A substantial piece with a question.  “When will you begin   to listen to the trees?”
 
A large white pine from the Long Beach area of Ten Mile Lake provided the top to this bench (or coffee table?).  The pine was one of several trees that were removed for a building site.  After a few years of watching the pile of logs “sleep”, permission was given for us to contract with a local trucker to have the logs brought to our home. The white pine was then milled on our band saw and the resultant live-edge slabs were given several years to dry.  One of these sits before you here, with a little embellishment via woodburning.
 
The legs are made from red pine that was harvested after thinning of a plantation just east of Hackensack.  The engraving of the legs was done by talented and persistent pine bark beetles.  When removing the bark we tried to preserve the beetles' handiwork, perhaps there is a message written in beetle in there somewhere? Cass County lands currently are composed of 7 % red pine and 0.2 % white pine.  We recommend planting white pine. Finished with wood gum spirits and boiled linseed oil.