Dense Timber

Dropped down off the steel collection box and followed a trail of crushed bark toward the curb. Hit a heavy wooden tree basin packed with damp pine mulch and dried autumn debris. A thick, fallen sweetgum branch was wedged across the soil, bark stripped gray and hardened by the street dust. Tested the heft with my boot. Dense core, no dry rot. I planted my stance in the dark loam, locked both claws under the rough grain, and levered upward until the deadwood snapped with a sharp crack. Stiff fiber gave way clean. Smell of raw sap cut right through the traffic exhaust. Good solid wood on this corner.