I received the following email yesterday morning. It was originated by my neighbor in MO, who moved there with us from Phoenix in 1999.
"I just had a message from Danny Stricklin.
Matt Wood was killed today by a falling log as he loaded a log truck. I will tell you more as I learn it.
Gregg"
I met Matt Wood in about 2002, when his Dad brought him out to our place, seeking help with a "Jeep" problem. Matt was then about 15, an astute young man, full of enquiry, wanting to learn. As time went by, I became more acquainted with the Wood "clan". "Ne'er-do-wells" some of them, especially Matt's Dad's brother, Bill. I got to know Bill, also, a conniver, possessed of "street-savvy" unusual in very remote Ozark-land. Bill's family had inherited their property from generations past; none of his family members held jobs. Bill's brother, Ray, Matt's father, worked as an independent logger. Logging was just about the only pursuit available to make a living, save for the lead mines to the east, the largest underground lead deposits in the continental U.S. It was widely rumored that the entire area's poor mental capabilities were related to air-borne lead pollution.
The entire area was heavily wooded with Oak. Great demand is always present for that wood species; a large Cooperage operates in Lebanon, MO, using the oak to make barrels, primarily for the distilling industries. One of those heavy oak logs crushed Matt Wood to death, yesterday. I'm guessing he was about 28. He stopped by our place one day, perhaps 2007 or so, announcing he was getting married! He was very proud! They had a child, little boy; upon our preparations to leave MO, in 2012, we held a general auction, as is wont to do in those parts by folks leaving. Matt was there. He nearly tearfully confided in me, that his wife had done him wrong, he would take and raise their little boy himself. Gregg informed me last year, Matt was living in our old farmhouse with his boy. Here it is, below, ca. about 2005, me & my wife "posing".
During our 13 years there, smack-dab in the middle of 7 million acres of Mark Twain National Forest, I never had second thoughts about safety or security, or any other concern related to the "living remote" as investigated in another thread here-on. It was 23 miles to town, roads good, ours 3 miles of gravel to the pavement. It was here that poor Matt stopped every so often to confer, ask questions, or just generally be congenial, an attribute often lacking in the area.
Since we left 3 years ago, Matt was only infrequently thought of, just another of the folks we left behind. NOW I think of him, one of the better of the folks we left behind. I sent a condolence letter to his Dad today. He may not even remember me....... imp
"I just had a message from Danny Stricklin.
Matt Wood was killed today by a falling log as he loaded a log truck. I will tell you more as I learn it.
Gregg"
I met Matt Wood in about 2002, when his Dad brought him out to our place, seeking help with a "Jeep" problem. Matt was then about 15, an astute young man, full of enquiry, wanting to learn. As time went by, I became more acquainted with the Wood "clan". "Ne'er-do-wells" some of them, especially Matt's Dad's brother, Bill. I got to know Bill, also, a conniver, possessed of "street-savvy" unusual in very remote Ozark-land. Bill's family had inherited their property from generations past; none of his family members held jobs. Bill's brother, Ray, Matt's father, worked as an independent logger. Logging was just about the only pursuit available to make a living, save for the lead mines to the east, the largest underground lead deposits in the continental U.S. It was widely rumored that the entire area's poor mental capabilities were related to air-borne lead pollution.
The entire area was heavily wooded with Oak. Great demand is always present for that wood species; a large Cooperage operates in Lebanon, MO, using the oak to make barrels, primarily for the distilling industries. One of those heavy oak logs crushed Matt Wood to death, yesterday. I'm guessing he was about 28. He stopped by our place one day, perhaps 2007 or so, announcing he was getting married! He was very proud! They had a child, little boy; upon our preparations to leave MO, in 2012, we held a general auction, as is wont to do in those parts by folks leaving. Matt was there. He nearly tearfully confided in me, that his wife had done him wrong, he would take and raise their little boy himself. Gregg informed me last year, Matt was living in our old farmhouse with his boy. Here it is, below, ca. about 2005, me & my wife "posing".
During our 13 years there, smack-dab in the middle of 7 million acres of Mark Twain National Forest, I never had second thoughts about safety or security, or any other concern related to the "living remote" as investigated in another thread here-on. It was 23 miles to town, roads good, ours 3 miles of gravel to the pavement. It was here that poor Matt stopped every so often to confer, ask questions, or just generally be congenial, an attribute often lacking in the area.
Since we left 3 years ago, Matt was only infrequently thought of, just another of the folks we left behind. NOW I think of him, one of the better of the folks we left behind. I sent a condolence letter to his Dad today. He may not even remember me....... imp
