150 Year Old Red Oak Bowl with Bark

The other day I heard power saws going in my neighborhood. This always peaks my interest. Across the street from my house in Baltimore County, Maryland, they were cutting down a dead oak.

My wife and I went over to examine the wood after the men had left. The butt section of the log stood about five feet lying horizontally. We counted the rings and estimated that the red oak was about 150 years old. That means that this tree started to grow about the time the US Civil war started in 1860.

In its growth rings are the stories of the good years and the not so good years. What marvelous stories this tree could tell to one who knew its language. Now this bowl will carry on the story, hopefully, for several hundred more years.