Well here is an attempt at explaining the procurement and creation of a "philisopher's lignum".
Tree - d printing.

First the path:               What kind of animal leaves such a path?

Oh well, this is distracting from the purpose.
The right path needs to be found.




                               




It is a warm day making the ascent even hotter.




                                  right neighborhood, wrong tree.




Got to find a Bay-tree:

                                


There are some, but they are small.
Need to find a better cluster.
But mind the poison oak.




                               



All right here is the right kind of stump:




                               






Harvest time:           



Knocking them loose with a rock hammer (better: Use a raw hide hammer to avoid bruising), plastic bags and backpack handy.




Here is my big one:
                               



I'll make a HD-movie of pealing this one, click it to see the video.
It doesn't take long to fill a back pack to capacity.




                               

                               


The back pack mimiks my face when carrying the load back down the trail;
still, you got to stop and smell the flowers.






                               





Well, its all down hill now, as is evident from my portrait.....





                               




The ground is drying up early this year





                               




Home stretch back to the parking lot.





                               




Back in the kitchen the real work beginns, boil the pieces in hot water for about 25 min at a rolling boil.
Clean the pot right after to avoooid permanent stains.




                           



Do keep the pieces submerged until you are ready to peal them, yet don't delay the pealing for more then a day.

Get a butter knife and a crab meat pick or some other needle like thool, find a good point of entry and lift the bark off the hardwood below.
Make certain to keep your  hand clear of any path you might slip into with the knife ;
also work on a waste surface old news paper with a a plastic bag below or some other work surface.




                       

After the initial insertion with a knife a thumbnail works surprisingly well:

Progress is usually quickly made, but there are exception to the rule.

                               


Well, that's pretty much it.  Wash them off and let them dry, They will change color into a very pleasent oxidized orange brown after drying out, and off course they'll shring a bit in time.
But the results  are quite surprising making good contemplation pieces  A philosophers root, a zen meditation element. Very therapeutic.



                               



Here are a few sample "Lignums", quite the natural sculptures:

 


And some more oak to fear:

   






        --- Requiem ---
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