Dean is currently in the Pacific Northwest and is making an informal study of the great trees of that region. Today’s “Ambling” post is on the Western redcedar, one of the world’s great trees for building materials—and, as Genesis said about the trees of the Garden, “pleasing to the eye.”
New “Ambling” Post
Posted by Dean Ohlman |
July 20th, 2010
Filed in Uncategorized
5 Responses to “New “Ambling” Post”
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July 21st, 2010 at 1:46 am
Hi, Dean,
Decades ago when I worked as a tail sawyer in a Northern California sawmill, I really disliked cedar. Compared with pine and fir, cedar was really messy, with the bark fragmenting and clogging up things so that we had to shut down for cleanup more often than with pine and fir. With a debarker, it might have been better.
Blessings,
Maynard
July 21st, 2010 at 11:16 am
I’m always excited when Dean posts a new “Ambling” article. I certainly appreciate his focus of Creation care that is foremost in his writings, but the amblings are just pure delight.
I haven’t been to any of the western regions of our country in a long time, but the reports from there make me want to pack up and head across the Mississippi and enjoy some of the creation that exists there. The trees of the west are fascinating.
The Western Red Cedar is magnificent. Our little Eastern Red Cedar in North Carolina is dwarfed by the western variety. At 40 to 50 feet tall and only a diameter of 1 to 2 feet, ours doesn’t compare. But that is not to say that the eastern variety isn’t important – it is. Like its western cousin, it resists decay, and has vast uses, and has the stamp of its Creator on it.
Dean, the pics you provide are wonderful. The story is great too. They sure are inviting, and would love to share some of your “amblings” someday.
Thanks for all of WOC.
Bob
July 21st, 2010 at 12:58 pm
Thanks, Bob. You are a good cheerleader!
Having once traveled to the cedars of Lebanon with a Dr. Lytton Musselman, head of the botany department at Old Dominion University, I have come to realize that not all cedars are cedars. The red cedar here in the Northwest is really akin to the white cedar of the east and in the cypress family, and what you and I know as the red cedar is really a juniper. But those are facts that are most helpful to the botanist. To me tree what’s a cypress in the West and a juniper in the East will always be cedars!
Dean
July 21st, 2010 at 1:01 pm
I can believe that, Maynard! You really got first-hand experience with the qualities of the cedar that made them so important to the Native Americans: lots of fiber for rope and clothing.
Dean
July 23rd, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Your trip sounds wonderful, Dean. I love reading about the trees and seeing the fun pictures. Thanks for all you do to bless me! Lynette