Recently, I was outside and heard a pounding...chopping sound coming from woods out front. And come to think of it, I had been hearing this for past few days. I asked my daughter what all noise was about and she said, "The boys are making a dugout canoe!". Well, I had to go check this out for myself...

As is usually case, when given opportunity for free time, my boys elect to go outside and play. We don't watch any TV in our house, and we don't own any video games. It is my wife Nancy and my belief, that less toys we own, more our children will be encouraged to use their imaginations and participate in creative play. The old saying goes..."Bordom is mother of invention." This has proven to be true. Case in point...

Recently, I was outside and heard a pounding...chopping sound coming from woods out front. And come to think of it, I had been hearing this for past few days. I asked my daughter what all noise was about, and she said, "The boys are making a dugout canoe!". Well, I had to go check this out for myself.

I live in a pecan orchard where most of trees are at least 80 years old. One of varieties original owners of land planted was called a "moneymaker". This pecan is round, has a good flavor and a hard shell..It is a tough nut to crack by hand. Since 1962, when we moved on this place, we have gathered hundreds of pounds of these delicious nuts, and trees have given up some to squirrels and birds.

One of my moneymaker trees was huge...about four feet in diameter, and usually produced over 200 pounds of pecans. Then, one year, it was struck by lightning, and one side of it begin to die. It took a few years for top to fall out and limbs to fall from damaged side. Finally, there was one huge limb left, yet it still continued to produce pecans. I carefully watched that limb as it slowly separated from what was left of trunk of tree. One day, I was outside, and heard a loud noise...It was one remaining limb falling from trunk of tree.