Don’t we all have many fond memories with trees? I remember sitting in the crooked branch of the crab apple tree as a small child pretending to be riding a horse and vividly remember lightning striking the next-door neighbor’s tree and watching it burn bright for hours. In my elementary years I spent morning to night in the woods and trees with my childhood friends. We lived for building tree hous
es and sitting high in its branches and enjoying the bird’s eye view. I remember learning from my Grandpa how to graft an apple tree and enjoy the many walks and adventures with my family in the woods near the great Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania. In my teen years, our high school science teacher, assigned a leaf collection project and I was on a mission to discover every tree in my hometown area of Franklin, Pennsylvania. My husband and I both have our leaf collection books and to this day both enjoy the memories of this pivotal high school project. (Yes, we are high school sweethearts!)
You get the idea- and it goes on and on. Fast forward to recent years. My husband works for a paper company and also the most avid reader I know. He enjoys hiking and took me to Rocky Mountain National Park in September of 2015 to enjoy a walk through the Aspens for our 20th anniversary. There was something profound in seeing the brilliant yellow hues with the backdrop of the nature’s majesty. And we regularly spend hours late into the evenings under the stars with our kids and friends mesmerized by the wood and flames around the lakeside firepit Also, how special it was for our family to take one final trip with my mother prior to her death from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) to Yosemite and the Redwood Forests in 2017. It was magical and the energy and beauty of these giants gave my mom the peace and excitement to forget her crippling disease if even for one very special week. But who also doesn’t love to share appetizers and food with friends and family, especially on a wooden serving board? Not sure when I had my first authentic meat and cheese platter, maybe it was the Medieval Dinner Feast in Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania in the late 1980s, laughing with family and eating from boards with our hands that piqued my interest. But, I imagine the love affair was committed on the narrow side streets of the small towns in Italy, strolling for an afternoon glass of wine paired with cheese and meat that captured my heart and love for enjoying time with loved ones gathered around a wooden platter. But, it’s not just the wood board that enhances the serving experience, it’s the beauty in the uniqueness of wood, its grain, its size, its coloring, and its live edges. No two pieces of wood will ever be the same. How this metaphorically represents the uniqueness of our friendships and gatherings as well! During COVID19 in 2020, I found myself making creative dessert boards, breakfast boards, veggie boards, themed boards and even just dinner on the boards that I had collected over the years. This hobby turned into a passion and thus began my hunt for some of the most beautiful species of hardwoods in the central Pennsylvania forests and other places around the US. As I began my hunt for unique wood, I fell in love with the story of resiliency and the beauty rising from tragedy I encountered. I have found a niche in locating profoundly damaged trees (hurricanes, tornado, lightening strikes, and insects) and have brought new life to these tragic stories. I hope you will come to cherish your piece of history and love your live edge board and the wonderful memories made with your families and friends with it as much as I do!
