I know I said no more wood posts. Well, not exactly, I think it was more along the lines of the blocks of wood not being everyone's cup of tea. But last week I found this beauty:
Let me set the scene. It is the summer of 1941 & we are in darkest Africa. Feel free to picture the collector Stearns as you will: Indiana Jones, Lara Croft, whatever gets you through the night. & actually we aren't in DARKEST Africa, we are in Algeria, so it is more like driest Africa. But in June 1941 Italy invaded France (France, if you didn't know was the colonial empire that "oversaw" Algeria from) so things were metaphorically dark whatever the climate.
Stearns has made his...her way from the settled shores & into the Atlas Mountains for whatever reason: espionage, human trafficking, searching for King Solomon's Mines, what-have-you. & in the mountains, Stearns find a tree. Not just any tree but a tree of legend. Or rather, a tree species of legend. & at the very least Stearns takes down a branch (a branch of some size given the piece I handled) & ships it to.....
A shop teacher in Miami.
The best part of this story is that the only part I know is absolutely true is the shop teacher in Miami. That & there really was a war on. How could I not love the wood collection?
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