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[Robert Yarger]

OK, here are the pictures I promised of the American Redbud.  They only get about 20 feet, so there is no practical way to harvest them commercially, so you probably won't find them on any exotic website search.  Still, they grow like weeds out here and I have reserved all of the trees in my neighbors yards in the event that a storm takes one of them out.

Unfortunately, the pieces pictured were taken a number of years ago, and over time they have lost thier striking yellow and pink accents.  Surely, there is a way to preserve such colors with proper lacquering techniques.  Still, the wood is quite striking I would think.  John, I have 4 branches cut and ready for you to make into pens.

Also, I hate taking pictures, so I got everything I could into the photos.  For those of you morbid enough to want to see my mutelated thumb, I have included it in the pictures.  You can see that it has already started to heal quite nicely (thanks for your concerns Barb).  For those of you pestering me for pictures of my tobacco plants, they are in the background.  For those who want pictures of my woodhshop and redneck truck, they are included as well.

[Matthew Dawson]

Robert,

  I see you peeled back the bandaid for the shot. 

[Canuck]

That wood looks really nice, I'm 'licking my chops' already

[Barbara Devost]

Okay, you're off the hook, your thumb looks okay, now get back in the workshop and make some sawdust!!

[Robert Yarger]

That wood looks really nice, I'm 'licking my chops' already

John, you don't eat it, you make pens out of it.  Perhaps I should have been more clear.  Oh, but you can eat the flowers of the tree.  Strangely, they taste like peanut butter if you crush them up.  It was a favorite of the indians here at the time.

Barb, doesn't older mean wiser???  (regarding your profile quote) I don't know, I'm just saying.  Also, age in a man is distingushed, or at least that is what I tell myself.  I have always enjoyed jousting with John, but you have me a bit scared.  I am not sure what to expect or where the next jab is coming from.  At least John is somewhat predictable.

[Barbara Devost]

Robert, yesterday you admitted to being a "redneck", but today you would like to be wiser than me (a red head). I don't think that wiser and redneck actually go together 

[Canuck]

Well, sometimes I do swallow some sawdust makin' those pens so at least the 'Redbud' should taste good

[Barbara Devost]

Robert,  How do we know if that is really the thumb that was injured?I think we need a picture of both thumbs, yes at the same time! So you may need some help doing this.I'm sure your wife won't mind helping you out.

[Robert Yarger]

What can I say.  I'm a paradox.  Still, how wise can I be if I antagonize a red-head.  It is not wise, but at times can be fun.  Nobody fights back like a fiery red-head.

Still, we obviously have different definitions of redkneck.  Redkneck does not mean slack-jawed yokle.  We just tend to be engenious with the situations we have at hand.  

Unoading a truck by driving backwards really fast and slamming on the brakes is a timesaving redkneck strategy.  Lighting the flexible gas line to the water heater on fire to use it as a blow torch (for soldering newly installed waterheater pipes) seems stupid at first, but when you think about it, it is also brilliant.  Planting a garden seed with a shotgun, also a brilliant timesaver.  Using sawdust to grow mushrooms and burning the rest to make lye for soap is a thrifty use of resoruces.  Fixing a flat tire with engine starting fluid (either) and tossing in a match is also brilliant.

Redknecks are not stupid, we are just akward in the way we approach things.  IF we are missing fingers, at least we can say that it was a good idea at the time.        

[Robert Yarger]

Oh, look at the thumb in the tobacco pic.  The top left next to the nail is shreadded.  The lower portion did heal nicely, so it is hard to tell.