gave them to me. She knew I'd appreciate having them since I spent so much time with grandpa out in the orchard talking with him while he pruned trees. He explained how and why to prune and I learned by watching his skilled hands shape hundreds of apple trees into top-producers.

I wish grandpa was around to see where his pruners are now. I like to think he'd be pleased with what I've done with them.