How Swede It Is

Articles

Robin Alan Bell

How Swede It Is – Week 12
Mar 23, 2003

On the day that President George W. Bush gave his ultimatum to Saddam Hussein to either get out of Irak or face a military invasion from the “Coalition of the Willing”, you would have expected that the local newspaper would carry that story as the lead on the front pages. But not here in Karlstad. Oh no.

Forestry is a very important part of life in this part of the world, with a strong paper industry employing many people in the district. The forest plays a large role in the Swedish way of life and a popular pastime in summer and autumn is to go berry picking for blue berries and lingon berries, or go exploring for the many varieties of mushrooms which grow in abundance here.

So instead of the Irak crisis, on the front page of the morning paper we had a story about the felling of a pine tree. And not just on the front page, but the story continued on the first page of the supplement with a total of five colour pictures of the tree, the chain saw used, the tree stump remaining, children playing on the fallen tree and the actual cutting down.

Would you believe that the story also made the local television and radio news as well? So, taking my cue from the Nya Wermlands Tidningen, founded in 1836, and Swedish National Radio and Television, I’ll give you the details of the tree-felling operation as my contribution to this week’s useless knowledge collection.

It wasn’t just any old tree that was cut down, though. At 48 metres tall, 2.67 metres around the base and around 170 years old, the tree was the highest pine tree in Scandinavia and the third highest in Europe – although there are some in Norway who claim that they have a higher tree there. The forest owner, Kjell Karlsson, dismissed such stories as simply a Norwegian joke. Our Swedish tree, located in Lekvattnet, had been dead for several years and was thoroughly rotten inside. Ants had eaten into the trunk and the woodpeckers had then, as the local newspaper put it, “come like letters to the post office.” Rather than leave the tree to become a hazard, Kjell had arranged for the tree to be felled.

It was a major operation. The lumberjack involved, Jan Sammels, chairman of the local district association, attached steel safety cables between the tree and a bulldozer, made a small first cut then hammered in a hard rubber wedge to ensure that the tree would fall in the right direction. Then the final cut was made with an oversized chainsaw – and with a satisfying crash the tree came down, precisely where it was supposed to fall. Then, because of the size, the trunk was cut into three parts so that it could be removed from the forest. Now the remains will be put on display under cover outside the district association, so that future generations can see the once mighty tree.

Jan was quite philosophical about cutting down such a giant. In a fleeting, perhaps unintentional, reference to Saddam Hussein and the imminent war in Irak, he said “it feels like the mother of all trees has died. It feels very melancholic and we will never see the likes of such a tree again.”

Because the land on which the tree stood belongs to the church, the local priest was also in attendance to say a few prayers. Many people of all ages, from schoolchildren to pensioners, came to see the giant fall to the ground – and to enjoy the sausages and bread which was served afterwards.

And George W.? Well, yes, he was there on the front page – just – with 6 lines of a column that measured 8 centimetres wide, under the heading “USA gives Irak an ultimatum”

Hälsningar till nästa vecka,

About the author: Robin Alan Bell is an Englishman by birth, but migrated to Australia back in '72. Married and divorced there. Spent the last 3 years living by myself on a remote farm in rural New South Wales with no mains electricity, water etc. All power, heating was from natural resources (solar, wind, wood). "Met" a Swedish girl on the internet, came to Sweden for a holiday, loved the place (and the girl), moved to Sweden permanently Christmas 2001 and married the girl in Easter 2002. Living happily ever after... Email Robin Alan Bell: sosoft@ozemail.com.au

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