Whats this got to do with log cabins?

Not a lot actually.

Other than it takes place out at the first cabin I built. Photo around 1982 I believe.
You can just see the cabin to the left in the photo.

The man who owned the property, John Frank (my log cabin mentor), where I built this cabin had a nephew who was a very good chef and a very busy caterer.

One of the nephews clients was a very important lawyer in St Louis.

And the nephew asked my mentor if he knew someone who could get him a very large Christmas tree for the lawyer's very large house. He of course thought I was a really good candidate for the job and offered me, and a tree near the first log cabin.

On this cloudy Dec. day I drove out to the property and went to work.

I cut down the tree, rolled it onto a canvas drop cloth, and bundled it up, nice and secure.

Then came; "How do I get it on to my truck?"

Being much wiser in the-way-of-the-woods (not to mention much younger and not as many aches and pains) back then than I am now, I was able to come up with a solution.

I first tied two ropes around the tree.
Threw both ropes over a tall tree (I had a good arm back then).
Then I tied one rope to my trucks (a 1976 Ford Ranger, my first pick-up) trailer hitch and left the other rope loose.

I then drove the truck away from where the tree lie, and as I did so the tree was hoisted airborne.

I then tied the second rope off to another tree, securing the future Christmas tree in it's now airborne state.

I untied the rope tied to my truck, then backed under the hanging tree and then lowered it down on to my trucks roof.

As you can see from the photo the tree hung quite a bit over front and back of the truck.

I then drove the truck to St Louis and delivered it to the lawyers home.

Westmoreland and Portland Place are, shall we say, where many of the affluent live in St Louis.
A gated community just across Kingshighway from The Chase Park Plaza.

The lawyer was not home when I arrived, so the house boy was left (probably planned) to help me with the tree.

The tree was to set in the entrance way of the house, right in the middle between the two stair cases, one going up on each side of the entrance hall. Very grand entrance, a Disney type thing.
And you can imagine how tall the entrance way must have been because we had to trim very little off the bottom of the tree to get it stood up.

Once we had it in place I asked if the house boy could show me around the place a little.
The one thing I really remember about the brief tour was how big the formal dining room was.
Two thoughts came to mind; "Wow, this is big enough to play tennis in.", and, "You could put four small mobile homes in here. Two side by side, with another two on top."

Quite a day, that's for sure.

Every once in a while, if we are in the area, we drive by looking for the house. I keep thinking I remember which one it is and I point it out, and tell this story.
Family is probably getting tired of it, so I thought I would share it with you.