Poppin' Stumps

If you have ever driven down a road, be it paved or dirt, you have been the beneficiary of someone who went before you; and that someone engaged in “poppin’ stumps.”

If you grew up during the ’60s and ’70s, the declaration that someone was “poppin’ pills” was not uncommon. Perhaps then you are wondering if poppin’ stumps comes from that same period of time, where poppin’ stumps was something kids did behind the schoolhouse. Not exactly. However, at the end of the day, a person who has been engaged in poppin’ stumps for eight hours, may resort to poppin’ pills, as in popping the top off a bottle of aspirin. And when Pop comes home from running his job and tells the wife he is pooped from poppin’ and needs to pop a pill; the wife just covers the ears of the children and reaches for the aspirin bottle. She is, after all, aware of what poppin’ stumps is all about. Actually, she may have spent the afternoon poppin’ rumps and is ready to pop a pill herself along with Pop. But stop, let’s make sure we understand the situation. (Phew! Done with the P’s yet?)

So, what does Pop do? He is in the heavy equipment business, and may operate a bulldozer or an excavator. He was hired by a timber company (you may substitute DOT) to clear a path through the wilderness for the purpose of creating a road. After the trees have been cut down, he must remove the stumps. (Stumps are what is left when the tree has been cut down, in case you live in the city and have never seen a tree.) The stump, usually sticking up six to eight inches above the ground, will also be as wide as the tree that was removed. If you cut down a tree that was 30 inches in diameter, you now have a large wooded platform, possibly eight inches above the ground, 30 inches across, and easily able to take out your car’s oil pan. If you are driving any of the small, low to the ground vehicles that appear like a MATCHBOX car when pulled alongside a semi-truck, then beware: a stump will total your car. Before you can build a road, you have to remove the stumps.

The stumps are more about what is below the ground than above. Below the ground the stump spreads out. Large woody “tentacles” spread out through the soil, serving as a means of water absorption and anchoring. Without a good root system, the tree would die of thirst. It would also fall over with the first breeze, or when a fat squirrel runs across its branches. To break loose a stump, or to “pop it,” requires a lot of force. These subterranean tentacles must be broken, and many of them go straight down and deep, requiring Pop to dig and push in an effort to break them all. As the machine rocks back and forth, often violently as each root is broken off, so does Pop.

Have you ever played Tug-of- War? You know then what happens if the other team suddenly lets go of the rope. Your team falls all over themselves as they recoil from this change in force. Pop finds himself in the same situation. Tugging at the stump, when it pops, the change in force goes right through Pop and his equipment. (Bad news if your head is too close to a support beam.)The wilderness is a harsh environment, even for the trees. Roots constantly grow towards water. When a drought occurs, the trees that survive are the ones whose roots have expanded both sideways as well as deep, in search of moisture. If the wilderness is one of water excess, then those same roots will spread and dig in order to anchor the tree. Then there is the cypress tree, often growing at the edge of drought and flood. Many swamps hold water only during the winter and spring. Summer brings a drying, and those same cypress trees that were standing in water all winter now find themselves thirsty.

The wilderness we live in is no less harsh. We seem to be in a constant game of Tug-of-War, desperately trying to break loose from those things that impede our jour- ney and steal our joy. The emotional roller coaster of life seems to take us to the peak and valley all with breathtaking speed. We rejoice one day, and the next we are reaching for a tissue. The sound of the wedding bell still resonates in the air even as the tragedy of divorce and betrayal confront us. We sit quietly by the hospital bed, yet we try to sing, “Happy Birthday,” fearful it will be the last one. A phone call announcing that the job was secured is too often followed by one announcing that the test results came back positive.