Teamwork: Selective Clearing in the Woods

As of late, we've been using our dictionary more frequently.  Our curiosity  has been piqued this week by the multiple meanings of words we come across or use, notably, team and teamwork.  I was thinking about teams and teamwork recently in the context of using our horses to pull trees out of the woods.  I love Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary of the English Language.  Its first definition for team is, "Two or more horses, oxen or other beasts harnessed together to the same vehicle for drawing..."  The second definition is, "Any number passing in a line; a long line."  Nothing is mentioned of the present-day definition (from Merriam-Webster's School Dictionary, copyright 2004) of "a number of persons associated together in work or activity, such as a group on one side (as in football or a debate.)"  Our new dictionary does give the etymology of team though.  It's from the Old English word team, a "group of draft animals." 

Whit frequently tells me that when he and one other person work together he gets three times more work accomplished than when he does it alone. That would be the definition of teamwork from the new dictionary, "work or activity of a number of persons acting in close association as members of a unit," or team.

Whit has added a new line of work to his repertoire: selective clearing and thinning of trees with a minimal impact on the land.  The goal is to help landowners thin out their woods to make them healthier, without the impact and noise of using heavy equipment such as a skidder.  He uses our team of draft horses (Pat and Scooby) and the team effort of TBear and me.  The three of us working together, with the horses, really does make a huge difference in time and accomplishment as opposed to Whit working alone with the team.

For the sake of those who like picture stories, I have a few photos from our current job.  Whit first goes out and does the cutting and limbing.  He doesn't need us for that part of the job.  When he has cut enough to spend a day hauling out, the rest of the team goes to work with him (us and the horses.)  We used to just put a chain on the logs and the horses would pull them out.  Then Whit built a skid to help pick the logs up so there isn't so much drag (and leaves and dirt don't get dragged with it.  See? Less impact.)  Below, Whit is hooking up the double-tree to the skid, which he'll have the horses pull down to the woods.

Down in the woods where I hang out with the mosquitoes and black flies, my job is to unhitch the skid, drag it over the log, and chain the log to it.

Then I pick up the double-tree and carry it while Whit backs the team up to the skid to be hitched.

It's amazing how quickly these guys figure out the routine.  They watch carefully as Whit brings them up to the log to be drawn out, casing the job then carefully backing up over stumps and through low spots.  Scooby's listening to what's going on here as I hitch the skid to their double-tree.

Whit drives the team out with the log while I put another chain around the next one to go.

Here, they're walking up the hill to the driveway where the wood will be stacked until enough is accumulated to call for a log truck to take it to the mill.

TBear hangs out at the top of the hill in the driveway to unchain the log and measure the yardage.  We have to gather enough wood for a full load before calling for a log truck.

After he measures the log, TBear rolls them out of the way to stack them neatly, making room for the next one.

In between logs, TBear manages to get some of his schoolwork done so he doesn't have too much to do later when we get home.  It's nice working and schooling in the sunshine.  Soon school will be done and haying season will be upon us.

Lacrosse

We have embarked on a new sport: lacrosse.  Okay, maybe not "we", but TBear.  I don't play hockey either, but I say "we" when I refer to  our participation in the whole hockey thing.  I drive the boy to practice and games, I keep score for some of the games and cheer for him through others, while Whit does a lot of reffing.

However, lacrosse is a sport that is so totally alien to me that after two months of practice and, finally, two games, I'm still trying to figure out the rules.  Here's what I've figured out so far.  The object of the game is to get a baseball-size, hard, white, rubber ball into the opposite team's goal net.  It's like field hockey there, except that ball can really bounce right over the net instead of into it if they throw it at the ground in front of the net hard enough!    The players use sticks with baseball mitt-size nets attached to the upper end to catch and pass the ball down the field, while other players also use those same sticks to beat the snot out of the guy who has the ball in his net and is running with it.  There are, of course, rules about how you may beat the snot out of each other, and the refs are pretty quick with the whistle when they see an infraction of those rules, but I'm still having a hard time figuring out the difference between, say, checking and unnecessary roughness.  Even with my hockey knowledge.

Still, they all look like they're having a great time running up and down the field playing keep away with the ball while trying to launch that same ball at the goal and avoid being whacked by other players.

I can see how this game was likely invented by Native Americans.  I can also see how this sport might well have been used to toughen up young braves in preparation for battle or as a method for settling inter-tribal disputes.  I can't see how they would have played it without protective pads on their arms, shoulders, and heads though.  Ouch.

In the beginning of the season, when it was all so new to TBear and me, I tried to help him get used to using his lacrosse stick by playing catch with him.  I have to tell you, the boy's got a lot more talent at it than I do.  (The coaching help he got from his dad didn't hurt either.  Whit's played lacrosse, but the osmosis isn't working on me.)  TBear uses a lacrosse stick.  I use a softball mitt to catch, and the dog's chuck-it to throw the ball back to him.  (Ah, yeah...old shoulder injury that had to do with Patrick and a horsefly.  Don't ask.)  I can't catch or throw with the lacrosse stick.  In fact, trying to learn to use a lacrosse stick was a little like trying to learn the violin for me.  We started out on fairly equal footing, TBear and I, but TBear soon proved (with both the violin and lacrosse) that you just can't teach an old dog new tricks.  (He blew the doors off of me before we even got through Book One, and I just threw in the towel early with the lacrosse stick.  I'm already proficient with a softball mitt and a chuck-it. :)

Whit took a picture of the two of us practicing with the stick and ball.  If you promise not to tell me how hard you're laughing, I'll share the pictures.  You have to give me credit for creativity.

Catch.....

...and release.  It works slick.

By the way, TBear's team won their first game and tied their second game tonight.   TBear played very well.  I keep wondering, though, if this is supposed to be a spring sport, why am I always so much colder at these games than his hockey games?!  Even with the fleece blanket wrapped around me!?