Tree Top Lover

Well, we've had an extremely productive week so far at the farm. For that matter, we've had an extremely productive year thus far. I'm excited about so many things for 2010. I noticed this afternoon as we buzzed around the barn like worker bee drones that the atmosphere at the barn and farm is happy and content. It's amazing to me that we can be so busy but still find time to laugh and enjoy the process.

We have been making some plans for expansion and have reached a crossroads. I always knew this moment would come. I just didn't think it would be such a difficult hurdle to leap. Our farm is a lovely blend of rolling lush pastures and stately wooded areas. Each paddock is fringed by a lovely forest which wraps around the green fields like warm arms. There is an used area of the farm which is about 8 acres that houses not only the local coyote population but also a wealth of mature hard wood trees. As we prepare to fence the final pastures so that the horses can utilize them for late Summer/early Fall grazing, it seems logical to clear some of the woods so that the horses can traverse them more easily.

Now, that plan on the surface seems all well and good. The woods become cleared, the valuable hard wood can be sold to a logging company, and the valuable money we receive in return can be used for some amenity that the horses may need. The problem with this plan is my husband Wayne. He is a tree-hugging, non-littering, child of the 60's, no-you-are-not-killing-those-trees sort of guy. I am faced with the paradox of how to get a large logging operation onto the farm, into the woods, murder the trees, and not have my husband notice. Any suggestions would be welcome.

I will add an aside here that this is the same man who will not let me have a cow on the farm because he can't fathom the possibility of eating something that has a name. Although I've produced thoughtful, intelligent, well-planned arguments, I still have no cow to eat. I've skirted the issue of removing some of Wayne's forest before. The idea was met with such resistance, such ferocity, that I decided to wait for reinforcements.

Now, I am staging a coup. I've enlisted the assistance of wise advisors. I've assembled data (Wayne appreciates data); I've assembled legions to help form a formidable force against him. He will never see it coming. Soon, if my strategic planning works, the horses will be lounging in a shady new pasture with clear beautiful woods on its fringe. I'll let you know how that all works out for me!