Driftwood

Driftwood is a magnificent and ever present feature of what may be called the "large lake country."  Large lakes are natural lakes that can range from fifteen miles to hundreds of miles from shore to shore.  These kind of lakes are so extensive that successive storms eventually wash away shore line from one place and put it in another.  With the shore line make-overs there develops a plethora of driftwood which essentially becomes a member of the aquatic world for many, many years.  We see driftwood piled up on shorelines but make no mistake, that is not its natural home.   Driftwood piles that you may see on one occasion on a particular beach will take to the water again and drift about for months or years until it is again deposited many miles distant.   

For most of us, on most occasions, driftwood is a suitable material for firewood.  When you find it, it all has a similar look.  It's usually grey, it's quite hard, it has very little rotting (which itself is an odd fact since dead wood generally rots in just a year or so) and it is generally very bulky and difficult to haul away from a beach if that is your inclination.  For some of us who treasure driftwood for uses other than burning the material is fair game at any time of the year on most of the very large lakes.  In this photo you may even notice that Lake Superior, in the background, is still open despite the time of year, late February.

We're going to show you a number of clocks which have been made from driftwood.   You will notice that there are several types of wood on the samples that we will display.  Popple, a type of aspen or sometimes a variant of poplar, birch, ash, basswood and many other species are common driftwood.  Sometimes pine, fir or other conifers become driftwood but generally it is the former mentioned hardwoods.  You are going to notice, on the samples that we will show, that there are some very unusual and beautiful grains on the driftwood.  It is hardly the expected because the outside is so plain.  Most will feature a burl.  Someone asked the other day, "What is a burl, anyway?"  If you wonder about this too, click here.

All of these clocks are priced at $19.95 and when you are interested in buying one we will fax you a picture of the ones that are available at that particular time.  Naturally, since no burl is the same, no two desk clocks are the same either.   The best way to pick out the clock you want would be to visit our showroom at our main shop in Bloomington, Minnesota.   Click on any of the individual clocks for close up pictures.

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