Sharpen the Saw

"Sharpen the Saw" was the final of seven steps in Stephen Covey's popular "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" book. In Wimberley, several hazards to keeping the saw sharp are ever present. I used to think of Cedar as a soft wood. After cutting cedars in the Texas hill country I now know differently; the ash-juniper (commonly called cedar) trees grow so slowly that their wood is fairly hard. The trunks tend to twist and fall in strange ways when cut, often pinching the chainsaw bar. These trees also have an amazing ability to wrap themselves around limestone rocks, so occasionally in the middle of a cedar trunk my chainsaw will spit out some white powder and stop cutting well.

Like many of life's good habits that we must consistently practice to keep sharp, the chainsaw must be sharpened frequently. It is painfully tedious. Takes time out from what I'd rather be doing. But it's always worth it, because few things are sweeter than slicing smoothly and gracefully through trees, or through life.