William and Me under the Beech Tree

William and Me under the Beech Tree

by | Jun 2, 2021 | Small Footprint

Dear Readers,

William and I both grew up in homes surrounded by forest. We are well acquainted with the darkness that descends come nightfall. We are familiar with nightly noises~ owls, foxes, coyotes. William even spent his childhood as a boy scout, and the concept of sleeping outside in the middle of the woods is certainly not foreign to him.

However.

The first night William and I camped on our property in the Land of the Laurels brought our predator and prey instincts to a very different level.

We were the intruders. Just the two of us. Him. And me. And our four feet, two voices, and very presence, was of much curiosity to the land we occupied for the night.

We decided to place our tent directly under the giant American Beech tree. Its wide, sun hungry branches provided a decent cover. Plus, it is just a beautiful tree. But the ants…the ants were very interested in us and our tent. And it didn’t matter whether we put our tent under the Beech tree, or under the Chestnut Oak…the ants were everywhere. I’ve decided that our property may very well be just one giant ant hill.

Mapping Trees

Mapping Trees

by | Apr 14, 2021 | Small Footprint

Dear Readers,

I love trees. I love how tall and expansive they can grow. I love how their roots entangle and wrap and twist over just about whatever they gosh darn please. I love the feeling of their bark. I love the feeling of humility they inspire.

Trees are good. And I want to get to know every single one of them on our property. Where they are located, what kind they are, how healthy they are, how old they are…it’s just too bad I’m so awful at it.

The first area I fail at is locating them. If I can’t locate them…I can’t protect them.

William and I want to geolocate trees on our property, and then transfer their coordinates to a site plan. More specifically, we want to locate trees that are at risk of having to be removed during our build. From our anticipated driveway, to our home’s exact footprint, there are certain trees, that if possible, we want to avoid touching entirely (like this absolutely beautiful American Beech tree…and this really cool grouping of Red Oaks).