[SEL] other hobbies

[Germoamer at aol.com]

Dave,
 
I am an occasional stick maker, and give some away and others just hang in  
the basement.  Maybe Millie can sell them with the auctioneer someday along 
 with the other junk!  Mine are usually live when I cut them, and the vine  
is still wrapped around it.  Most dead ones I see are somewhat rotted due  
to the vine cutting into the tree. I find a lot of poplar, some oak, and an  
occasional cedar and dogwood.
 
Wish your father was closer as I am sure I could learn some valuable  
lessons from him in the art of making good sticks.  He probably has a  leather 
apron and all to make life easier.  I have found it is best to  rough strip 
off the bark while the tree is still freshly cut.  Once  it dries, taking off 
the bark is tough and time consuming.   

If you look at the sticks closely, all the vines wrap in the same rotation. 
 As the vine grow up from the ground it wraps clockwise.  Much the same as  
all water does when draining from the bathtub in the northern  hemisphere.  
I have often wondered if the vines grow in the opposite  direction as 
draining water does in the southern hemisphere?  

Tom  Schmutz
Concord,  Va.
germoamer at AOL.com