Chainsaw Safety

One of the ways I dealt with my strong feelings about the black walnut tree was to take a class in chainsaw safety.  That class was held yesterday at a place in North Branch called the Womens Environmental Institute. The class went all day and included lunch which, by the way, was a delicious lunch.  We had two kinds of soup (potato leek and carrot lentil), bread, fruit, vegies, chips, hummus, coffee, tea, cookies and brownies.  Who could ask for a better lunch? I got the directions to the place on google maps but what really helped me get there was an email that told me to look for Amador Hill and the place would be on the right. Holy Hannah, that Amador Hill was a very noticeable glacial feature.  The driveway to the class was mud and as steep as the hills in Seattle or Duluth or San Francisco. The driveway was also very narrow with a tree canopy sheltering it from the sun.  I was glad the driveway was frozen mud instead of melted mud.  I put my foot on the gas and gunned it up suppressing most of my anxious giggles. At the top of the giant hill the trees were cleared and I saw an old house and a barn and a bunch of other buildings.  A man told me where to park and as I got out I was still giggling when another car pulled up. A very short woman about my age clambered out of her car with a big old chainsaw and she was giggling too.  I didn't bring a chainsaw and she and I hung out together and she let me use hers when it came time to take it apart and put it back together.  She had an electric Remington chainsaw. The other 25 women had all kinds of chain saws.  There was one Stihl chainsaw with a 12 inch bar that I thought was very cute until I realized you had to hold your wrists so close together that it wouldn't be comfortable. I held Poulan chainsaws and Husqvarna and Echo. There was gas models and electric and even rechargeable battery chainsaws. I enjoyed my day in North Branch. Whether I buy another chainsaw remains to be seen.  I met a large group of very interesting women.  Later this month they are going to have a class on tractor maintenance. I raised my hand and asked, "Do we get to drive the tractor?"  She said yes!  OMG, I would really love to drive a tractor but only on the top of the hill. No way would I ever drive a tractor up or down that steep driveway!