Operating Heavy Machinery

Evidently, it’s not enough to haul timber out of the forest; one must also partition and stack it for it to be of use in the furnace. Gian-Luca has already spent hours sectioning our previously delivered lumber.

Maria and I, eager to help, are properly instructed on use of the log-splitter. I’m excited..Heavy machinery! For safety measures, the COMAP (www.comapitialia.it) does not release the slow moving metal wedge unless both hands press the release levers on either side of the machine. This brilliant idiot-proofing guarantees that your hands are nowhere near the unyielding wedge when it descends.

It is loud while we work. Next to us, Gian-Luca operates and even louder table saw that is powered by a running tractor. On seeing this, Iris pops her head out of a window above us and like Repunzel, attempts to communicate something of importance to us below. We cannot hear her for the noise. She points to our ears. Yes, we know, we cannot hear.

Thanks to Iris' persistence, soon we are wearing protective gear: ear guards, goggles, and a mask (for the tractor exhaust fumes). Work resumes. We split logs, load the wheelbarrow, shuttle wood into the basement, try to imitate (often unsuccessfully) the beautifully arranged wood stacking technique, and return to splitting logs.

In time, we are tired. I remember the large quantity 12 quintals represents. No longer excited nor intimidated by the COMAP, I attempt to outsmart its safety measures by using one leg to depress the lever while using my now free arm to hold a log that won’t balance. Protective gear and idiot-proofing is only as good as the user adhering to it. Imagine my horror when I find the thumb of my glove missing and a piece of leather wedged in the unstable log.

“That’s it! I’m an idiot. I need to stop.”

Maria came out of the basement having jammed her ring finger. We wisely decided to abandon heavy machinery for the morning and simply load the wheelbarrow with existing small pieces of wood.

Happily, I can still type and Maria, equally as happy, is now napping.