We were just driving through
Joyce, a small town west of Port Angeles, and we couldn't help but
notice the little lumber yard right along Route 112. Joyce is a rather
small town, but it has a restaurant or two, a laundromat, a general
store, a health club, and a video rental center. These are all smallish
operations, so the lumber yard is perhaps of the proper size for Joyce.
Still, we had never seen such a small lumber yard before. Even the few
lumber yards we've found in Manhattan, noted for its excruciating real
estate prices, were larger.
Our curiosity had been piqued. Does this little lumber yard sell four
by twelves, or do you have to make do with two by fours?
Kidding aside, they must have a system. This is Joyce, and Joyce is in
lumber country. Perhaps this is a cut your own lumber yard. We've seen
self pick strawberries, self pick lavender, and cut your own Christmas
trees. Why not a cut your own lumber yard?
It all makes perfect sense. You pick up a chainsaw in the little
building by the road, and while you're out in the forest picking out a
likely looking tree, they'll be firing up the sawmill. We're not sure
how they get the wood properly seasoned. Maybe they have one of those
microwave wood kilns, sort of like at the convenience store, except big
enough for a whole tree trunk. There is a lot of emphasis on knowing
the ingredients in your restaurant meal these days. Why settle for
Nieman Ranch beef, when you can meet the steer, and maybe tussle a bit?
Why settle for factory farmed Home Depot lumber, when you can cut your
own. It's so much more authentic.
Of course, the local tree varietal out in Joyce is probably cedar, but
we can almost hear the guy at the yard saying, "Redwood. Not a problem.
We've got seeds." But that is another story.
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